The three day con began on Friday morning. There were already lines in front of the Starbucks in the dim litted main lobby. Cosplayers were already entering in the Miracle Mile shops dropped off by either Lyft or parents. The registration line was already handing out the casino chip themed badges to attendees. Curious onlookers were perusing the artist alley to see why people were all dressed up. The nice thing about cosplaying on the Las Vegas strip, hotel guests and casino patrons never second guess what you’re wearing. There’s no judgement here. You might even see Steve Blum nonchalantly wander the artist alley.
Opening Ceremonies
Opening ceremonies took place at 1PM on the first day. The guests were introduced to the attendees as part of the show. Guests this year included Erica Mendez and Lauren Landa who were planning on doing a few Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune themed panels for the event since they are the new voices for the Sailor Moon VIZ dub. Hiroshi Kitadani, one of the five members of JAM Project, promoted his concert on Saturday. The manager for sumo wrestlers, Byamba and Yama, discussed when there would be a sumo wrestling demonstration on Saturday. Opening ceremonies was a low key introduction of the weekend’s guests and a chance for the VIP’s to promote their panels and events.
Vocaloid Shenanigans Panel
Originally, I wanted to attend the Cosplay Is For Everyone panel because it was one of the few panels on the scheduled that caught my fancy. However, the Vocaloid panel spilled over when there were no shows. I wanted to give these kids a chance. It looked like it started out as a typical “Ask A” panel, but then resolved to a random dancing panel. The Vocaloid tweens played popular music from the franchise and got people in the audience to dance along. I admit that I did go up to dance to “Pon Pon Pon.” This was one of those shenanigans panels that engaged the audience; I probably would not have attended if I was seeking another panel.
Artist Alley
One of the first things to check out at Otakon Vegas was the open artist alley. Because of the scarce space in the Planet Hollywood conference center, artist alley was open in the public space above the casino. Artist Alley was more or less the same size as 2016. However, I felt there was not much variety in terms of art wares being sold. I felt last year had a nice balance of prints, jewelry, and fandom paraphernalia. While I did appreciate seeing prints from a multitude of fandom outside of anime, it didn’t feel as plentiful in terms of artistic offerings compared to in the last. The artist alley was moved into main events on Sunday to make way for a previously reserved event for the main lobby.
Dealers Hall
The dealers hall is a small and humble one. It had your usual anime dealers hall knick knacks from figures, keychains, shirts, and model figures. If you are a figure collector, this was the place to be. I spotted many a Love Live figure being sold at the median price of $25. If you like collecting alpaca plushes, this was also the place to be. I can only name of one DVD / home video seller, but they were swamped with Love Live and Kantai Collection figures. I was quite surprised to see Tasty Peach Studios, a wig store based on the east coast, make their presence here at Otakon Vegas. Additionally, the dealers hall also sold jewelry, steampunk accessories, and an asorrtment of geeky shirts.
Lip Sync for Your Cosplay
One of the highlights of Otakon Vegas, and a unique event to the west coast convention scene, is Jez Roth’s Lip Sync for Your Cosplay inspired by Rupaul’s Lip Sync for Your Life. Two random audience members would be selected to lip sync to either a Disney, anime, k-pop, or American top 40 song. All songs were named prior to the con so that the audience knew what they were getting into. Judging is based on how well your perform and lip sync to the tune. I went up on stage as Cyber Nico to perform “Start Dash” from Love Live. While I had a great time being Nico on stage and trying to remember the Start Dash routine, my opposite ended up pleasing the judges more. However, no matter who the judges pick, this is a fun event to watch. Such songs this year included “History Maker” from Yuri on Ice, “I Am the Best” by 2NE1, the opening to One Punch man, etc. The final song was set to “This is Halloween” from Nightmare Before Christmas. Lip Sync for Your Cosplay is one of the most popular events at Otakon Vegas - there were people even standing in the back of the room!
Video courtesy of Claudine Roselle Puente:
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