Con Piece: Escape to OniCon Mountain

During the weekend of October 29th-31st was when I took my escape from the stresses of school and work in order to have some anime fun. Though maybe that was the problem.

OniCon 2010 had some great guest there such as J. Micheal Tatum, Jerry Jewel, Carrie Savage and many more. Though there were a few issues with the convention itself. There were many concerns from myself and other congoers concerning OniCon. Still a good show was put on that many were able to enjoy. If one was looking for an escape from the everyday trails of life then OniCon was it.

One Piece and OniCon 2010
The One Piece fandom was strong at OniCon this year. Personally I didn't notice a rise in One Piece cosplayers compare to last year's OniCon but the One Piece spirit was at this convention. While walking though the convention floor in my Luffy cosplays I kept hearing things like, "Its Luffy!" or "One Piece!" so there were clearly people who liked One Piece and recognize who I was cosplaying as (even if some people said I was Shanks in my Strong World Luffy outfit).

Heck, I was seeing One Piece fans gathering starting on Thursday when I was volunteering for Registration. I was able to see three One Piece cosplayers there and that was from the people I knew. Then throughout the con I kept seeing One Piece fans in awesome cosplays.

The cosplays seen at OniCon were high notch. The One Piece cosplayers really brought their a-game for this convention in my opinion and they looked really nice. The Law that is seen above looked great in person and it was hard to get a picture of him due to his sword that he made himself along with his friend. The suit he wore looked well made and everything about him is sleek! The Sanji himself is just awesome to look at and something that I afraid can't be seen in a picture. Let just say that he has both eyebrows if you know what I mean. haha

Though these were only the tip of the iceburg when it came to the One Piece cosplayers. There was a killer Killer there that was awesome and I was lucky to find him.

One thing that made my heart all fuzzy on the inside was the fact that kids are now growing up with One Piece. OniCon had the honor of having the cutest cosplayers with two little girls cosplaying as Chopper and Young Vivi. These two girls must have been the cutest cosplayers there at the convention and the little Vivi was just a handful. She was bouncing all over the place and seem to have having fun. She was playing around a lot with the little Chopper cosplayer and enjoyed interacting with the other One Piece cosplayers during the photoshoot.

Though I feel bad for Carlson (father, 2nd Place winner of 'Show Me Your One Piece' Contest, and fame Crocodile cosplayer) who had to adjust her wig every ten minutes. haha The Young Vivi eventually won a prize during the cosplay contest for her cuteness so that is great to hear.



So while at OniCon I did catch a small photoshoot that was happening with Carlson and Pyro along with somebody dressed as Lucci. The Lucci cosplayer went all out by providing his own blood as you can see above in the photos. Though another great cosplay is Blackbeard. He had the 'Zehahahaha' laugh down to the dot and held himself nicely.

The *SPOILER!* Timeskip *SPOILER* Luffy was another one that was done by Ally. By the use of makeup, she was able to create the scar and abs that Luffy has. It was very impressive and kind of inspired me to try to give that cosplay a try. I most likely won't be walking around a con bare chested but I do feel like I can pull it off decently.

That Killer is a killer cosplay!

Because of my awesome luck and because I had to take care of my rooming for that night, I missed the DBZ vs One Piece photoshoot but I was able to catch the people who reminded after the photoshoot. Saw some interesting things like a Luffy cosplay with a flag made out of duct tape, a Zoro and Ace tag up and Poche feeling all up on Chopper. All great cosplays.

Yes. You too can have One Piece pencils. 

There were some interesting finds in the Dealers Room at OniCon. Pencils, several POPs and even keychains as big as small sized figurines (that I wouldn't recommend to put your keys on) could be found. There were some awesome shirts  from Japan including one that had Whitebeard on it. Now that is a shirt I really wanted if it didn't cost so much.

To tell the truth there were a good amount of small One Piece things such as phone charms, small little figurines, keychains and magnets. I was tempted to buy everything and either keep it for myself or give it away at the panel. Then I remember that I shouldn't buy so much One Piece stuff.

Can you count how many One Piece things are here?

One thing that made me happy was to see more One Piece stuff from Funimation. I remember seeing one thing that looked like those Mellow things I have been hearing about that came from Japan but it had a Funimation sticker on there to make it a Funimation product. Kind of funny to see but it makes me proud that Funimation is dishing out more One Piece related stuff outside of the DVDs. Now if only they produce more plushies that weren't Chopper.

He so FUFFY~!

Speaking about the cute marketing tool. There were some nice Chopper things as well. That big Guard Point Chopper plush was really tempting because I wanted to just hug it. Who wouldn't want to own that thing! Damn!

Though I did get a cool Monster Point Chopper figure for myself and one of those cute little Chopper figures that you see above. Though if you are a fan of Chopper then this dealers room could help you get your fix of the cute, sugary, goodness of Chopper.

