Friday Otakon Report!

Over a week after the end of the convention, I've finally gotten around to writing a report about my trip to Otakon. I'm sorry it took me so long to write one. I needed quite a few days to settle down after the weekend, and then I had a bunch of other things to do, like catch up on Idoling!!! episodes and clean up the digital mess that gathered on my hard drive.

Anyway, let me just say that the weekend of Otakon was quite honestly one of the best weekends of my entire life. My experience there wasn't quite as interactive or exciting as some other people's, but it was still something that I'll treasure for many years.

I'm sure that some have noticed that this entry is in the AAA category. I'm sorry to everyone who was hoping for stuff related to anime or other aspects of Japanese pop culture, but I didn't have time to do anything not related to AAA. (Besides shopping in the Dealers' Room, of course.) Otakon is so huge and overwhelming, and there are tons of things going on at the same time. I can really see why it's an entire weekend.

Anyway, let's start from the beginning.

Friday

Friday started off as a normal weekday for me because I told my cousin that I wanted to leave at 2 PM. So, I had half of the day to do what I normally do on weekdays during the summer--eat and mess around on the computer. I also used that time to get myself prepared for Otakon. I cleared out my bookbag and put in things I thought I would need: cell phone, wallet, pens, a printed copy of the Otakon schedule and registration location, and a binder with paper just to give the bag some weight and reinforcement. For some reason, I also stuck my All CD in the bag. I have no idea why decided to bring the CD, but it became useful later. Around 2 PM, my cousin and his girlfriend showed up to take us to Baltimore.

Our plan was for my cousin to drop my sister and I off at the Baltimore Convention Center while he and his girlfriend go out to eat and spend time together. My cousin works in Baltimore, and his girlfriend lives in Baltimore, so they know the area very well. That worked out really well because I would have felt really guilty if I dragged my cousin out to Baltimore, and he didn't have anything to do. He's not a fan of Japanese pop culture, so he probably wouldn't enjoy going to Otakon. It also worked out well because he could park at his usual parking garage.

My cousin said that it usually takes about an hour to get to and from Baltimore, but there was quite a bit of traffic on the way there. Well, it was a Friday afternoon, so that's understandable. Everybody likes to go home early on the weekends. Fair enough. My sister fell asleep in the car, but I was so excited that I couldn't fall asleep even if I wanted to.

We get to the Baltimore Convention Center around 4 PM, and we approach the Pratt Street entrance, which is the entrance that supposedly leads to the registration area. We saw a bunch of people exit out of the Pratt Street entrance, so we just started following them around the corner to the Sharp Street Lobby. Before we actually turn the corner, my cousin and his girlfriend decide to head on out into the city, so we say our goodbyes, and my sister and I head up closer to the door of the Sharp Street Lobby.

When we get there, we take a peek inside, and it just seems like it's the wrong place. Everyone inside had badges, and there were only three directions to go--up, down, or around the corner. So, I thought that going inside might get us into trouble and decided to walk back around the corner to the Pratt Street Entrance. I ask the staff member at the door where to go to register, and she tells us to go around the corner to Sharp Street. We head back to the Sharp Street Lobby, and I ask another staff member where to go to register, and she says she doesn't know. She said that some people say go up the escalator, and other people say go around to Pratt Street. So, we go up the escalator, and the room is filled with people who have badges. I say to my sister, "Let's go back to Pratt Street. I don't think we're supposed to be here."

We go back down the escalator and around the corner to Pratt Street, and there's a new staff member at the Pratt Street Entrance. Thankfully, she's telling everyone where the registration area is: straight up the stairs. So we go up the stairs and breath a sigh of relief as we enter the registration line. Shortly after, I realize that we were just in this room. Yup, the escalator in the Sharp Street Lobby leads to the same room. I couldn't see the big "Registration" signs on the booths because the escalator in the Sharp Street Lobby led us to the back of the room. So, I could have gone in either way. Gah! What a waste of time.

My sister and I finally get registered and take a moment to relax a little after going back and forth numerous times. I take the time to call my mom and let her know that we've made it there and registered. The time was about 4:45 PM, so I ask my sister if there's anything she wants to do since it's still pretty early. (The AAA concert was scheduled for 7 PM.) She asks if we can check out the Dealer Room so she can do some shopping. Luckily, I remember that the dealer room is accessible from the Sharp Street Lobby. So, we go down the escalator (yeah, the same one from before) and head into the dealer room.

