Lucky Tango

Yesterday marked the end of Otaku Mex 2008, in it’s first year.

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Otaku Mex 2008 was the first anime and manga con in New Mexico. It was run by Think Art Media (TAM) and was well put-together for a first year con.

The turn out was higher then I expected, and from what the staff said, they expected less as well. The amount of cosplayers surprised me, with over half of the attendees in costume. Lots of people from out of state came to Otaku Mex, which helped with the turnout.

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Special Guests included Jan Scott-Frazier, Steve Bennett, Yamila Abraham, Uncle Yo, Kyle Hebert, and a Japanese born rock band, Toybox, with Yo on vocals and bass, Naoto on vocals and guitar, and Celica on drums. I’m pleased to say I received autographs from all of the guests. While speaking to Kyle, who does the voice of Kiba from Naruto in the English dub, I had a yaoi pin on me that said ‘Kouga and Inuyasha do it doggy style.’ He read that and responded back with ‘So does Kiba.’ That was epic.

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Being my first con, and a first year con, I wasn’t expecting much. But I sure got my friends money worth (I wouldn’t have attended if my friend hadn’t have paid for my badge, because I lacked funds). I had a great time and am looking forward to SWACE in March, A-Kon in May/June, Otaku Mex 2009, YaoiCon 2009, and Nan Desu Kan 2009.

I didn’t attend in costume because I lack sewing skill, but there was a decent number of people out of costume, so I didn’t feel too horribly out of place. However, I intend to go in costume to every con I attend from now on.

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Day one was a little slow, starting with Karaoke at 10m, then Anime Univerity from 2pm to 4pm, a Hare Hare Yukai panel at 3pm, Jan Scott-Frazier and a Beginner Cosplay panel at 4pm, Forum Meet & Greet at 5pm, Opening Ceremonies at 6pm, Who’s Line is it Anime and Oldies vs. Newbies at 7pm, AMV How to panel and J-Music: The Basics at 8pm, an AMV Rave and Hentai related panels late into the night, a Yaoi Panel with Yamila at 12am, and then more Karaoke until 4am.

I attended Anime University until 3pm, where I went to the Hare Hare Yukai panel, the Cosplay panel at 4pm, the Meet & Greet at 5pm, Opening Ceremonies, Who’s Line is it Anime, then kinda…. wandered until the middle of the Rave, then went home (didn’t have a hotel room) at around 2am.

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Day two had about double the attendees and was more ‘busy’. Starting at 10am with Cosplay Pre-Judge, Producing Anime at 12am, Decade Long Decade Strong at 1pm, Autograph Session at 2pm, Hare Hare Yukai at 3pm, AMV Competition and Intermediate Cosplay panel at 4pm, Japanese Immersion panel at 5pm, Cosplay Competition at 6pm, Uncle Yo at 8pm, Toybox at 9pm, another AMV Rave and more Hentai until late into the night, MST3K with Kyle at 12am, then Karaoke at 2am.

I attended the Autograph Session, the Hare Hare Yukai panel, Cosplay panel, Japanese Immersion, Cosplay Competition, Uncle Yo, Toybox, and then most of the Rave. I again went home around 2am.

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Day three was slow again, like day one, but still had more people. AMV Game show started at 11am, Voice Dubbing and Advanced Cosplay Panel at 12pm, Game Show at 1pm, another Autograph Session and State of the Industry in New Mexico at 2pm, Skits at 3pm, Hare Hare Yukai right after that, Cosplay Battle Chess at about 4pm, then Closing Ceremonies at 5pm.

I wandered until the end of the Autograph Session, then watched skits, Hare Hare Yukai, Cosplay Battle Chess, and Closing Ceremonies. I left around 6:30pm throughly excited. I was a little peeved at having missed the Advanced Cosplay Panel though, because my ride didn’t leave for the con until 12:40pm.

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The con included at least half of the attendees being Yaoi fans, Over 9,000, videos games, The Game (which you just lost), con funk (set in 6pm, day 2) dealers room envy (no money ;-;), sleep deprivation, and tons of fun. I was…. bouncing all day yesterday, after it ended. All 5 hours until I went to bed. XD

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I didn’t have a camera, because I forgot to ask my grandparents if I could borrow theirs, so I had a couple of friends taking pictures for me, and they’ll send them to me soon, some of which I will be posting on the New Mexico Cosplay Forums.

Overall, I had a great time, and I can’t wait for the next Otaku Mex.