Con Report: Otakon 2013 [09-02-2013]

Hey Bunnies! Hope you're having a wonderful Labor Day! I know this is a little late but here is my report from this year's Otakon! 2013 marked the 20th anniversary and convention number of Otakon. (Can you believe this con has existed for 20 years now )

Lucky Star!

We didn't get to any panels but we had a lot of fun. When my friends and I normally go to Otakon, it's usually most of the group is selling in Artist Alley while only one friend joins me on a tour of the convention. But it looked like there were some issues so we had a group of four! It was still fun even though we really didn't get into anything.

For Friday and Saturday I cosplayed Wendy from Fairy Tail in her original outfit from when she was still in Cait Shelter. I even got the guild tattoo!

Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo!

My friends are heavily into Fire Emblem and decided to cosplay as Donnell, Tharja and Gaius. I don't know much about the game but it was really cool to see the cosplay. I'm not much of a fan of strategy games so I tend to stay away from them. Give me a turn-based RPG any day XD

Sunday, we finally put together our own little group cosplay. We decided on Pokemon! I was Jasmine (game version), the Steel gym leader while my friends were Sabrina (game version), Giovanni (game version and Blaine (game version). It was pretty awesome!

We arrived on Thursday and met up with the rest of our friends. Friday, the convention started and we got into our Fairy Tail and Fire Emblem cosplay. First matter of business was to get me to the Fairy Tail photoshoot that was outside near the fountains. It was really hot but we had a decent size group.There were a lot of Celestial Spirits and a few cosplayers of Gray, Natsu and Lucy. But I was really happy to see that there was at least one Makarov. Even though he was a young guy, he still got the look and character of Makarov down perfectly! And there was only one other Wendy! We took a photo together and looked uber cute!

Star Ocean Second Story

After the shoot, we walked around for a bit until it was time for the Fire Emblem shoot which would be near the main entrance into the convention center. There was a decent size group of all these characters I didn't know. xD But it was still cool. I was just about the only non Fire Emblem character there. But I got to take photos of my friends so that was cool. I have a lot of fun taking photos of cosplayers and kept saying "Wendy playing Pokemon snap!". One of my friends gave me the great idea of making my own collection called "Cosplay Snap"! Totally doing it!

After the shoot was done, we continued to walk around and headed into Artist Alley a bit to see our friends selling there before checking out the Dealer's Room. We didn't buy much until the next day...

Jotaro!

For Saturday, we hauled our tired selves back to the convention center to try to get into the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Posing School! But we got there too late and they cut off the line. I was really sad about this because I am basically obsessed about this series now. So much, that after my friend showed it to me, I started reading the manga. Yes, the original 1980s manga. I am not regretting it.

But still, without realizing it, there were many Jojo cosplayers running around and I managed to get photos of some of them! It was a good thing my friend who introduced me to the series was there to identify them! Otherwise there would have been a lot of missed photo opportunities! And later on we found out there are photoshoots! So my friend and I have decided we would cosplay as Erina and Speedwagon. It's gonna be so awesome!

Chocolina from Final Fantasy!

Since we couldn't get into that, we went to the second Fairy Tail photoshoot that was now in the upstairs terrace. It was a little better since there was shade now. And the group was slightly bigger. We didn't have that many Celestial Spirits that time though. But it worked out! We had a Mavis and Zeref. We even had a Lucy with her baby dressed as Plue! That was unbelievably adorable! And there were a ton of Erza cosplayers and a lot more Wendy ones! And I think there was only one other Wendy that had the same dress I did. Not bad!

We walked around a little bit before it was time for the second Fire Emblem photoshoot where there were a lot more cosplayers! It was fun to play Cosplay Snap again! xD When we were done there, we went back to the Artist Alley and Dealer's Room to make more purchases as well as check out what was being sold. This is where I got an adorable Lolita dress from one of my favorite indie shop brands named Rakuen!  They always have such cute things and this time I got the cutest bunny doll dress EVER! I got a pair of socks and a free headdress! All so pink and cute! Then we headed back to the outdoor terrace for our own mini photoshoot. We hung around a bit before we continued to see around the convention. Not long after, we decided to hang out in the game room where we mostly relaxed with another friend of ours. And after that, we went back to our room for some good dinner.

Adventure Maid Time!

On the last day, Sunday, we got into our Pokemon cosplay! I was so happy to finally join in on a cosplay group! I was Jasmine while my other friends were Blaine, Sabrina and Giovanni. We got a little late start but we made it to the Pokemon shoot, which was pretty deep into the building. It might have been because we arrived so late but there wasn't much going on and it just eventually turned into a live Pokemon battle. But I am happy to say I was the only Jasmine. >3 After a bit, we went to the outdoor terrace where we had our own shoot with even a mock battle! Not sure how Ampharos would do against Sabrina but it was really cool!

With some time to spare, we visited Artist Alley and Dealer's one last time to make sure we didn't miss anything. I was supper excited to get Unico DVDs as well as the manga! My childhood in just three items! Then finally, it was time to go! While we didn't get to do much else but take photos and run around, it was still good fun. I'm already excited about next year! Not only will I be Erina from Jojo but I plan to join another group for Tales of Graces as Idol!Sophie. Can't wait!

Don't forget to check out the rest of my Otakon 2013 photos as they get uploaded to my DeviantArt!
(You'll be able to see some of the Fire Emblem and Fairy Tail photoshoots as well!)
My next blog update will feature all of my con gets!♥

XOXO~