The dealer "room" is HUGE. They should call it the dealer hall or arena or something. There are tons of places to go shopping, and my sister and I get kind of overwhelmed. Their little map of the dealer room is no help, especially since it seems like there have been some changes since they made the map, so we just walk around. My sister finds a place that has a bunch of cute T-shirts, and she ends up buying one. I just knew she couldn't resist. After that, we get close to the exit of the dealer room, and I look at the clock on my phone. It was about 5:15 PM, so I asked my sister if we can go ahead and find the place to line up for the AAA concert. We headed out the exit, and I pulled out the map of the convention center to see if I could figure out where to go.

Luckily, my sense of direction was spot on this weekend. I manage to get us to the general area where the line was supposed to be, and I notice a long, snaking line of people sitting on the ground. So, I ask the guy holding the "Line Ends Here" sign what this line is for, and he says, "The AAA concert." Then, he asks, "What are you looking for?" and I say, "The AAA concert." So, he moves back and gives my sister and I room to enter the line. We sit down and take some time to settle down and relax. We've been on our feet the entire time. Soon after we sit, I call my mom just to let her know that we found the line.

Here are some pics of us in the line:


Yeah, I ended up nodding off. Just kidding.

We ended up being in the middle of the line, so it wasn't too bad. During most of the waiting time, we were on one of the "ends" of the snaking line, so people kept on coming up to my sister and I to ask what the line was for. I didn't see anyone ask anyone else on the ends of the line, so maybe my sister and I look more approachable than the other people. Or, it could have been because my sister and I were the only ones that didn't have our backs turned. After the third or so person asked about the line, a guy near us said that we should tell people that the line was for the bathroom.

Around 6:00 PM, the people in the front of the line stood up, so everyone else got up, too. The line started moving, but the people in the front weren't going anywhere. So, I guess the people were just getting closer to each other. Around 6:40 PM, I saw that the people in the front were going down the stairs, and sure enough, the line started moving for real.

We enter the room, and notice that you can just choose any seat you want. My sister and I rush to the center of the room and notice that quite a few rows have already filled up. I ended up choosing seats that were about 15 rows back, but next to the center aisle. My sister let me have the aisle seat so I can have lots of room to jump around.

While waiting for the concert to start, the camera crew was testing out the cameras by pointing them at the crowd. My sister and I got to be on the big screens a few of times. After a while, though, it just got old. Luckily, they took some time outs to play AAA PVs from their new Natsumono single. I decided to take a picture of our view, and that's the moment they decided to start playing the No End Summer PV:



Many other people have written detailed reports of the concert, so I won't go into too much detail about it. Overall, I'd say the concert was GREAT! They picked a good mix of songs that really showcased the group's athleticism and versatility. The MC segments were a lot of fun, too. They were trying to speak entirely in English, and it was sometimes hard to understand what they were saying. Misako's English was the most understandable, but Mitsuhiro did most of the talking. Luckily, his English wasn't too hard to understand. He did a whole lot of "Do you like _____?" and "Do you know ____?"

To be honest, I've never gone to a concert of any groups that I like. All of the concerts I've been to have been concerts of people that other family members like. So, I've never really done more than sit and watch concerts. Of course, there were a lot of question marks about how I would behave at the AAA concert. Would I just sit or stand and watch, or would I be jumping around having fun. Needless to say, since AAA is a group that I actually like, I chose the latter. Yup, I was jumping around, lip synching with the group, copying the choreography when I could, and just goofing off in general. It was the most fun I've ever had at a concert. There were times when I'd decide to try to jump as high as I could. Ahhh youth... One time, my badge went flying up, too. Luckily it didn't fly off of my neck, otherwise I probably wouldn't have been able to find it.

When the concert ended, they announced that there would be an autograph session somewhere. Unfortunately, I missed hearing the location, so I had no idea where to go. My sister and I just ended up following random people. Bad idea... We found the place, but we walked way past the line that was forming. Oops... By the time I realized it, the line was huge. My cousin was already waiting outside the convention center, so I was kind of stuck with a decision to make--enter the line, or just leave. We were at the Charles Street Lobby, which was somewhat near the Pratt Street Entrance where my cousin was waiting, so my cousin walked down to where we were. Surprisingly, he was with our friend Brett.

Brett is a huge anime fan, so he always comes to Otakon. We were actually planning on meeting up with him once we got to the convention center, but he ran out of cell phone minutes. The three of us were planning to go to the AAA concert together, but we just couldn't find him anywhere.

After my cousin and Brett found us, my sister and I started chatting with Brett. It turns out that he actually went to the AAA concert. He said that he showed up late to the concert and had to sit next to the door. If I recall correctly, the seats near the door were way off to the side of the stage. In other words, not good. We told him that we were sitting near the middle, next to the aisle. I told him that I was the one jumping really high, and he said, "I knew that had to have been you." So, I guess he saw me.