It PUZZLES me how Kuma is that huge compare to Robin and Zoro

Those who love puzzles will be happy to know that One Piece puzzles do exist. That is if you want to put together 300 to 2000 piece puzzle sets. Don't know if anybody bought one but if you did and completed it then please let me see it.

There were a lot of Portrait of Pirates in the dealers room such as the huge Kuma POP along with Strong World Robin and Zoro. Some not pictured includes Strong World Usopp and some sort of mini Chopper POP.

One Piece Fan Panel

During OniCon I had the honor to host a One Piece fanpanel. First off it was amazing that such a thing was approved of but I am not complaining. I am going to complain for the fact that OniCon didn't tell me that I need to provide my own connections in order to hook up my laptop to the projector to display my PowerPoint presentation. Because of that there was no presentation to go along with the panel and no images from the manga to review the new manga chapter. So we were mostly winging it for the panel.

Though the panel still went on and everybody looked like they had a great time. Candy was thrown, prizes were thrown, jokes where thrown, kitchen sinks weren't thrown and everybody had a good time. We went over a bit of news, had a discussion that talked about 'power creep' in One Piece along with Oda's 'art style' (aka Boobs), some trivia questions were asked and we went over Chapter 602.The audience was the best that any panelist could ever hope for. We all had fun talking to each other and just throwing in our inputs on the chapter. Some people got a laugh that Perona still had a chance in being the next StrawHat. We also put in some input on the fact that Zoro should be dead and how cool it would have been if he had a sword for a hand. haha

My co-host for the panel except he wore pants and didn't have a mask on.

This panel was apparently a heavily waited event among One Piece fans at the convention. There was a line forming in front of the panel room at least twenty minutes before the panel started and the (small) panel room was filled up right when people were allow to come into the room. There were people standing up, people sitting on the floor. Heck if they would have allowed it (and possible) then I think we would have people sitting on the walls! Then what was crazier was that there was still a line forming after the panel started with people waiting to see if they could go in. The security at the door told me people were crying to get in (I SORRY!). Clearly my expectations of ten people attending the panel were blown out of the water.

I would like to give thanks to everybody that came to the panel! I really appreciate your support for the series and showing it so loudly. You guys were an awesome audience for putting up with my antics and coming to this panel. This was a learning experience for myself since now I know I need to bring my own connections and not have so many questions featuring Funimation. Still it was cool that we were able to give away all our prizes and most of our candy. You guys were awesome and once again shown me that One Piece fans are just an awesome bunch of people.

Special thanks goes out to my friends Pablo and Jennifer. Pablo came to OniCon just to be my co-host for the panel. Jennifer agreed to recording part of the panel even though she isn't a One Piece fan. Another big thanks go towards Allyluvsu13 from Twitter and anybody else for passing along the word that there was going to be a One Piece panel at OniCon.

Except video(s) from the convention to be up for those who are interested in how it went or were unable to attend.

Con Overview
Now time for the tough part of this con report. OniCon overall wasn't really that impressive and was kind of a disappointment. I am sure that many congoers did enjoy their time at OniCon but the overall experience wasn't great. Maybe it was because I decided to volunteer or maybe it was the fact that I was annoyed at the con staff due to their lack of email response. Maybe it was both but there was something about this con that rubbed me the wrong way and that is considering J. Micheal  Tatum really made me happy before and after I talked to him. haha First off I go over the two things that really hurt OniCon in my opinion which was the location and administration.

The Houston Marriott Westchase is too small to hold OniCon. The hallways are too tight to handle the crowds that OniCon draws and the structure of the hotel isn't very good. This was a complaint that I kept hearing from congoers who went last year and I can see it now. When there is no option to take the stairs and you are force to take the elevators thus having to stand in line to get to your room on the fourth floor then there are some problems. It was a real pain to get from one side of the convention to the other since you had to walk in a tighty pack hallway if you wanted to get from the Artist Alley to the small Panel Room 3. The fact that there is a small panel room is crazy since it easily fills up compare to the other two and gives a bad impression to the person that uses that panel room. I know that the con staff try to adjust the layout of the convention like moving the dealers room to a bigger room in order to solve the problems from OniCon09 but that isn't enough. OniCon needs a location that is big and the Marriott Westchase isn't that. The George R. Brown Convention Center (the location OniCon was in 2008 and years prior) would be the ideal place but really anything at this moment would be better then the Marriott Westchase.

The second problem was the con staff. I don't want to bad mouth them but they didn't seem very organize this year. The fact that the site was inactive for almost two months and then one day had a massive update with about five guess doesn't look good to outsiders who are new to the convention. Then there was the fact that I tried contacting them three times before getting a response about press and a panel doesn't settle well with me. I understand that OniCon is a volunteer run event but some sort of professionalism is required.  At least reply back to emails.

