Our Otakon coverage is not over yet! MELL agreed to spare us a few minutes of time for an interview  and Q&A session at Otakon, in the cracks of her hectic schedule.

To refresh your memory, let's go over what happened at her concert on Friday, July 17 2009, followed by some Q&A. Read on down, too, for some pictures from the concert.

You ever wonder what's in those grab bags they sell at cons? Well, in a stroke of investigative journalism while at Otakon, I went ahead and bought one, just to report the results to you. This time, we actually have the video working, unlike when we shot it in Mike's house -- and you can find it waiting for you after the jump.

Having been separated by the unboxing for a week or two, I've gotten past the disappointment that I felt not long after the unboxing. After the video, I fell into a sense of despair over the purchase, but at the very least, the Tales of and Disgaea figures hold prominent places on my desk, while Komori-chan is hanging off my PSP with pride.

Have any of you gone and bought grab bags at cons before? What was inside them?

Music, manga, singing, songwriting, guitar playing...Portland native Rebecca Hollcraft (aka Becca) is a full multi-media package. A musician since childhood, she found a friend and eventual a collaborator in Grammy nominated songwriter Merideth Brooks after Brooks heard a tape of Becca singing at age 13. A handful of years later and Becca found herself signed to Sony Music Japan in 2008.

From there music from her debut album Alive! was featured in several TV shows, as well as two anime series in Japan, both Ultraviolet: Code 044 and Kuroshitsuji. More recently she played at the 2009 Otakon in Baltimore, alongside Kanon Wakeshima, Mell and Naomi Tamura.

I had the chance to fire a few question over to Becca before her appearance at Otakon. Que up her MySpace page and read the results, and more, after the jump!

Yutaka Yamamoto, affectionately nicknamed as Yamakan (either as a conjunction of his family and given name, or as a conjunction of his last name and the title of director--kantoku), was a stallion at Otakon 09. Unlike the average Japanese anime production guest, he is full of opinions and is not afraid to share them.

Read on and see selected questions and answers, paraphrased and transcribed by both yours truly and Bayoab, as asked to the animation director of Lucky Star, Haruhi Suzumiya, and the generally ex-Kyoto Animation know-it-all, all told at Otakon 2009. The questions were taken across three of the panels Yamakan guested in, and are arranged vaguely by topic...

We missed the FUNimation panel (10am on Sunday? Yeah...), and so this announcement also slipped by on their PR. But yes, FUNimation has licensed Eden of the East, the show with the man who has a hypno-penis. I haven't watched it myself, but Colette did freak out in the car when I mentioned this to her.

So, I guess it's kind of a big deal.

I'm glad to see that FUNi is bringing over a show that clearly has more of a cult following. It's going to open up to a lot more people with the DVD release (myself included), and who knows: they might even bring over those Selecao phones!

Now that Otakon 2009 is over, it's time to set our sights on 2010, where the Japanator crew will once again descend on the fair city of Baltimore and sweat it out for four or five days while enjoying ourselves in the company of close friends.

Otakon went ahead and announced the dates in a rather verbose manner over on their site, and lo and behold,next year's con will be held on my birthday! How kind of them. Perhaps I'll get a free item from the dealer's room or something? Who knows.

Well, knowing the crowd I'm with, it will probably include alcohol. A lot of alcohol.

While we were at Otakon, Colette decided to dress up as Naoto from Persona 4, and so naturally she was a part of my cosplay photos. She was stopped left and right by people, and the costume really looked fantastic. She had a hell of a time, and I'm glad she joined us for Otakon.

There were plenty of other cosplay groups out in force this weekend, including a set of Apeture Science and Black Mesa staffers, a fate/stay night group, and even more Team Fortress 2 cosplay. All in all, some really great cosplay, like I had mentioned before.

On the topic of fate/stay night cosplay, this is the first time I've seen it in any sort of force, and that surprised me a bit. I guess I'm used to the popularity of it over in Japan, and didn't even realize it was missing until I saw it. I have to admit -- it really stands out, and I'm kinda glad to see it. Especially with all the cool figures that are out for the series.

Devotees to the Church of Haruhi-ism have been in for a rough ride of late. As of the latest episode The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya's current season, viewers have been forced through a virtual rerun of the "Endless Eight" story arc FIVE TIMES. For the uninitiated, "Endless Eight" involves a Groundhog Day-like time loop in which the characters experience summer vacation over and over again. So far it seems like Haruhi's current masters at Kyoto Animation and Kadokawa intend to stick all too closely to that source.

Yutaka Yamamoto a.k.a. "Yamakan," director of Haruhi's first season, offered his thoughts about the second season while attending Otakon 2009. Through his interpreter he stated that the "Endless Eight" concept came up while he was still onboard with KyoAni (he later left to direct Kannagi and form his own studio). He noted that he was against the idea, and that "two episodes was the most [they] can do." Clearly that advice did not stick, as the episode has been repeated five times to date. Yamakan admitted that while he left Kyoto Animation of his own volition, he felt "some responsibility" for the show's current state, and offered an apology "as a representative of the SOS Brigade Production Committee."

It was pretty ballsy for Yamakan to just up and state his misgivings about a show that technically isn't his anymore, but he's probably more qualified than anyone else to do that, having been a driving force behind Haruhi's original runaway success. That said, I maintain great respect for KyoAni even as its antics border on exasperation. From the original "broadcast order" fiasco to now, I have never seen a studio as willing (or able) to tool around with its productions, for good or ill. Well, maybe them and Gainax.

As for the future of Haruhi-ism? Conspiracy theorists are split between optimists hoping that the next episode will end the arc, and cynics who figure that "Endless Eight" has much more literal implications (aww Christ!).

For the curious, watch the 36-second-long video that follows the jump, then loop it 15,521 times. That's where we are right now.

Before hopping off to bed, I wanted to share a few tidbits I made sure to ask about a few things that had been on my mind.

• Sony is finally working on a DVD/Blu-Ray release of Xamd: Lost Memories. They didn't have any specifics, but I'll be sure to give them a call and get a better idea of what they're working on.
• The second half of Blood+ is coming out in October, to coincide with the DVD release of the live action Blood movie.

Looking at the cosplay between Anime Expo and here, there sure was a big difference. While Anime Expo had some really impressive cosplay, like the Gurren Lagann cosplayer, Otakon has a higher level of overall quality. I've always attributed it to the fashion and art schools that populate the East coast, and how that produces the better stuff.

So down below you'll find some of the cosplay shots that were scattered about on Saturday and Sunday, with some of the really eye-grabbing cosplay.

Anything that really caught your eye there? And any great cosplay photos you guys have for yourselves from Otakon?