Homemade Kazoku
Known for their musical contributions to Naruto and Bleach, Homemade Kazoku made their second appearance at Otakon just in time for the 20th anniversary. Homemade Kazoku's style can be summed up as early 90s hip hop with J-soul flavor. The three man band have toured in Tokyo's hottest concert venues and they were happy to be performing in Baltimore. Though the members were born in the American Midwest, they are super popular in Japan – we even had HMK fans in the front row with signs and placards. Once the MC's took the stage, the whole crowd was revving. "FREEDOM" had every otaku looking back at Naruto. You can feel the feels in the air. "Itoshi no Mic Check 1,2" encouraged audience participation – which side could be louder than the other. "We Are Family" had everyone singing the familiar chorus originally done by Sister Sledge. As the band finished their set list, people in the audience were chanting, "Arigato!" at the top of their lungs hoping for an encore. The band went back onstage to perform the Bleach ending song. Smiles all around. While I never was quite into HMK as others are, this was a truly enjoyable concert and I'm looking forward to seeing HMK return to the states.

TM Revolution
Believe me when I say, TMR touched me with his robo hand! Out of all convention guests nationwide, the TM Revolution concert had to have been the most anticipated guest event of the 2013 convention year. TMR has made a huge impact in the anime world by providing memorable tracks to popular anime – Rurouni Kenshin, Gundam Seed, and more. He revealed himself to be an ambassador of anime music. Donning some fabulous and furry threads, TMR was a spectacle to be had. The crowd was going wild. The synth pop musician was full of energy to keep going. Everyone cheered when he sang "Heart of Sword" to finish his set list.
However, it was not over yet. Though TMR did stick around for one more encore ("The party must go on"), he was joined onstage again with Homemade Kazoku for one final encore to end them all. The four music guests sang "Tomorrow Meets Resistance." This was a huge surprise to the audience; it was the first time these four have performed together. For many, this was the ultimate musical team up. At the end – we had a cannon confetti to top things off. TMR and HMK were happy to touch the hands of adoring fangirls. This one concert has made this the ultimate anime event of the year.

Masquerade
About 90 minutes after the concert, masquerade was getting ready to go. Though masquerade took place in the same arena as the Saturday evening concert, it was not as full. Only about a quarter of the seats were filled. It was easy to grab a seat close to the stage. This really disappointed me because I always held Otakon masquerade in the same regard as Anime Expo. I could only wish more people would show up and support their fellow cosplayers. Otakon had a (mostly vague)"no video" policy for masquerade, so not even ACP could get some video footage of the show.

There was a lot of talent at this year's masquerade. My personal favorite was the Voltron musical act. There was a team of Voltron cosplayers as the human pilots that did a very well choreographed Voltron street dance act. Some other memorable acts including Kyubey from Madoka as a sleazy business man, acoustic performances, Inuyasha finding work in the pet food industry (times are tough), among others. The quality of craft was very impressive. What I did appreciate about this masquerade is that they took time to remember Marty Gear, a local veteran of cosplay and costuming. While I have only met Marty once in my life, reading upon his legacy and what he has left behind is truly interesting. Any cosplayer worth their salt should know who Marty Gear and what he has contributed to the masquerade world.

Type Moon Photo Shoot and Meet Up
I was wearing Kaleido Ruby from the Fate / Kaleid series for most of the day. I decided to check out the Type Moon photo shoot. I was quite surprised to find a gaggle of Type Moon fans in Baltimore. I missed out on the Type Moon shoot at Anime Expo, but it was finally nice to have people recognize me as Kaleido Ruby, Rin's magical girl form. Like any cosplay meet up, we took pictures of various factions, characters, series in the Nasuverse. What followed after was an ice cream social at Dippin' Dots. It was nice to make new friends who share the fandom as you. It was also nice to wind down Saturday by making new friends.

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