Otakon 2007 - Day 3 & Closing Comments

Otakon 2007 has come to an end, after a couple of sleepless days and eating crappy food, I must say that I am completely disappointed. Otakon 2007 was nothing compared to Otakon 2006. Organization and staffing issues completely plagued the convention leaving a bad taste in almost everyones mouth. Today was the last day of the con and we pretty much knew it was going to be pretty slow. With alot of attendees heading home early and the con ending early, we knew that it wasn't going to be that much of an exciting day. To make matters worse the main reason why I was attending on Sunday, the Gundam panel, was cancelled and that is the beginning of the problem.

Sudden changes like panel cancellations and relocations must be posted on the website so that people know ahead of time and plan accordingly. Also panelists were disorganized by not arriving on time and they were cancelling panels left and right. Staff problems included not knowing how to operate video equipment, for example, while in the KARAS showing the guy first played the dub track with the subtitles on, he then turn the Japanese audio on but with the subtitles off. WTF?? The audience had to guide him through the process of setting the DVD correctly. The staff also had absolutely no knowledge of what was going on with the panels. I asked one guy what the substitute for the Gundam panel going to be about and he said, "I have no idea". What kind of help was that?

While the dealer room was a big focus of the con, the was alot of non otaku related dealers present. Gothic dresses, fashion accessories, non-anime related plush shops were taking away space from dealers that could have been filled with anime goodies. It also seemed like 90% of the dealers were supplied by the same distribution company, AAA Anime. That meant that the choices were pretty much the same across the board. Hobby Link Japan and another dealer were the only ones with unique stuff like the HCM-Pro Destroy and the White Action Base 01. Everybody else had exactly the same Evangelion, Fate/Stay Night, and Bome figures. Hopefully nest year bigger dealers come aboard with new assortments of products to buy.

The only thing that I can complement were the industry panels (ADV & Funimation) for making the panels fun and interesting. I mainly want to thank all of the cosplayer who let me take their pictures and disturbing them when they were minding their own business. Also the door staff was friendly and they were not being A-holes thinking they are kings of the world. Hopefully next year will make things better. Let's hope that the Gundam panel makes a return and please get more dealers in. Here are the final pics of OTAKON 2007 here at My Gundam Models and Anime.

No shopping today, only freebies. Thanks to ADV and Manga Ent for the great freebies they provided.