From February 12th to the 14th, Katsucon held its annual convention in the Gaylord National (yes, you read that right) Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, MD. With a brand new and much larger venue this year, the surroundings and the inside of the con itself were quite a sight to see. I traveled down to Katsucon with my good friends Ernie from Out-Of-Time Productions and Scott from The Anime Almanac. For more coverage of the convention, be sure to visit their sites.

The following is a summary of the events that I attended at Katsucon 16.

  • Panels & Events
    • Podcasting – DJ Ranma S of the Anime Jam Session podcast discussed how to get your own podcast started, along with the software, hardware, and the know-how needed.
    • Guests Uncensored – A hilarious panel where several of the voice actors and other guests who were at the con told some interesting stories… once they had some alcohol put in them, that is.
    • Cosplay Masquerade – Wasn’t too great, but there were a few skits that really stood out above the others. The winner for “Best in Show” was a Macross skit that I felt was well deserving of the award.
    • FUNimation Industry Panel - Adam Sheehan of FUNimation announced they have rescued the license on the popular anime series Trigun and will be releasing it on Blu-ray and DVD. They also showed trailers for their new and upcoming releases.
  • Video Programming
    • Strike Witches - The anime series known for popularizing the #WarOnPants made its US screening debut at Katsucon. I watched a few episodes of it, and the dub seems good. It’s not great, but I think it will grow on me as I watch more.
    • Hayate the Combat Butler – Watching this show is always a good time. If you haven’t seen any of it yet, I suggest you check it out.
  • Dealers Room
    • Some interesting stuff this year. I picked up some figures to add to my growing collection as well as some anime DVDs.

  • Venue & Surroundings
    • New Location – The new location was a huge step above last year’s location. The inside of the Gaylord Convention Center looked very nice, and some parts had an outdoor look to them, even though they were technically indoors.

    • Food – This was pretty much the only problem with the new location, but it was a big problem at that. There weren’t any fast food restaurants nearby. All of the restaurants in the area or in the con center cost an arm and a leg. The restaurant inside the hotel we stayed at turned out to be a super-fancy restaurant with terribly small portions and outrageous prices. Dinner cost me $55 there. The only decent place to eat was a breakfast buffet, but even that cost $20.
  • Issues with Con Management & Press Relations
    • On Saturday, there were no bags allowed in the dealers room. I understand cons do this to prevent theft, but it’s extremely frustrating for an honest con-goer like myself, especially considering that I had a press pass. I keep lots of important things in my bag that I like to have on me at all times.
    • Despite having been approved for a press pass, I still had to pay $40 to get in due to some issues with registration that I don’t fully understand myself. At any rate, I was not happy with this.
    • There was a Christian Conservative convention going on right next to Katsucon, in the same building. The two conventions were even sharing some areas (such as the cafe) so there was some overflow. This was not good, as it created many “conflict of interest” issues and even involved in some people getting arrested. Check out DJ Ranma S’s post about this for more details.

If you’re wondering why I have no photos of cosplayers, it’s because none of the cosplayers really “stood out” at the convention. I’ve always been very picky with the cosplayers I take photos of, so I usually don’t post many pictures anyway. However, here’s one photo of Estelle and Rita (Tales of Vesperia) cosplayers that I thought were pretty good:

Overall, I did have some fun at the con, but also had plenty of issues with the way the con was managed and the lack of cheap places to eat. The lack of good panels/events was another issue I had, as there really wasn’t much of interest going on throughout a good bulk of the con.

Will I go back next year? I think so, simply because Katsucon has been a part of my yearly “conventions to go to” list for the past 3 years.

OVERALL RATING FOR KATSUCON 16
3 out of 5