Katsucon 2015

Ah Katsucon; a special time of year that happens to be romantic for many a cosplayer as it happens during Valentine's Day. And while I might be single...I certainly had a wonderful experience.

I arrived Thursday evening, which was amazing enough because I had to brave through the freak quick blizzard in South East Virginia. Needless to say, the first thing that always puts me in awe is the beauty of National Harbor and most definitely the Gaylord hotel. After getting to my room and grabbing a bite to eat (I'll talk about price in a bit), my friends and I jumped into the registration line. This is one of the most impressive things I have seen; it only took us an hour to get through the Pre-registration line, which was to the back of the room. The line was constantly moving, and there were even people going around on tablets to help check people in. Also, what was impressive was that while there was a giant line for waiting, at one point, you were divided up into six miniature lines. So the fact that our registration went great was a good experience of mine.

Friday was sort of average. I attended multiple photo shoots throughout the day; Hetalia, which I actually helped run, Ace Attorney, and Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler). Most shoots ran well, and were done in a good location. The gazebo was a little tough to work with though because unlike last year, the gazebo did not have the signs stating it was not to be used for private shoots. So that made the photo shoots somewhat difficult.

Saturday was more interesting. I finally had made time to go to the dealer's room, which was somewhat sparse compared to last year's dealer's room. Artist's Alley was much better than last year's though, despite lacking one art friend of mine who couldn't come (but I'm biased so...). I also again helped run the Hetalia photo shoot, and also spent a good amount of time with friends. I also participated on a panel that a friend ran, though was surprised on how poorly done the staff had with it. Because we were not given panelist badges (though this is my friend's fault), we were given hassle. Also they did not provide adequate materials for our panel and we had to request more tech from them. This was the night that there was snow though, making it very difficult for people including myself to go out and get food if need be. I think all the Gaylord staff was overwhelmed because of this.

Sunday I unfortunately had to leave earlier than expected because of the fact that I had become pretty sick. While I left at two in the afternoon, checkout went smoothly despite the large crowd of people, and everyone worked hard to help one another pack up their car. The con was bustling just as much that day than the other two days.

I have to say, one thing that surprised me though was the serious spending of money for food. On the first day alone, because the bill was not split and they wouldn't split it for us at the sports bar in the Gaylord, I dropped about $75 on food. Room service was also incredibly overpriced and our wait was rather ridiculous both times that we ordered it. Even the small snack shop was overly priced; two bottles of Mountain Dew were priced at $7.40; meaning that they were about $3.50 a bottle, plus ¢40 tax on the two items. Whether this is overpricing because near the nation's Capital, due to the actual convention, or some other reason, I feel like this could be worked on. There is no reason three appetizers, three regular drinks, and two desserts need to cost $75.

All I can really say is that Katsu was a good experience, though the staff still have their occasional kinks. I also think that maybe the Katsucon staff can work to bring down the prices of some items; $3.50 per bottle of soda is crazy expensive, and the same price applied to water as well. There were a good variety of panels, and from what I hear, the guests were great. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best possible con ever, I give this Katsucon a solid 8.

Have some great cosplays I found and enjoy the last one of myself and a friend!