The nice thing about staying at the Radisson hotel is that it offered free breakfast in the morning. Like day one, there were several morning panels that we wanted to hit up. The downside of is that most of these panels occured at 9AM and the convention was a few blocks away. Once we got the convention center, it was already getting packed with people who wanted to beat the heat. Heat advisories were texted in the morning.

A Wizard Did It! by Jared the Greek
This was a traditional long list panel that went over the various fantasy themed series that have come out over the past couple decades. The speaker would give a brief synopsis of the series and then discuss how magic plays a role in that world. It wasn't a great way to start the day because the speaker seemed just as tired as the audience. There was a nice mix of classic and modern series, but nothing you couldn't find on any other fantasy anime list.

Mecha: Or How I Learned To Worship the Gundam by Jared the Greek
This was a different take on the long list style panel. The three hosts chose series based on odd categories like 'dumbest weapon', 'parrot-dy', and 'silliest rivalry'. Each category had one Gundam title, but the other titles ranged from classics like Mazinger Z to Super Sentai titles. It was a light hearted panel that took a funny look at some very serious series. It was a great way to get introduced to new series while also having a few laughs. They said the categories always change which also means this panel continues to remain fresh with each viewing making this one of the best list panels at any convention.

Before They Were Stars by Jared The Greek
This was a panel with a very different way of introducing fans to older titles. This panel looked at series by popular mangaka that either didn't gain major popularity out in the West or are overlooked early titles that never had a release outside of Japan. This was different from the usual list type panels as it looked at the works people would know (Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya, Jojo's Bizarre Adventures, etc) and then showed the obscure titles by the same author. It was a really well done panel and hopefully it will come back next year with more authors and more funny clips of their anime adaptations.

Art Show by Eri Kagami
It's not every year we get to see the art show. Otakon's art show is very unique to this event. Out west, art shows no longer exist. Out east, the art show is at a very small corner that can easily be missed. Otakon's art show is the largest display of fan made creations up for auction. If you don't know what an art show is, the art show is where artist alley artist contribute the best of their work - prints, jewelry, plushes, statues, etc - and attendees bid on them through the weekend. Bidding goes on until 10PM Saturday. There were a few Kantai Collection pieces that were going up for bidding. I ended up bidding on two pieces, but eventually lost out on Sunday morning. It was the first time I ever partaken in an art show. I hope that conventions bring this back and encourage artists to contribute. It's always nice seeing fan art on display museum style.

Artist Alley by Eri Kagami
Artist Alley was held in the same place as it usually takes place. It is still confusing to enter in because of the way the basement level splits. However, I was able to walk around for some time to see what was available. There were a variety of prints for sale from various fandoms both from western and eastern media. There were even some convention tables promoting upcoming cons. They also had a chalk artist drawing the Bon Voyage Otakon poster as the con was going. Artist Alley was worth walking through; I ended up taking home a Hetalia cat plush of Germany.

Vocaloid Photoshoot by Li Mei
I cosplayed Love Ward Miku in the late afternoon/evening, so I wanted to check out the Vocaloid photoshoot at 6:30pm. The Vocaloid photoshoot took place out on the terrace, and even though it was in the evening, the heat and humidity was still going strong. I arrived to the photoshoot late so I missed some of the prompts, including the Miku one. The host called out lots of ships, but toward the end of the shoot, the host also called out for "latecomers," which was really cool! It was the first time I attended a photoshoot where a host had a separate category for latecomers. There was one other "late Miku" besides myself. At this shoot, there was a good number of attendees: it wasn't too crowded, but it wasn't sparse either. There was less meme-ing at this shoot than the other ones I attended; most of the photos were pretty serious, but it was still fun! Everyone looked amazing in their cosplays.

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