KatsuCon 11

I managed to make it out to Arlington this weekend for the final day of KatsuCon. This is one of the larger conventions "dedicated to the celebration and promotion of international animation, comics, and video games, as serious (and enjoyable) forms of entertainment".

I've never been to one of these before so it was cool to see the enthusiasm with which these folks support their chosen niche. In essence it is really just an japanese anime convention populated by otaku (a variety of geek (or an overly obsessed fanboy / fangirl) specializing in anime and manga).

There are large video rooms where anime tv shows and movies go on all day and night. I watched an episode of a show called Miami Guns where "spoiled rich girl Yao Sakurakouji decides to join the Miami police force to enjoy car chases, gunfights and wanton destruction. The psychotic and not-too-bright Yao is partnered with Lu Amano, the soft-spoken and sharp-tongued daughter of the police chief. Together the dirty duo clean up the streets of Miami and take on a mysterious crime syndicate known only as 'The Organization'." They had to infiltrate the Miami Girls School to find out the mystery behind the disappearances of scantily clad students! You get the picture.

There was also a concert by Psycho Le Cému, a popular Visual Kei band. the vast majoity of fans at the convention were practicing cosplay which consists of dressing up as a character from popular anime or manga. There were some extremely strange ones there.

There are also many other things to see such as a huge merchants room with every type of fanboy merchandise, many artists on hand selling and showing their wares and a large video game room where a lot of 14 year old boys were sweating and showing their skills at games like Dance Dance Revolution and Halo 2.