Kicking off yesterday's adventure at Otakon, I came into the Evangelion 1.0 screening a little bit late, only to find the projector repeatedly turning itself off. And at the worst times, no doubt. So, with that a bust, and with me unable to get Internet at the con, I was off to take cosplay photos. There were plenty of photos to be taken, and we'll share some of them with you later.

As for the dealer's room, things were packed. It was a sea of bodies in there, and items were quickly disappearing left and right. Kinokuniya was discounting figures like crazy, which really surprised me. $50 figures were going for $32 -- something I missed out on. Overall, the selection on the floor was really scaled back, and there weren't very many must-have items. Bandai selling the Kannagi discs was about the biggest thing on the floor.

One thing that we were really surprised by was the quality of the artist's alley. Anime Expo had a few nice pieces, and a strong showing of professional art in the auction, but Otakon had some fantastic fan art. I'd guess we saw 20 booths or so that legitimately impressed both myself and Dale -- Mr. I Hate Everything.

Industry-wise, things were rather subdued as well. We had a few license announcements, and I was impressed with Bandai's quick release of Kannagi, even if it seemed obvious that it was getting licensed as soon as Otakon announced Yamakan as a guest.

Like Dale said before, the industry has changed, but the con was still fun -- especially after Anime Expo. By the end, I was having a ton of fun, more so as a fan than because of anything industry-related. I'm looking forward to Otakon next year, and just having fun.