Visual Novel panel by Jared
One of the most popular genres of gaming in Japan is the visual novel.  Recently visual novels have made a push in the US and this panel covered some of the newer titles and the reaction of the gaming community.  Many people shared their favorite games and several requests were made, but sadly no promises or surprise reveals due to the nature of the industry.  With the growing market and the push via Steam it seems like some of the more story heavy visual novels will be making their way overseas and while the erotic visual novels will still be around it looks like the public is starting to understand that not all visual novels are 30 hour pornography adventures.

Tabletop RPG panel: by Jared
While many of the panels were focused on watching and exploring anime, this panel looked at how to ‘play’ anime.  Pen and paper role playing has been around for decades and this panel explored how it came to Japan and how it influenced Japanese culture.  The panel showed off the differences in the art and presentation between the books in the US and Japan in addition to showing the manga-style ads to promote table top gaming.  The panel concluded with various recommendations for anime style table top RPGs and people giving advice on how to build a group.  Some of the games that were discussed were: Maid, Dungeon World, Dungeons and Dragons, and Shinobigami.

Cosplay Lip Sync For Your Life by Eri Kagami
Also an Otakon tradition! One of my favorite events from the main Otakon was Cosplay Lip Sync For Your Life. I told my colleague, who was running the main events room, that she would be in for a treat. Based on Rupaul’s Drag Race, two cosplayers enter to lip sync and show off to a song – the most fabulous one wins. Songs are released two months in advance on the Otakon Vegas tumblr so attendees know what they are getting into. Such selections this year included “Electric Shock,” “Fantastic Baby,” “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” “Dance Magic,” “Mister,” and more. The audience sang and cheered along. There was a very positive vibe in the main events hall. The final round was “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from Mulan. I’m really happy this made it into the main events hall on Friday evening. At Otakon in Baltimore, this was shoved in what I assumed was the karaoke room in the Hilton. If you’re at Otakon Vegas, this is a great way to wrap up your Friday evening.

Fashion Show by Eri Kagami
As a part time member of the Las Vegas Lolita community, I went to the fashion show immediately after cosplay lip sync to show support. I had no idea what to expect. I figure this would be locals showing off original work. However, this was a cornucopia of J-fashion and more. What I liked about the fashion show is that it had a diverse array of Japanese street fashion and it was explained in depth as the models were going up and down the makeshift runway. Lolita was showcased, but they also had other styles such as Kogal, Ganguro, Kigurumi, Decora, Mori, Otome, and others. I liked it was not just girly girls in Lolita frills who were participating in the fashion show, but gents also rocked a kigurumi and various styles of visual kei. Following the fashion show was a group photo. There were about 30 or so participants in the Japanese street fashion show.

Otakon Vegas does not have much of a nightlife. Unfortunately, Otakon Vegas did not bring any concerts this year. It was a huge disappointment from our group since a lot of us were hoping for members of JAM Project to return (or special events concurrently happening at the same time such as the Anisong event). However, the Las Vegas strip has great places for cosplay photos and great eats for those who wanted to explore outside Planet Hollywood.

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