Katsucon 10:
Insert "Reason to go" here
A bunch of months ago, I had few plans in mind for Katsucon. Very few
indeed! I was even seriously considering going just for Saturday, and
I could not think of a major reason to go aside from the fact that it was
a convention within a couple hours drive from home. But, a few things
happened at the last minute, encouraging me to go for the whole weekend.
Friday:
D'oh!
Woke up, and zipped off to work for a 3-hour day! But I forgot my
luggage at home! So I had to go back home, pick up my stuff, and drive
some more. It's Ai-chan's return to convention-going, giving Yamiko-chan
a break. Traffic was crappy towards DC.
Got into the parking lot, then took care of registration. With only
half an hour of dealers room time remaining, I get an Onegai Twins CD single. JC flew in from Austria for this convention, which surprised me in a cool way. Told him the good news about the Combustible Campus Guardress laserdiscs. Then I help cover the AUSA table, while the others go to a restaurant. I'm kinda hungry myself, but I don't want to walk too far from the hotel. Well, there are places to eat, such as McDonald's if I don't mind bottom-feeder cuisine.
While walking out of the room, I was attacked by a couple of pizza boxes! They jumped up and grabbed my leg and almost made me trip over! I even
have a witness! What's this world coming to, when I can't walk down
a hallway without getting attacked by pizza boxes? Aren't there leash
laws for things like that?
I wander into the art show, and there are some artist tables in there as
well. One of them is occupied by Lillian, so I spend some time hanging
out there, sharing various con stories until the art show closes.
What, turn down something like free pizza?
After that, I stumble across free pizza, courtesy of www.cosplay.com! A gift from the heavens! This is really convenient, as it means I don't
have to go out and pay for food for today. Two slices is sufficient
for me for the time being. Wandered around, no sign of Inky and the
others, so I went to bed. Found out there's free wi-fi here, but I haven't
put forth the effort to find it.
Saturday:
Decisions, decisions
Woke up after an invigorating 10 hours of sleep. Hm, something I wanted
to do before 2pm... Lunch! Or the ADV panel. Either way, I'd
rather not be sitting here waiting for maintenance to come by to fix the
door locks. I want my guacamole Doritos and Mountain Dew!
Looking over the video schedule, there's not much that I'm interested in
seeing. On top of that, they're shutting down two of the video rooms
for the Cosplay, which I'm not going to. JC's in on that, so I'm lending
him my tripod. Anyway, there's a ton of stuff on my laptop that I can
watch if I want. More on that aspect later. In the back of the
programming guide, I notice that Pocky-man is taking over next year, and Katsucon
is moving to another hotel a few blocks up the street. This should
prove interesting. Some investigation is warranted!
Checked out JC's European Fandom panel to learn some differences in the
way things are done, then noticed my knee was bugging me. Ah well. But now that I got my knee brace on, I can face the rest of the con with a cautious confidence! Maybe even go out of the hotel for something to eat! Well, there is room service. Couldn't find the wi-fi signal in the main lobby just yet.
Something about the Hyatt that I'll miss the most.
This seems to be more of a wandering con than others, which says a lot. After a mild nap (like I need more sleep) went into the dealers room, and
got some manga and doujinshi. Had a worthwhile discussion with Christian
about the effects that digisubs have on anime clubs and conventions, while
room service shows up with buffalo wings and fries, and I nosh on that while
watching Maburaho. Then Keith shows up and I inflict Eiken on him. Yes, inflict. Finally saw Inky and Co. while they were waiting in line
for the cosplay.
Umm... Shouldn't this have been over by now?
It's 11:30, and they're still giving out awards for Cosplay. Mostly
hanging around at Lillian's table. Otaku Duet recognized me! Helped
&rew move his equipment to the dance, which is how I learned the Cosplay
was still active. Long since over, but still going somehow. Glad
I missed it. Not due to the skits or quality of the costumes, but just
because of the sheer time sink that most cosplays have become.
Later on, I'm running on borrowed energy. Soaked up some vibes at
the dance, and found Allie and Chrissy waiting for their ride home for the
evening. With my Eiken rampage still going, JC became the latest victim.
Got the wi-fi to work finally, but I'm sure getting what I paid for.
The signal is crappy, but it's coming from the Marriott next door.
