Upon looking at the schedule, there were already several panels we wanted to cover before noon. Otakon had a very robust morning schedule from discussions on Kantai Collection, Sailor Moon, and Anne of Green Gables. There already was much to do and see at Otakon and this was just the beginning.

Kantai Kaigun: Kantai Collection by Jared The Greek
As Kantai Collection continues to grow in popularity there are more panels about the characters and the ships they are based upon. This panel was an opinionated exploration of several of the boats set by the importance of their class. The designs were critiqued and the way the real designs influence the character designs was discussed. The host had some strong opinions about the different characters. However, the opinions didn't upset the audience because the host defended his opinions with various facts. It was an interesting panel and a good way to being our Otakon adventure.

Wotagei by Eri Kagami
Myunite of New York City was hosting this workshop on how to use glow sticks to honor thy idol. In Japan, idol culture has bastions of fans. These fans are known as "Wotagei." Often times, Wotagei would bring glowsticks to show their love and support for their idol group at a live show. People cannot deny the popularity of idol shows like Love Live that have also spawned off live concerts. The panelists not only gave away free glowsticks to attendees, but they also taught them how to do specific routines to idol songs from iDolm@ster, Love Live, Wake Up Girls, and more. This was the panel that gave me the best workout at the con.

CLAMP Photoshoot by Jared the Greek
Day one gatherings can sometimes be small, sadly this time the early day one Clamp gathering had about six people. Characters from X, Card Captor Sakura, and Tsubasa gathered for a small, but fun gathering. I cosplayed as Watanuki from xxxholic and fit in great with the other characters due to the multiverse connections of the various series. It was short, but nice gathering that didn't get much attention, but due to that it was an interesting way to meet new people.

Gundam the Origin Dub by Jared the Greek
It is always nice to stop by the video room to watch something new. On Friday they were playing the first two episodes of Gundam: The Origin and following it up by the dub premiere of episode three with a couple of the US voice actors for an after episode Q&A. The dub is your average mix of green horns and veteran anime voice actors making for a mostly enjoyable experience. If you are a Gundam fan or have interest in the franchise give the OVA series a watch.

Love Live Photoshoot by Li Mei
I attended my first Love Live photoshoot at Otakon! It was my first time attending a fan gathering for an idol fandom, so I was really excited to check it out. The start time was 1:30pm and the location was the outdoor terrace, so it was unfortunately outside during the hottest time of day. We were all sweaty, and I shared blotting sheets with some other cosplayers. At the beginning, the host was not present, so we waited for a bit before a few people volunteered to run the shoot. The heat was no fun, but the gathering was definitely fun (and full of meme-ing). Lots of cosplayers dabbed for photos (myself, included!), but there were also lots of cute heart poses. We embraced the breeze whenever it graced us with its brief presence... And by embrace, I mean literally embrace: we reached out to the skies and turned our faces toward the breeze. I stayed for most of the photoshoot, but I left a few minutes early since the heat and humidity was getting to me. Quite a few others left early as well!

Kimono as Costuming by Jared the Greek
This panel looked over four classic Japanese films: Zatoichi, Yojimbo, Sakuran, and Onmyoji. Story and significance of each film was discussed. Then the clothes and costumes from the movies were examined to explain how they were accurate to history and what the designs meant. It was a much more interesting examination of traditional Japanese clothing by applying it to classic films making it a much more interesting way of learning about traditional clothes.

The First Anime by Jared the Greek
This panel looked at the early history of animation in Japan. From early test reels and rare short films from the turn of the century. This led into the most interesting part of the panel that covered the World War II propaganda that came in the form of children's animated shorts. The craziest of these was a film that has Mickey Mouse leading an army to invade Japan while Japanese folk heroes defend the country. Finally, the panel explored the post war era that led into Tetzuka's works and future animation. This was a great panel that covered a rarely discussed part of Japanese history and was one of the few ways to see some of these old forgotten shorts.

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