Ending B

Here's the collection of photos that we took at Otakon 2010. This year they have been split into two groups:

The first group are entirely Clamp characters. These were mostly pictures taken during the Clamp photoshoots that we attended. These shoots were a blast and we met a bunch of other people who also love Clamp! We also saw some great Clamp cosplayers that were not at the photoshoots, but we included any pictures we took of them in this album as well.
http://picasaweb.google.com/eric.kociecki/Otakon2010ClampCosplays

The second group are all of the other pictures that we took at the convention. Congratulations to everyone on their cosplays and for making Otakon so much fun!
http://picasaweb.google.com/eric.kociecki/Otakon2010

Part of the Clamp photoshoot: the five (including Mokona) main characters from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

It's almost the end of July, which means it's almost time for Otakon! Most of the Ending B crew will be in attendance as characters from a certain CLAMP story... stories? I dunno, semantics man. Anyway, we'll be there in costume for most of the weekend ready to enjoy the Anime convention. Hope to see you there!

Otakon or bust!

Wow, this is a little late... oh well!

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time for Ending B to let you know how Otakon 2009 went. Was it fun? Did it have cool swag? Did any one we went with get mugged? Read on to find out!

Emo Syaorans are Emo.

... More

It's that time again! The Ending B crew is heading to Baltimore for Otakon next week. Once again, we'll be joined by Kim from MHHO. Most of the group will be cosplaying again this year. If memory serves, we'll have Craig as Kyle Hyde from Hotel Dusk, Steve as Ryu from Breath of Fire, and myself as Syaoran from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles. We'll be posting pics and updates from Baltimore starting this coming Thursday assuming we can find some free WiFi to use.

It's not my fault Otakon staff didn't make a new banner.

Otakon is over and done with. Sunday was the shortest day with the con closing at 3pm. Fewer people were cosplaying and some of the dealers and artists had closed up shop and left already. While less crowded than previous days, it was still busy, especially the Dealer's Room where dealers started offering discounts to try to get rid of some of the leftover merchandise. The whole feel of the con was a bit different also. It seemed a little less friendly, a little more hectic, and really like it was just time to finish up.

Artist's Alley and the Dealer's Room were just as busy

The biggest change came after we ate dinner. By that time there were no more cosplayers anywhere around and almost nobody who even looked like they had been at the con. For the last three days everyone who we saw at the hotel was there for the convention, but suddenly there were businesspeople and families. The streets around the Baltimore Convention Center were practically devoid of life. Maybe it was just me, but I really felt an incredible sense of loneliness. It was as if the whole convention had been wiped away and never happened.

This whole weekend was a blast and I would love to be here again next year! Unfortunately, I will most likely be unable to attend due to their choice of moving Otakon 2009 up to mid-July. We'll have to wait and see if any of the other Ending B squad make it out there. I hope everyone else who was at Otakon had as much fun as we did. Now, however, it's time to sleep.

Yeah, I know, the second day report is a day late. Don't blame me, blame Eric.

So, the second day of Otakon was fun. The first day was spent mostly in artist alley and wandering around the con (at least for me, and I think it was the same for Eric and Steve). Day two was my day to heavily explore the dealer's room. They had a lot of good stuff, but unfortunately a lot of the merchandise I could either purchase at a bookstore or a place like Best Buy. However, I did find two rare items I decided to purchase. One was a Kanon art book, and the other was a Breath of Fire art book. Besides that, I took a lot of pictures and had some taken of me as well (I was dressed as Ike from Fire Emblem.)

I was not able to go to any panels or special events, but I've never been to any of these at any con I've ever been to, so I'm okay with that. I also helped Kim and Brandy & Brian by running some errands and occasionally running around for food. Eric, Steve, and I also met up with our old friend, Thomas, and we all went to dinner and had crabcakes. Yay crabcakes!

You're the one who's whole... ah, nevermind.

More on Otakon day 3 from one of us... hopefully ^^;

We made it! Craig, Steve, Kim, I, et al are hanging out in a hotel room across the street from the Baltimore Convention Center.

The entrance to the BCC at night.

Taking pictures and finishing costumes is the order of the day here. Ah, procrastination... Today is just badge pickup for preregistration, but quite a few people have already donned their costumes. Expect more cosplayer pics tomorrow once the con actually starts.

P.S. California Tortilla is really tasty, really close, and gives 10% off if you have a con badge. Just sayin'...

Otakon is less than a week away and the Ending B squad is going this year! In case you're unfamiliar with Otakon, I'll quote Wikipedia ... "It is considered the second largest and one of the longest-running Anime conventions in the United States." It's held in Baltimore, Maryland, and this year we'll be there with Kim from www.mhho.com. Kim, as usual, will have a table set up in Artist's Alley to sell some of her amazing art. If you're also going to the con, try to keep an eye out for some people dressed up as Smash Bros. Brawl characters, they may be us! Or they might be some other random people, either way say "Hi!" and make some new friends!

Thanks to the magic of The Internets and Digital Photography, we'll also be bringing you news and pictures from the con floor itself. Look forward to more as the week progresses!

Live, Eat, and Breathe Anime