The best and worse of the weekend was definitely JoJoРІР‚в„ўs Posing School, hosted by my friend Laura. Happened to us, we showed up an hour before the panel started and the line was already closed. The only bad vibes I got were when popular panels filled and people got turned away. And I mean diverse as in race, gender, age, cosplay abilities. It was also really cool because the attendants were a really diverse crowd. There is link at the bottom of the page to our Tumblr with all our photos from the convention. We met up with some friends, saw some really awesome cosplay.

Sorry, total tangent, I was basically shut down by the panelist when HE asked the audience for other strong female represented animes. I realize the first one came out in 1987, and yes I have been watching it since I was a toddler, but I am in no way biased. Plus, sorry that my favorite anime has 4 FEMALE LEADS and 90% of the time they are trying to prove themselves to each other and KILL ROUGUE ROBOTS!!! Seriously, if you have never watched Bubblegum Crisis or Bubblegum Crisis 2040, you really should. There were some other panels with discussions about womenРІР‚в„ўs representation in anime but it was mostly in the she kicks ass aspect.

Anime Amazons (letРІР‚в„ўs go feminism in anime!) was probably the best, but I felt that the panelists were a little unprepared, but overall I would definitely say it was one of my favorite panels.

Lots of things have changed and some things have gotten better (see below). So this was my first Otakon in like 5 years. A couple of weekends ago, Jess and myself (Colleen), went to Otakon.Р”В¬olleen: ^ Check it! The Inner Senshi, arenРІР‚в„ўt they so cute! Probably my favorite group of Cosplayers I saw.

Bubblegum crisis cosplay