After the wonderful lesson in waiting in line during the first day, we got a chance to put our skills to practice. We got an early start and had a nutritious (and expensive) breakfast at the hotel then hit the convention floor. Since the panels were a bit lackluster this year, we made a beeline to the merchants room only to find this:

Yep. That’s a line to get into the merchants room. It hadn’t opened for the morning yet, and people were waiting. Eventually, the staff did the same thing as for registration and herded us into the parking garage. Fun times. There are some advantages to waiting though. Since we were at the escalator, we saw some interesting sights.

People waiting in line upstairs for registration

OMG Moogle!

Once in, we spent the next several hours browsing, buying, browsing some more, and buying even more. At some point, we decided enough was enough and had to break for lunch. Despite having a decent buy list, I ended up not getting anything on the list. Somehow, that didn’t stop me from spending a bunch of money. I did, however, come really close to getting the Gift Saber. I saw her sitting in the corner of a booth and had even picked her up to examine her. The detail was stunning and she carried a price tag to match. Since I knew that particular seller had a tendency to overprice (I’d bought from them in the past), I put her back to go back to my rounds. Because she was fairly expensive, I figured she’d still be there when I got back. Boy was I wrong. On my return trip, I learned that she had just been bought not moments before I arrived. I really didn’t need to spend that $140 anyway. Luckily for me, I should be able to pick her up from HLJ for a bit less than the going con rate… One thing is for certain though, I know that’s a figure I want!

After meeting up with an old college buddy, we headed out for some food and conversation. Since we’d relegated ourselves to McDonalds the past two days, we went in search of a place that didn’t have a dollar menu. I may be an otaku at a convention, but I’m an otaku with a steady income. I had to find something that wasn’t the equivalent to instant ramen!

Then it was back to the dealer room to spend more money. I didn’t do as badly in the afternoon, acquiring a pair of figures. Since there really wasn’t much else going on, we dropped our stuff at the hotel and checked out the tail end of the AMV screenings. Of course, the only thing we really wanted to see was the absolutely awesome “Dragonball Z: The Silent Movie” video. If it didn’t win best of show and every other award, I’d have to stop going to Katsucon all together.

Of course, this put us in the perfect position for viewing Masquerade, as the video room was also serving as a simulcast for the actual event. Unfortunately, there were some technical difficulties with sound not always coming through or video being stuck on the Katsucon logo. In all, the viewing experience was subpar and a bit poor considering this has been going on for 15 years. Similarly, the skits that were put on were a bit lackluster compared to previous years. None of them really motivated the entire crowd or drove me to find a recording on YouTube. It was a shame, really.

The evening wore on and we ended up at the “Guest Uncensored” panel, which was marked 18+ and featured an ID check at the door. That alone made it awesome, because all the kiddies and fangirls weren’t allowed in. 🙂 It featured several of the guests from the con answering ridiculous questions, swearing, making rude jokes, and snorting Pixy Stix. All under the guise of a Q&A session. Truly classic. And there was Evangelion bashing. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!?!?! THE ENDING WAS HORRID AND THE BIGGEST DISSAPOINTMENT EVARRRR!!!

The final day was more of the same, with a rounds through the merchant room and random picture taking. Pretty low key right before getting in the car and driving back.

The trunk of my car, in all its glory

The convention itself was enjoyable. however, as an otaku get together, I felt it lacked a certain flair and excitement. The amount of panels felt scaled back (4 panels running at once), the events didn’t have the same “pop” as the past, and even the merchant room lacked a certain something (namely Sasuga Books). Compared to previous years, it also seemed less well organized (4 hour long registration line for pre-regs) and smaller (venue was a bit cramped). Also, with the lack of any seriously interesting guests, it became more of a shopping trip rather than a chance to see and meet some of the industry’s personalities.

With the final day approaching, I think it’s time to summarize my experience at Katsucon 2009. We arrived in DC at around 4pm, after the 7 hour drive from Charlotte. Once we got checked in to the hotel, we made our way to the registration line, only to discover that it had snaked around the hotel, through the lobby, out the door, and down the street. Apparently, there was some “logistical issues” that prevented registration from moving smoothly. It also turns out that those that were buying their passes at the door were granted easy access. Oops. Given that there wasn’t much of a choice in the matter, we stood at the end of the line. While it wasn’t the typical DC February weather, it was far from a tropical day. The presence of sun made it bearable, but the approaching nightfall did not bode well for those of us still standing outside.

  It was a bit chilly outside, and I’d left my jacket in the room

Fortunately for us, convention organizers recognized this as an issue and herded us into the underground parking garage. For better or for worse, this became our home for the next several hours. Small groups would be taken in to the registration area for processing but progress was extremely slow. We didn’t reach the pre-staging area until around 6pm. Almost an hour later, we had our badges in hand and were ready to go.

Lined up like sheep

Our first order of business was to find something to eat. It had gotten late and we were hungry. We checked out the maid cafe, but discovered reservations were required for entry. We were told there was a McDonalds across the street, so we headed out to find it. What we weren’t told was that this “street” was actually a relatively busy 4 lane divided highway. Watching con-goers scurry across and jump the divider was amusing, especially if they were in costume. This provided further amusement once we had sat down to eat. “Hey, isn’t that Rinoa running across the street?”

Since we had gotten such a late start, there wasn’t much left to do besides go to the AMV screening. Most of the videos were fairly blah, but there’s always the one that is the clear leader. This year, it was an interesting pairing of Dragonball and the Sailor Moon piano arrangement. The video was titled “Dragonball: the silent film” and featured every single possible cliché from Dragonball Z. This video is so full of awesome, I’d recommend watching it. It’s available on YouTube.

The AMVs pretty much ended our first day at Katsucon. Before we turned in for the night, we spied a group of girls in some great costumes. I’ll let the picture speak for itself.

A group of girls cosplaying as the FREEing Haruhi bunnies