MTAC Odyssey 2010 [Recap]

2010-04-30_00003

Since 2008, I really, really, really wanted to check out Tennessee’s then-only Anime convention, the Middle Tennessee Anime Convention, or MTAC. In 2010, the dream came true. Adding the 10th anniversary of MTAC and the severe storms that hit Nashville during the weekend, it was one MTAC to remember.

Friday

Halo Cosplay

Leaving on the road to Nashville from Chattanooga at 12:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time, we arrived at the convention at 2 PM Central Time. Things never go smoothly as planned when you wanted to attend a panel of your favorite on-going Anime series. For example: Bleach. But seeing that I’m a bit behind on the story (the fillers, that is, which I could skip through), I didn’t want to be spoiled on the recently resumed Hueco Mundo arc featuring the fight between Ichigo and Ulquiorra. (Oops…)

After meeting up with fellow BBAMAJAM.org writers Zippy and ProdigalNick, and “Oh My Otaku” creator, Jaziel, I changed into the costume I’ve kept under wraps for a while-except on Twitter…

The cosplay I have been working on since December 2009… It is Sir Auron from Final Fantasy X. The character I have been obsessing over the past year… has finally come to life after 5 months of sewing and sticking myself with pins. It took 5 years worth of contemplating, but was officially planned after seeing other Final Fantasy X cosplayers at Anime Weekend Atlanta last year. (Pictures will follow in a Cosplay Journal post later on.)

After getting verbally hugged (“OMG, It’s Auron!”) by fans, I went to the Dealers Room to see what was being offered. Oh…it’s not a good idea to take pictures in the room as it was very small. Security will also check for weapons-of the prop kind, at the door before you go in: that’s how small it is.

I was unable to buy anything as it was hard getting to some of the tables, so it had to wait until Saturday to get a chance of finding anything. The story continues…

Master Roshi pulls out the latest issue of 'Dragonball H', attracting a couple of guys, and a peace lover...

It was 30 minutes before 5 PM when I ran into another BBAMAJAM member, KurosakiTaichou, who was cosplaying as Cloud from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children to stand in line for the Opening Ceremonies-which we never went into due to the line not moving around 5:30 PM, and that both of us has a Final Fantasy Photoshoot to attend at 6 PM--that never happened as well. Perhaps it had something to do with schedule conflicts between the convention as a whole and the shoot organizer. No problem. It happens. ^^;

Once our unofficial photoshoot was over, I found Zippy and ProdigalNick at the JAMPcon/Connooga booth, promoting Chattanooga’s fandom conventions before it was time to get ready to check out the curious Risque Cosplay contest… Spending a few hours in cosplay, it was time to change into normal clothes and head to the watch the contest with the staff. Again, sadly… we never saw the outcome of the event. Lines, lines, lines!

Spending the rest of the night hanging out in the humid, mid-Spring weather with the BBAMAJAM.org staff, the first day of MTAC ended on a good note despite getting there a little late, but the hard work of making a costume at all were all for the best! The real tests begins the next day…

Saturday

A week before MTAC, there was a chance of rain during the convention weekend. Boy, they were sooo right. It has rained at conventions I’ve been to in the past, but all it was was simply non-threatening rain showers with a break in the clouds once in the while. Not this time…

Voice actor Vic Mignogna preforms on stage.

Saturday morning came not only wet, but good deals in the Dealers Room. Waiting patiently for people to move up the line at a dealer table for posters that went for $2 each, I still wondered what I was thinking when I was going to buy $20 worth of posters, and a Gunpla (that I’ve been looking forward to buying again) that’s a replica of the infamous truck that holds a mysterious mobile suit in nearly every Gundam series. But hey, it was totally worth it.

After leaving the dealer’s room, I went to check out our very good friend, Vic Mignogna’s Q&A panel. There was only 20 minutes left of his panel, but it was still very entertaining. Checking out Vic’s Concert in the Main Room in a few hours (and watching Fullmetal Fantasy the third time!), will make up for missing the Q&A.

Sand Ninjas Unite!

It was a little after noon when I decided to change back into my Auron costume from wearing my casual Toshirou costume from AWA last year… A faceplam to myself when I went outside Artist Alley to see a Bleach photoshoot going on where the Naruto photoshoot organized by guys of the Konoha Corner podcast, was held an hour prior… No worries, since there would be little time to change.

At this point of the convention, it is pouring outside. Fortunately for photoshoots, the area outside Artist Alley was protected under the awning of the building, with plenty of room to spare for the random battles that are to take place later on.

Cloud vs. Sephiroth

At the Final Fantasy Photoshoot, also of Konoha Corner, there were lots of Final Fantasy cosplayers, no doubt. There’s no need to mention that there were a strong showing of Final Fantasy VII characters. Anything not FFVII were slim for the picking-especially the one Auron writing this post.

