Con Report - Katuscon 13

It's been 3 straight days of anime, manga, video game galore at Katsucon 13 held this past weekend at the Omni Shoreham in Washington, DC, and my body has only now succumbed with extreme exhaustion and satisfaction. There is no doubt that I'm glad that today is a holiday...I need time to recuperate. There's just so much to report (so get ready for a looong entry) and I'm sure to miss some highlights from Katsu 13 - both the good and the bad. This year, I spent less time with the live programming and concentrated more on the merchant's room and on the video programming. There were only a handful of live events that caught my interests. So with that all said, let's hop to it!

COSPLAY

Cosplay this year seemed dry and ordinary. In addition, I felt that the number of cosplayers have been decreasing for the past 2 years. I was unable to get a costume ready in time for this con, unfortunately. But anyways, there's only so much Sailor Moon, Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, and Bleach I can stand...give it up already!! Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts is always a popular theme for cosplay. They made their appearance once again, but at least the frequency of FF cosplayers were subdued. I was happy to see less Inu Yasha cosplaying (thank you!!!) but there was enough there to start to tick me off. Silent Hill also made an appearance, as well as The Sims. There weren't any costumes that blew my mind comparing to other years...I still remember the Jin-Roh and FF: Spirits Within cosplayers about 3 or 4 years ago.

LIVE PROGRAMMING

The usual events graced its presence at Katsu 13 - dance, iron artist, artist alley, and cosplay to name a few. Peelander Z, the j-pop/rock band gave 2 hyperactive concerts (Friday and Sunday) -- they're hilarious if anything. Some events worth mentioning includes the Art of Speed Grapher. It was great to see others who enjoy the series and hear from the Associate Art Director of Funimation, Antimere Robinson. I also enjoyed the WOW TCG Demo.

Hayato and Val of Duel Jewel had an autograph and photo session and showed their exclusive live concert from their recent performance in Japan. It was a great and life-stopping moment when I came across Hayato and Val in the Merchant's room, they definitely took me by surprise.

VIDEO PROGRAMMING

If there were any improvements at Katsu this year, it was with its live programming. I was able to catch a good range of anime and live action series.

Let's start with live action, most of which I'm happy to report were in its original language. "Great Yokai War" is a remake of the 1968 film and has a nice plot and a nice amount of comedic elements. A young boy is chosen as the "Kirin Rider" and is given the responsibility of leading Japan's ancient Yokai spirits in their war against the evil monsters empowered by the "things thrown away by humans." I'm not very versed in history, but if you've seen enough anime like me, you can recognize some Yokai spirits. For example, if you've seen Azumanga Daioh, the second year culture fest episode includes references to the wall and paper umbrella spirits.

From good old samurai movies to old-school anime to street gang movies, "The Hidden Blade," "Tetsujin," and "Time and Tide" brought more veteran anime fans together. "Time and Tide" was a pleasant surprise.

Moving on to anime. Looking for nonsense laughter, I was able to sit down and catch "Kamichu," Ninja Nonsense," and "Super Gals" Season 2. Another pleasant suprise was "Paradise Kiss." The animation is flawless and the plot is nice and light. A stressed-out 3rd year high school student runs into some design students preparing for their annual school fashion show. Though "Paradise Kiss" may seem like your ordinary romantic comedy, I think that both guys and girls will enjoy it. Other series include "Coyote Ragtime Show," "Disgaea," and "Gakuen Heaven."

MERCHANT'S ROOM

Ah, the merchant's room, where every fan can find that perfect item or items for their collection. There was a really great selection of stores this year, probably the best for Katsucon. I was happy to see that the FF potions were available for purchase and the pinky street finally makes an appearance. It seems that more and more people are jumping into the pinky:st craze. The Tohru and Henrietta pinkys, 2 of the rarest pinkys, was also available for about 100 dollars. My wallet was definitely impacted, but it was worth it. Some items I took home include a Last Exile Figure and some artbooks including Range Murata's Form Code 3rd edition - stunning beauty to say the least. I had always seen screen shots for the Cloud and Sephiroth figure, but never got to see it up close. If I could have gotten anything during Katsu 13, it would have been this magnificent piece of art belonging in a museum. Sadly, it'll have to stay on my wish list. The picture does absolutely no justice to the figure. Just seeing it is breathtaking.

So, what was my whole take on Katsucon 13 (16 Feb-18 Feb 2007)? Overall, I thought Katuscon 13 provided some nice entertainment and a bountiful stash of anime goodies. There was a great number of younger kids on Saturday, but luckily most did not stay for the entire con. I was able to "be with my own kind" and share my appreciation and passion of the industry. I still haven't found the spark I felt in Katsucon in the past years. They really slipped up last year, but made a vast improvement this time around, though not in all respects. Their lack of Japanese guests was trifling. The guests are one of the most important aspects of cons for me. This is also for the first year the photo areas were implemented. While I understand the need and feel that it did make a difference, I felt that some potential photo ops were discarded simply because of the unwillingness to stop what you were doing and walk to the nearest photo area. Be that as it may, hopefully this marks the beginning of recuperation. Based on the experience, I hope to go to Katsucon 14 next year.

Live Programming = C+/B-
Video Programming = B/B+
Merchants Room = B-/A
Cosplay = C+/B-
Organization = B
Guests = D/F
Overall = C+/C (Average)