Otakon Experiences

Otakon 2015 has been the best one (that I have been to) yet! The convention itself was awesome as usual. The guests were very sweet and amazing to have the chance to meet, and the panels and workshops were very interesting and fun. The people who attended the con were all very friendly and polite to one another, and everyone enjoyed themselves. The cosplays this year were so fantastic! A lot of people dressed up this year. It's always nice to see your favorite characters come to life at a convention. Most of the time, the cosplayers will even act like the the character they're dressing up as, so it's like you're interacting with your favorite character! It's so much fun.

I attended the Draft King concert, which was held on Friday. To be very honest, I barely knew anything about the band itself until I heard that they would be performing at Otakon. The only thing I knew was that Nohana and Shiho were previously members of a band that I will forever love, Stereopony, while Mao was an accompanying guitarist for the band. After hearing them open their concert with "Hitohira no Hanabira", I fell in love with Draft King. Erica's voice was amazing, and the 4 members just clicked. Hearing them perform their own songs, my favorite being "This is Me." was awesome! You could see all the energy and spirit all the girls had, and it made the performance unforgettable. When I took pictures (since we couldn't record any video of their performance), it was kinda hard to because the girls lit up the stage, literally! Draft King made such a mark in America for their first time being here. It was a must see performance! After the concert, there was an autograph signing, and after saying my "thank you's" for signing my Otakon guidebook, I was asked to sign a poster welcoming Draft King to America. I, along with all the others who attended the concert, signed the concert and left kind and welcoming messages on it.

Saturday was the best day out of the three for me. On that day, I attended the Draft King Q&A, the Oreskaband Q&A, the Draft King fan meeting, and the Oreskaband autograph signing. It was very busy! Both Q&A panels were very interesting! Many people had questions for the bands, some people even had gifts, and it was nice to be able to get to know the members of both bands better. At the Draft King panel, there was a surprise acoustic performance! It was the perfect follow up to their incredible concert the day before.

The fan meeting was my favorite part of Day 2. Very Good Days organized for the fans of Draft King to be able to interact with the band! I was starstruck and a little nervous. Draft King has been the first Japanese band I've seen perform, and the first band I've been able to meet ever, so it was a little nerve-racking. First, we played Charades with the girls. There were 4 teams, and we got to be on teams with a different member of Draft King. I was in team 2, so I was on Erica's team. First, we had to guess what action or thing our corresponding teammate was doing, and if we got it right, we would get it right. Then it switched around, and the girls had to guess what their teammates were doing. They had to guess the word or action in English though! The team with the most points won Draft King posters, which was super cool! Team 2 was in second place by one point. Darn it! Haha. Then we played Japanese Rock-Paper-Scissors with Draft King. I played with Shiho first, then Mao, Erica, and Nohana. I won about three times in total. Shiho was really good at it! There were also really delicious and very well made snacks made by one of the staff members at Very Good Days. They were Draft King themed for the occasion. And the last thing that happened at the meeting was the unveiling of the surprise "Welcome to America" poster that the fans had signed for Draft King, as well as gifts from Very Good Days, and a group picture with the band and everyone who attended the meeting. It was a very good time for anyone who attended!

Then there was the Oreskaband autograph session after the fan meeting. I know that there was one for Draft King, but I didn't need to go to it, considering I already had their autographs from the concert, and I just came from the fan meeting, but I still regret not going! I'm not sure if this was also the case at the Draft King autograph session, but at the Oreskaband one, we could write out names on a piece of paper, and we could get our autographs personalized! Since my name was a little hard for them to pronounce (my name is Shavone), I gave the band my Japanese-translated name, and Saki wrote it for me in my Otakon guide book, which is where the rest of the band signed as well. Hayami kept my paper with my name on it, and drew a little trombone on it, as well as in my guidebook, because I told her I play trombone at the Q&A panel. I believe I took my picture with Oreskaband on Saturday as well, which could've been achieved by buying a t-shirt from their respective booths. I got a picture with Draft King as well, but that was on Sunday before the concert.

On the last day of Otakon, Oreskaband held their concert. I knew nothing about this band prior to Otakon, but since I spent a lot of time with the band the past day, I went into this concert with my heart beating with excitement and anticipation. This time, we could record video of the concert. I cannot begin to explain how amazing the concert was. Oreskaband is amazing live! The same energy that's present in their music videos is the same exact amount of energy that was there on that stage. I didn't know the names of some of the songs that was being played except for "Carry On!", since it was playing at their booth in the Dealer's Hall, and at the Q&A panel, but I loved all the songs! At one point while I was recording the members on stage, this girl who I was sitting next to tapped me to tell me something: Saki and Hayami were walking through the aisles, playing their instruments! I couldn't believe it. They were waving to attendees and just looked like they were jamming. It was spectacular!!! After the concert, there was an autograph session, and I went for the main purpose of talking to the members, and saying how incredible their performance was. I'll never forget how Tae and Saki were commenting on my hairstyle. When I first met the band, my hair was in two buns on the top of my head. Saki and Tae must of remembered, because on Sunday, my hair was in one bun, and they were joking, saying like, "Where did the other one go?" and that they liked my hair. They were so goofy, and I love them for that. It made my day. iCas remembered me, as well as Tomi, both saying things along the lines of, "It was nice meeting you, thank you for coming out!". Hayami, who speaks the most English, noticed me, and she said she will remember me as "the trombone girl" (which I don't mind at all!), and she asked me how did I enjoy the concert (I enjoyed it very much!!) and if I saw her walking through the aisles (Yes, I sure did!) . After talking to the girls, I was asked to partake in an interview about Oreskaband and how their performance was. I have no clue where to find this interview, but I hope to find it soon!

To conclude this mile-long post, Otakon 2015 was superb, all and all! I hope to see Draft King and Oreskaband again in the future, and I am now a loyal, supporting fan to each band! Thanks for reading the post!