This weekend has been fun, in a subtle, light-hearted way. I never
expected any earth-shaking events and revelations, nor did I plan to spend
cash like crazy. It was more about who I met and hung out with, than
why we were there. I wished that Dave and Sarah could be here, but I
understand that they can't. People that have only been coming to cons
in the past year or so, and others that have been to cons as long as I have
or longer, recognizing each other only recently. Maybe this isn't the
best Katsucon there ever was, but it sure isn't the worst.
Sunday:
It had to happen eventually!
Woke up around 10-ish, getting only 5 hours of sleep. Granted, that's
more than what many people get all weekend. Anyway, I succeed in getting
everything down to Ai-chan in one swoop. So I go back into the con,
and finally figure out where I've seen Kat (from NVAA) before. In the
dealers room, I pick up the domestic release of the Mahoromatic CD for $7.50. I think that'll be it, unless I know of something I absolutely must get in the next two hours. Doubtful, I gave myself a budget to stick to. At Lillian's table, I help find an address book for another NVAA Kat, (that makes two now!) and lost my glomp-virginity in the process!
It's fun to walk up to random people, put on a goofy smile, and wave slowly. The reaction is what counts. There will be people that look back like, "Um, ok..." and others smile and wave back, and sometimes even strike up a conversation.
Both results are normal and equally expected.
So, I'm standing here watching over Inky's stuff while they're packing up
their car. There's some medical event causing a backup at the escalators. Lent Inky my badge so she could go into the dealers room for a few minutes, and took some goofy pictures.
It's time to go when most of the con leaves before me.
The video schedule, well, the entire schedule for that matter, is fizzling
out in mere minutes, leaving only closing ceremonies to poke my head into,
then I have to face the trip home. They announced that there was a nasty
stomach flu going around. Now they tell me! On my way out, I
hang out with Allie and Chrissy and their friends until they have to leave,
and help Lillian contact someone so she can get her stuff to her friend's
car. I suspect the weekend wasn't very productive for her.
Despite some of the inherent drawbacks to some of the ways that Katsu does
things, and the fact that I didn't really need a convention badge for about
90% of what I did, I still had fun. All the more reason to come back
next year. For now, it's time to head home, because everyone else either
did, or they're about to.
I really should stop complaining about Katsucon's (or any convention's)
lack of fansubs in the video schedule. This is in relation to the conversation
that Christian and I had earlier in the weekend. It's gotten to the
point where no matter what they put in the video rooms, I'll either have already
seen it, or have multiple points of access to. Here's a phenomena that
I've noticed in the past year or so: By the time a fansub gets shown
at a convention, if it's something I was remotely interested in, I've already
seen it. For favorite shows, most people don't want to wait for a convention
to see it, or even at an anime club. If they want it now, they get
it now. Anything seen at clubs or cons is purely for seeing if it's
worth the money or bandwidth. What if Katsucon showed things like Maburaho
or Scrapped Princess? Odds are I wouldn't bother with going into the
video room if I had anything better to do. If I go in, it'll be simply
for the effect of seeing them projected onto a screen. I've already
seen as much as there is to see of those shows. If I didn't have the
means to acquire any of them, then yeah, I'd check them out. But, more
and more people, myself included, have those means, or at least are on good
terms with those that do. Anime distribution is more direct and instant
than ever before, with digisubs available with a click of a mouse, and DVDs
available almost everywhere. What was once a cornerstone attraction
at conventions is becoming an afterthought.
Epilogue:
Two days upon returning home, I start to come down with the stomach flu
previously mentioned. However, regular meals during the weekend and
a more educated reaction resulted in a much better response, leaving me feeling
only a little under the weather, as opposed to the flu I got four years ago,
which completely trashed me for five solid days. Do not underestimate
proper hygiene, regular meals, good rest, and plenty of water/juice drinks!
They are powerful allies in the fight against forces of evil!
Finality:
Attendance: Word is that it was a bit under 4000, so I'm led to believe
that Katsucon has leveled off in terms of attendance.
Yay: Lots of mellowness abounded for me, didn't make any plans, so
there was nothing that fell through. No snow! Also, inflicting
Eiken on various people. I know I'm going to pay for it in some karmacentric
way, but it was fun.
Nay: It would have been nice if I participated in more convention
events, considering what I paid for getting in.
Sustenance: Pizza and wings. A feast fit for a king.
Grand total: Amazingly enough, I managed to keep the total cost to
just over $300. I'm impressed with myself for that.
All things considered: Seeing as how I went to Katsucon with a plan
that can only be described as nihilistic, I'll go again if I can pull the
same thing off next year.
Up Next: Enabling factors are GO for Tekkoshocon!
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