Though not all of the con staff were like this. Some members of the con staff seem to be lacking in their job but others I know where right on top of their job and got their stuff done. The organization though did felt rush such as with the panels. It felt like there were very little panels at OniCon this year. Only one panel room was open on Friday with events while there was only two panels going on Saturday night. Usually there is a lot more going on as in panels on those two days. Either not many people sign up for panels or the guy in charge of panels wasn't doing a very good job of things though the first reason does explain how I got a panel. haha There were panels that also got cancel like the 'DBZ vs Naruto' one that was suppose to happen after mines and the 'Anime Dating Game' that was suppose to happen on Saturday night (which was one reason why I went to the Yaoi Social).

The panels that were there and actually happen were really good. OniCon did have the chance to have Anime Game Show Host, Greggo. His panels are fun to watch and worth going to if he happens to be at a convention. I met him at Kamikaze Con this past spring and it was great to see him again at OniCon. Greggo is a must see and it is fun to try to play along while he is hosting a show.

Then there was some sort of One Piece Fan Panel that I heard was good. It had a long line to get into and filled up it's panel room. heeheehee

Then because I didn't felt like going to the rave that was hosted by Greg Ayres, the 'Yaoi Social' was a great way to kill time (also as mention before, the Anime Dating Game was canceled). Apparently there is a difference between a "Yaoi Social" and "Yaoi Fest". The social plays videos of yaoi situations and have small skits and games. It was entertaining to watch and educational.

Mikey's friend with Jerry Jewell and J. Micheal Tatum

Tatum was late to the OniCon party since he got there on Saturday but the Q&A panel that he was in with the two other VAs from Fullmetal Alchemist was a good one. Some things that you may want to know was that Tatum had a speech impediment as a kid. The funny part was that Tatum's speech therapist was British. haha I can only imagined how those speech sessions were since Tatum had somebody with a British accent to work with. It just that it really helps to correct speech problems if your therapist can say the word correctly.

There were a good amount of voice actor panels which I am glad to hear though I couldn't attend them all. I am sure they were fun and I hope that the people that attended them enjoy the stories that Tatum, Jerry Jewell and others had to share. Though I did get an interview with Tatum. A nice LONG one! So expect to see that one coming up eventually in TWO pieces. haha Boy will this be fun to transcribe. haha

 This wasn't a skit but I sure wish it was.

"Well that was lame."
-Person in first skit at OniCon

Yes you can say that again Timmy.

There isn't many nice things to say about the skits at OniCon. They were not that great or funny. There was a Naruto/Star Trek skit (Don't ask me how that is possible) that was kind of funny but it was filled with endless memes that you can find on the internet. Another skit was some guy cosplay from 'V for Vendetta' and all he said was "The Game". Then he got off the stage. The other skit was possibility the best in my opinion which was a guy reciting what I think was a speech from a video game. It was very dramatic and nicely done. The rest of the 'skits' were either somebody singing something or dancing which should be it's own category.

Here is a good idea to measure how good the skits were. The improv skits at the Yaoi Social were better then most of the skits at the cosplay contest. It is kind of disappointing since last year there was so many great skits.

Cosplay

Friday: Luffy (One Piece)
Since my little brother couldn't make it to OniCon to cosplay as Yoru from Shugo Chara, I was able to give some much needed love for my Luffy cosplay. Due to the recently excitement caused by watching the Skypeia arc in Season 3, 3rd Voyage, I wanted to go for a more Skypeia influenced Luffy by putting on a black arm band and a white rubber bracelet.

Also I think that dude in the picture above me have the same hat. haha

Saturday: Mikado Ryugamine (Durarara)
This group cosplay was fun even though the response wasn't what I was expecting. haha (Such an attention whore you are Mikey.) A friend of our cosplayed as Celty and she looked really nice. Still this was a fun cosplay to do since we had so many poses as a trio. There was a few serious poses along with the happy one that you can see above. A joke for the weekend among us was that everything we did together was a pose since we are naturally friends and play our part that great. haha

Sunday: Luffy (One Piece: Movie 10- Strong World)
In reality I should have done this one on Friday since it is newer but I don't know why this was shifted to Sunday. Overall it is a fun cosplay and glad that I have this big jacket to keep me warm when needed. One day I should work on making that bazooka.

Below is a sideshow of all the pictures I took related to OniCon

A good turn out for cosplayers overall. There were more Durarara cosplayers then I thought but not as many that I wish. There seems to be a raising tide of Hetalia cosplayers which I can't complain though personally wish to see more genderswap versions of them. haha Props to the Mario cosplayer with the green pipe though since it was very creative. A good way to add a twist to a popular and many times seen cosplay.

The con did have some fun moments but there were just a lot of lackluster moments that help cover up those fun moments. I did enjoy the fun parts of this con but there are a lot of things that need to improve for next year that I hope the con staff would do. I am sure that a lot of people had fun at OniCon and I am very happy for you but it was hard for myself. Anything that involved the voice actors, One Piece or shopping was mostly fun and I enjoyed those moments.Got to talk to some great voice actors. The One Piece fans were strong and the panel was great minus a few things. Got some great things to take home. So there are some nice things to say.

To a better OniCon next year and may you leave for a bigger location for next year!