Ohayocon 2005 on DCM: March 5th 2006

 DeathCom Multimedia sent four photographers to its 5th Ohayocon, excited to see what the new year had in store for cosplay. What they found was not exactly what was expected...

 The lack of new characters was surprising considering the abundance of new faces. We were amazed at the number of first-time Ohayocon attendees, and thus even more amazed that few offered anything that made us ready our cameras and our creativity and pray they'd allow us a photoshoot. What made our cosplay photography the worst, however, was the horrible convention lighting. Anything not taken in the daylight hours in the vicinity of the massive glass ceiling suffered. Even then, the cloudy weather didn't help matters.

 There was also the unfortunate announcement on Saturday night that friend and fellow photographer Kevin Lillard of A Fan's View had suffered a heart attack and was in the hospital. We, as well as many convention staff and attendees, send our deepest sympathies and wishes for his fast and full recovery.

 But with all the darkness comes the light (unfortunately I don't mean the sun). The DCM FanCam turned out better than ever before, both technically and content-wise. We found some of the funniest, most enthusiastic and most interesting con-goers that we've ever filmed. We recognized many faces from Reactor and were surprised just how far some fans would travel for an anime convention. We found some more DCM fangirls as well which is always a delight. "Flattery goes a long way." ;) (And despite one interviewee having a 102-degree fever, your Pikmin host didn't get sick!)

 Ohayocon's 2006 masquerade was also a highlight of the weekend, which is surprising since the past two years it didn't quite shine like it probably should have. There were many very funny and entertaining skits, talented performers and, of course, brilliant costumes. The Naruto and Full Metal Alchemist fans still outnumber just about every other fandom combined, and I think we still have a while before the insanity fades. I was also happy to see that the position of MC isn’t completely dominated by men anymore, although the girls did seem a little uncomfortable in their roles. There was an unexpected intermission between the skits and walk-ons because one poor cosplayer was hurt during her performance, but it turned out to be the most entertaining event of the evening! Imagine a stage full of cosplayers going wild with unrehearsed antics while an EE Jump video plays on either side (or if you want just picture Stripper Vash and a gigantic pink bunny doing the worm)!

 The first convention of the year may not have been everything we expected, but there are still hopes that Ohayocon will return next year, and that future conventions of 2006 will flourish with brand new costumes, cosplayers and fans.
 

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