After some chatting, I noticed that a group of people was forming in front of the autograph table, so I asked my cousin if I could just wait there to see the group when they come out. He said that was OK, so my sister, Brett, and I all went to join the group near the table. I overheard some Otakon staff saying things like, "For this to work, we've gotta get these people into a line." That's when it hit me. That's when I realized that I had a shot at being mistaken for someone waiting for an autograph. So, when they started pushing people and telling everyone to form a line going outside, I did my best to blend in. Before I knew it, I was in the middle of the autograph line!

See, the way it worked was people lined up for merchandise and then moved to the autograph line after they purchased some AAA merchandise. That huge line I saw was for merchandise, and the bunch of people I saw crowded around the autograph table was actually the autograph "line." So, I actually just cut in front of a whole lot of people. Sorry about that.

Remember the All CD that I just happened to put in my bag before we left? Yup, this is where it came in handy. I pulled out the booklet of the All CD and got it ready to be signed. As time passed, I got closer and closer to the autograph table. Once I got to them, I was starstruck. I couldn't think of much to say to any of them, but I knew there was one thing I wanted to say to one person: Misako Uno.

Misako's birthday was July 16, just a few days before the convention. So, I had fully intended to wish her happy birthday, but I was contemplating whether to do it when I give them the gift or go ahead and do it without the gift. I decided to do it on Friday without the gift just because I didn't know if I would get another chance to do it.

So, when I got up to Misako, I said, "Happy Birthday." No response.... So, I switched to Japanese and said, "O-tanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu!" Instantly, her eyes widened and she had a shocked look on her face. Maybe I was the first one to mention it. At this point, I was in la-la-land. She said something to me. I think it was "Arigatou," but I'm not sure. I think Shinjiro Atae, who was next to Misako, was saying something, but I couldn't tell. I just did a lot of nodding and smiling after I said that. Luckily, I recovered before I got to the last person, Chiaki Ito. I managed to squeeze out a "Mata rainen ne," but I don't think she heard me. She handed me back my All CD cover, fully signed, and I smiled, nodded, and exited the autograph line.



My sister didn't have any AAA merchandise, but she was able to get her Otakon program book signed:


I saw my sister and Brett coming down the line, so I stayed close to the end of the autograph table to wait for them. When Brett got exited the line, he turned around and snapped a picture of the group. An Otakon staff member immediately stood in front of him and asked if he was a member of the press. When Brett said no, the staff member asked for the camera, presumably to delete the picture that Brett just took. Brett told the guy, "I'll delete it myself." So, he proceeded to fumble with his camera and pretend to delete the image. Then, I went up to Brett and just said, "Let's go." So, we started walking away with no objections from the staff member. (I'm still waiting for Brett to send me that picture, even though it's blurry.)

I quickly realized that I wasn't sure if the Saturday autograph session was still on the schedule, so I went back and asked that same staff member. He called over another staff member, and she asked to see the Otakon Pocket Guide that everyone was given after registration. She looked through it and couldn't find anything about a Saturday autograph session, but she knew that there would definitely be one on Sunday. She told me that they might do one after the Saturday Q&A panel, but she wasn't sure. I just said thank you and started walking away.

At this point, we stepped outside and just started gushing. None of us could believe what just happened. Talk about being in the right place, at the right time. I called my cousin over so the three of us could take a picture outside the convention center:



This picture is the reason why I didn't have the gift ready on Friday. I wanted to include a picture in the present, but I didn't want it to be a picture of just me. That would be kind of embarrassing. I wanted it to include the three of us, but I didn't have any recent pictures of the three of us together. So, I had planned to take one outside the convention center. Luckily, we managed to meet up with Brett and take a picture together.

After a bit more chatting with Brett, we headed home. I don't think I stopped smiling for the rest of the night. Of course I just had to tell my mom and step dad everything that happened. After describing every little aspect of the day during dinner, I had to decide what to do... Stick with our original plan of going Saturday morning and hoping that there would be a Saturday autograph session, or change the plan to Sunday. I didn't really need more autographs, and I could give the gift to the staff if necessary, so I decided to take a chance and stick with our original Saturday plan. That turned out to be a bad decision.... If you read other reports, you'll know why.

Anyway, after dinner, my cousin went back home, and I took a shower and got the gift ready. I printed a copy of the picture we took at the convention center, and printed labels with my name, address, and e-mail address. I stuck labels on the gift bag and the two postcards. Hopefully, they don't think that they're supposed to send the postcards back to me. I also wrote messages on the postcards.

After I finished all of that, I went to sleep. I needed to go to sleep early so I could get up early the next day. The plan was to leave at 9 AM.

Would things fall into place as neatly on Saturday as they did on Friday? I sure hoped so.