 |
| Otakon's logo for 2023 |
Otakon, an event so nice; I’ve been there thrice (so far). It’s hard to say what I dislike about Otakon besides some nitpicks, but the pros outweigh the cons (pun intended). That being said, I thought this year was more mellow than last. What’s even stranger is that there were even more attendees this year. 2023 saw 42,000 attendees, about a 5% increase from last year’s total of 40,266. It sure didn’t feel like it. Yes, it was crowded, but compared to 2022, it was much less chaotic. Keep it up, Otakon Staff!
This year was a little different for a number of reasons, but we’ll get to that in a moment. Friday started like any other convention. We got in, got our badges, and headed to our first panel. We arrived late but started the con with “Creating Light Novels in Japan with Mei Hachimoku, Wataru Watari, and Hironori Hoshino.” Mei Hachimoku is best known for The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes, which was recently adapted into an anime movie. Wataru Watari’s best-known work is probably My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. And finally, Hironori Hoshino is the Chief Editor at Gagaga Bunko, the part of Shogakukan that publishes light novels.
 |
| *Hacker voice* We're in. |
The panel gave us insight into the creative minds of Hachimoku and Watari’s process when writing light novels and building their worlds, as well as how they decide which artist to use to illustrate their novels. Watari, for example, picks the one that best fits the aesthetic. After seeing the illustrations, he admitted to tweaking and adding a character’s image or personality. Hachimoku admitted to something similar but to a greater extent. They were even asked about the anime adaptions and how their stories were influenced, if at all. Hachimoku says he lets the people in charge of the anime do their own thing, while Watari says he’s more involved and even created dialogue for the voice actors. One last tidbit: They were asked what movies influenced them. Hachimoku said Summer Wars and Girl Who Leapt Through Time by Mamoru Hosoda, and Watari said Five Centimeters per Second by Makoto Shinkai.
From here, we split up. Lum and I headed to “Shoujo Manga Starter Pack,” which featured recommendations for shoujo and josei manga by genre. There were quite a few Shogakukan titles like Queen’s Quality, 7Seeds, and Don’t Call it Mystery. Many of them were popular titles such as Card Captor Sakura and Chihayafuru and a couple I had to mark as “plan to read” because they were new to me and sounded interesting. I enjoyed the panel, so thanks to Christy Lou and Taryn Leia for hosting it!
Following this, I took my first trip to the dealer’s room and met with the group. I snagged a copy of Sgt Frog Keroro Gunso from one of the places selling manga because I didn’t bring anything for Haruna Ikezawa (who voices Momoka Nishizawa) to sign. I know her as other characters such as Laura (Hiroko) in Hamtaro, Porun in Futari wa Pretty Cure, and Christine Hanakomachi from UFO Baby ( or Daa! Daa! Daa! as it's known in Japan). The wait wasn’t that long! She was excited when she saw I had that volume for her to sign, as she loves older series.
 |
| Ikezawa-san's signature!! |
I explored the dealers' room a while longer, and then Sakaki and I headed for our— okay, I mean my interviewing debut. Yep, I got to interview Haruna Ikezawa!! It was funny seeing her so soon after the autograph session. And I was so nervous, but it was worth it. She gave us long but wonderful answers, and the time flew by. (You can read it here.)
We explored the convention more after this since we had less than two hours between this interview and our next one. We had to leave Ikezawa’s panel about Kawaii Monsters early to meet with Junko Iwao (Tomoyo from Card Captor Sakura) and Ryu Kawamura (jazz musician who worked on Onihei). Kawamura answered a couple of questions in English (excellent English, by the way), and Iwao seemed more nervous than I was. It was another fantastic experience and my final interview at the convention (you can read that here).
We didn’t stay for too much longer. We hit up one final panel about creating ambience in anime. It was a lot about Tunnel of Summer, and we got to see what making the film is like for the A/V team. And with that, our first night at the con ended.
Saturday is when things were changed up. I was alone for much of the day, and there wasn’t much I was looking forward to outside of Discotek Day. So I grabbed a mediocre coffee and drifted around a little. I roamed the dealers’ room again and found a couple of fan art posters (Conan and the Squirtle squad). I sat in one of the video rooms and watched the beginning of The Darkest Nightmare. (There were some kids in that room, that surprised me a bit!) After this I roamed around again. I was really indecisive on what to do, but I did met some internet acquaintances, and finally, it was time for Discotek Day! In terms of Shogakukan titles, there were only two, and neither I never heard of until then. Their biggest announcement was Digimon Adventure 02, which is coming to Bluray. It was topped only with the secret screening: The Digimon movies, redubbed and uncut movies. I’m a Digimon fan, so seeing these movies with most of the original voice cast back and in each film's original form was exciting. After this, I returned to the dealers’ room to eat, stretch my legs, and meet the crew again. The rest of the night was laid back and uneventful. This carried over into the final day.
Much of Sunday was spent in the dealers’ room. There were a couple panels that I unfortunately did not get to see because I lost track of time. I wanted to attempt to get Iwao and Kawamura’s autographs, but much like last year, the line filled up quickly. People tried to line up before the scheduled time, and by the time I arrived, it was on its way to being capped. Being traumatized from my experience last year, I opted out. I at least got one autograph from a voice actress I enjoy, AND I got to interview them, so I was content.
We decided to go to one last panel to finish up the day and the convention. This one was about the iconic onsen (Japanese hot springs). It was actually really informative! We learned about their history, different types of onsen, and the etiquette for them. It really made the last hour fly by. It was hard to believe Otakon had come to an end yet again.
So Otakon 2023 wasn't as eventful for me as last year, but maybe that's for the best. I needed something a little less chaotic, but at the same time I traded in the chaos for a step-up in clout. The interview prep was a group effort, and I want to thank everyone who helped and gave me support. I'd totally do it again. Only time will tell if and when it'll happen. Speaking of time. Next year is Otakon's 30th anniversary, so I can't help but be excited to see what they're planning. What ever it is, I'm sure it'll be a great con, and I'm looking forward to attending!
Comments
Post a Comment