Art of OniChild: Katsucon XX

A view of the Gaylord Atrium and Garden

I've only attended a few conventions in my life, the one I've been to the most is Otakon back in 2000, 2002, and I think 2004, but it's been so long I can't even remember.

It wasn't until last summer that I started attending more cons, mainly to promote myself and/or Zeldanime, and of course to have fun and get immersed in that subculture. As you may have read from my last post, I attended Otakon 2013, and this past January to kick-off the new year, I attended MAGFest.

This past weekend, I attended Katsucon!

Katsucon didn't really start for me until Saturday. (Friday was of course Valentine's Day, so that was my priority. Plus, the lines to pick up badges for pre-reg didn't die down until 9:30 PM and by that time, the places I wanted to see were closed already.)

Lollipop Chainsaw

I saw people in their cosplays which get better and better every year, I think. Katsucon, to me, seemed to be more about the cosplay than the actual convention. The entire atrium level of the Gaylord Hotel was packed with photographers and cosplayers doing group photoshoots--If you weren't moving, you were either posing or you were in the way of a camera lens...or trying to be out of the way.

One thing that was a bit frustrating is that because it was so photography focused, a lot of the cosplayers I wanted to get pictures of had to dart out of there before I could ask them because they were off to a shoot or a photographer wanted to shoot elsewhere. There was a group of awesome Chrono Trigger characters there but I didn't get a chance to snap a pic. Robo was amazing!

Link and Zelda with Sheik (Rachel's Rupees)

My date and wonderful girlfriend dressed up this time as Sheik and was kind enough to dress up as Jill Valentine from Resident Evil 3. Makes me want to dress up as something, too (but what? It's not anime, but I'd like to dress up as Judge Dredd...)

First off was the Vendor's Room which this time around had a big focus on Mangas and Animes, lots of posters and wallscrolls, and figurines/statues and other accessories like trinkets and plushies. There was a good collection of things for sale, but there was only one booth with Art Books which was disappointing, and a good chunk of it (2/3) was pretty much hentai. One of the items that seemed more prominent at this convention than the others were the printed body pillow cases where half-to-fully nude anime girls (and guys, except some were in suits and even a top hat) are printed so that you can snuggle with it at night. I don't remember seeing them much at the other cons but there were at least 5 places selling those pillow cases here.

Out of all the Gundam models, Eva statues and other action figures I would love to have purchased, I ended up getting this, which I know fellow Zelda-fans would love :

I finally have one of my own!!

Second place we visited was the Artist Alley. Seems like plushies and trinkets (buttons, necklaces, pins, etc.) are all the rage! I saw flat artwork but not nearly as much as I'd expect. Honestly though, I wasn't that impressed with the Artist Alley...The art show was lacking, I heard the quality of some of the crafts was kind of cheap and the artwork wasn't the best I've seen before.

Majora's Mask -themed clock in the Art Show.
(I don't think I was supposed to take a pic of this...)

I'm still surprised as to how Rachel's Rupees and I didn't make it as one of them. They claimed they wanted more "variety", but we have everything (except maybe the trinkets...) Plushies, books, artwork, what else would you want? Probably buttons.
Oh well, there's always next year!

Speaking of which, I've been trying to think of what to include at my table for the Artist Alleys: I was thinking of on-the-spot commissions/sketches/illustrations, and definitely more fan art.

As much as I'd like to promote myself as an artist, you know, making people love me for me, fan art still dominates the Artist Alley, which is kind of disappointing but I guess that makes sense since people are drawn towards things they already know. Hopefully the next convention I attend and get a table (probably Otakon 2014) I will have more than just Zeldanime/Zelda artwork, maybe some more Anime or Western Comic artwork, and hopefully some more products like comics to sell, too. I'll be ready for it!

The Video Game room was small but it was actually kind of nice. Played a few rounds in Smash Bros. Melee + Brawl and won one, lost another (each) and kept the line moving so others could play. Saw some other arcade games in there that seemed interesting but there was always a giant crowd around. It definitely wasn't as big as MAGFest or even Otakon, but that's okay.

I attended Super Art Fight again this convention (my first attendance was MAGFest in January) and this time around, I enjoyed the showmanship of the artists more than the art itself. The first time, I was really focused on the ideas and the artwork itself--I know they're not making their grand masterpiece on these giant canvases, but it's still interesting to see what they could think of. But after the first time, it seemed to be the same type of jokes, so what was more entertaining were the people and performers themselves. I personally liked the first one better, maybe because I understood the themes better or they were more particular (all about video games, the themes this bout were about Valentine's Day: Love, Candy, Hate.) but it was still loads of fun, and I was very lucky to see "Hat", the creator of Super Art Fight and one of the first people to organize Katsucon participate as a contender for his final Art Fight as he steps down from the administrative position at Katsucon.

They auctioned off the canvases at the end of each battle; this sold for ~$350 and proceeds went to charity!

I wanted to attend at least 3 other events, but it was so packed at this convention it was near impossible to get in unless you were sitting in line an hour beforehand. Luckily I had my 3DS and sketchbook to keep me busy while we waited. It was insane just how crowded it was and apparently this was considered "small" because of the severe weather that happened only a day before.
In fact, it was so crowded it took me 20-30 minutes just to get my bags to my room. Every elevator was packed, and checking out was even worse. We got lucky and ended up getting to the front desk before the hordes came rushing down. Whew~

Probably the best moment of the con for me was the last day. Around noon when people were leaving and getting last minute shots of cosplayers, a giant group of people were crowded around dancing to "Jump On it". It was awesome.

Jump on it! Jump on it!

Overall, I think MAGFest was my favorite so far but it's kind of hard to gauge considering the different scenarios and situations that happened or how I attended the other cons. (For example, I had a table in the Artist Alley and didn't really get to experience Otakon at its fullest.) Now that I've at least attended the conventions, I can focus more on the Artist Alley parts of it.
I probably won't attend another convention until summer just because of money and priorities, so Otakon 2014 & AnimeUSA 2014, I'm looking at you!

Here are more images from the conventions: