Saturday of Otakon was here. This was also a big Sailor Moon day for Moonies. The morning was filled with Sailor Moon events from the main cosplay meet up in the terrace to a screening of the new Sailor Moon Crystal dub. Eri Kagami was a part of a mega photo shoot with Outer Power Inner Beauty that focused on the princess guardians from the manga. Likewise, Jared was getting in touch with his manime side by cosplaying from Jojo's Bizarre Adventures.

Romi Paku Q&A by Eri Kagami
Romi Paku may be known for her work as Edward Elric on Full Metal Alchemist, but this Japanese voice actress has been involved in many major franchises. When she auditioned for Full Metal Alchemist, she had to go through the process twice and still keeps in contact with some of the people involved in the show. “I love Adventure Time,” says the actress who voiced Finn in the Japanese dub. She talked about how she relates to Finn and Lemongrab the most in the American cartoon series. “I love violence!” says Romi Paku. She expressed how she wants to see more rough and tumble girl characters. While the voice actress is best known for her little boy voices, she has also voiced tough cookies like Nana Oosaka from NANA. She also talked about how she would like to be Hange Zoe from Attack on Titan in real life. The most interesting part of the press conference was talking about working with Tomino on Turn A Gundam. Paku voiced the crossdressing Loren. She remembered Tomino as a passionate man and very energetic when he was directing.

Additionally, we asked her on her work on the Pretty Cure series. Paku voices Syrup, a bird like cute mascot on the show. Paku talked about how she surprised that Syrup is a penguin though he flies and transports the magical girls on the quest. She mentioned she relates tshe relates to his passionate and cynical feelings.

Sailor Moon Cosplay Meet by Eri Kagami
Every year, the Sailor Moon cosplay meet up typically takes place on Friday evening and Saturday morning. Saturday morning drew fewer cosplayers for the meet. The Official VIZ Sailor Moon panel was also running at the same time as the meetup. I went as Princess Pluto soon after the Romi Paku Q&A. Sailor guardians were called to pose followed by villains and requests. The most popular sailor guardians were Sailor Mars and the many incarnations of Sailor Moon. The most surprising thing about the meet up was the diversity of villains. We had Mistress Nine, Allen, Anne, Queen Metallia, Queen Beryl, Rubeus, Demande, and more. This was a great way to meet other hardcore moonies in the Sailor Moon fandom.

Awesome Women in Anime 2.0 by Jared
This panel took a look at a few strong female characters from anime. However, the panel felt really unorganized and the presenter came off as very basic. All of the series covered were series that any Adult Swim/Toonami fan would already know.There was nothing really surprising or interesting in the panel, the only series that got close to esoteric were series with strong female leads like: Gunsmith Cats, Dirty Pair, Noir, and Project A-ko. This was a very weak panel and if it’s a 2.0 then that’s pretty sad, I’d recommend avoiding this panel and hitting up more competently run panels.

Why are Japanese Idols Popular Overseas? by Jared
With the growth in the popularity of Idolm@ster and Love Live it isn’t a surprise to see a panel about the popularity of Japanese idols. The frilly singers have found themselves growing in popularity all over the world from Russia to Mexico. While the panel did not give a definitive answer to the title question, it did look over some of the reasons why idols have grown in popularity. It was a fun panel and it was amazing seeing how exicted people in other countires get over various idol groups.

When Gundam Goes Bad by Jared
While many Gundam panels look at the history or chronology, this panel covered the weird and dumb parts of the Gundam Universal Century. It was fun to listen to someone rage about the parts of Gundam that just didn’t work such as the plot of 0083, Quess in Char’s Counterattack, and strange shift in tone with ZZ Gundam. It’s rare to find fans who spend time to talk about the failing of their favorite franchise, but this panel did a good job of covering the stupid parts of one of the most beloved robot franchises.

Jojo Gathering by Jared
With the growing popularity of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures it isn’t a surprise that there is a large group gathered for the costume photo gathering. There were people from all eight of the Jojo arcs and everything was run in a very organized way. The gathering was held outside and while it was really hot, everyone powered though despite the heavy clothes that some costumes required. It was a great gathering and if you are a Jojo cosplayer give it a go, it will be fun.

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