But then there’s the random battles. The first match was against Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia and a random Orginization XIII dual Keyblade welder from the Kingdom Hearts series. Next up was Yazoo from Final Fantasy Verses XIII and (another) Cloud from Advent Children. The winner from the Yazoo/Cloud fight would have to face yours truly: Auron vs. Cloud.

3-Way Battle

After Auron claimed victory, Jiarya from Naruto and Master Roshi from Dragonball Z was up to claim the prize of Tsunade and Bulma. All of a sudden, Miroku (Inuyasha) entered the fight. The prize was updated to include not only Tsunade and Bulma, but Sango as well.

The frenzy came to a climax when Auron’s Theme was randomly played from a car… the prize now stands at Tsunade, Bulma, Sango… and Lulu. To avoid filling the remainder of the story with spoiler references from the said series, the winner of course was none other than… Master Roshi!

Courtesy of JuneFrost88 on YouTube, here is a replay of the battle royale:

Battle Royale (Part 1)

Battle Royale (Part 2)

After the fight was over, it was time for a break and to recollect on the past couple of hours. 1) I didn’t think this kind of random battling would be legal, unlike the Cloud vs. Kadaj fight at another convention. And 2) that was a hell of a lot of fun! That’s something to think about in the future-before I get kicked from other conventions that doesn’t like that kind of stuff…

Auron hangs out with the BBAMAJAM.org staff, watching music videos of G-Dragon.

[Photo Credit: Phantom Dark]

Time came around for the Quaff concert, the second Japanese band to see preform live after The Pillows at Anime Central 5 years ago. Auron (*ahem*), Zippy, and ProdigalNick, and the BBAMAJAM/JAMPcon staff stayed around the bar area watching music videos of G-Dragon until the line died down for the concert. At the concert itself, a few of us made it in with plenty of time left to hear Quaff’s oh-so-awesome hits. (Unfortunately, no pictures here, except for the press.) Now…where’s the nearest music store that sells J-Rock including Quaff?

The concert was over. The night was over. It was time to head to bed. But wait? What is this line that leads all the way back to my room?! It’s for the Epic Odyssey Rave that was to start in 45 minutes! I originally said to myself, “screw it, I’m going to bed”, but the clamoring of the line made me curious.

After the line was gone, I decided to check out the rave myself. I intended to stay down there for a few minutes. Thanks to the Tennessee EDM for providing the beats for the rave, I stayed down there for an entire hour!

While the music was great and all, there was one problem that I couldn’t help but keep thinking about up until this day: if the rave was open to all ages, why was I asked to have a wristband? I’m old enough to go to the Asian Beer Drinking Panel (but didn’t due to the fear of lines, which was cut off to a couple of our friends). But after reading the massive thread about an attendee’s convention experience, especially about the rave, I think I know why this was the case… But either way, I was a little upset about it; being afraid of getting kicked from MTAC, even though I went right in without getting checked for a wristband in the first place.

Sunday

The Cay of Tokyo Tower FM cosplaying as Greece from Axis Powers Hetalia.

The last day of MTAC… or was it? When the rave started last night, the rain stopped, but when I woke up, the Satellite receiver had trouble picking up the signal thanks to the monsoon outside our window. May 3rd, 2010 was the day that many Mtaku (and residents of Nashville) will remember from years to come. There was only one panel left for me to see before heading home, and that was the (wait for it) Mobile Suit Gundam Panel.

I’m thinking to myself right now if that was worth waiting for to see, or should we have head home early to get on I-24 before it closed again?

After the panel was over, we took a chance with going to I-24 to get home. Fortunately, it was open long enough to get through, but everyone else including the BBAMAJAM staff decided to stay under everything was clear: Monday morning. MTAC Odyssey is probably the first convention to get an unofficial fourth day, thanks to voice actors Spike Spencer and Colleen Clinkenbeard, and extended events through Sunday night to keep stranded guests entertained.

Summary

In the end, MTAC Odyessy was the 6th Anime convention I’ve attended in my life, and the very first MTAC for me ever, after an ill-fated attempt to attend in 2008 after learning Johnny Yong Bosch was to attend. Adding the historic flooding in Nashville, this was definitely an interesting convention I’ve experienced.

At other conventions I’ve been to, there seems to be a certain theme with the cosplays. Last year at Anime Weekend Atlanta, there were a lot of Kuroshitsuji and Kingdom Hearts cosplayers. But at MTAC, there were a sea of Pokemon and Axis Powers Hetalia cosplayers. It was surprising to see a lot of support for Pokemon, a series that was bashed into the ground years ago for being so “kiddie”. But all the kids are now adults, and proud Anime fans.

To sum up my experience as a first-time MTAC attendee (and as a cosplayer/blogger), here are my Pros and Cons about this year’s event:

Pros

Smaller Venue (less walking to panels, so to speak)
Friendly attendees (to a certain extent)
Random Battles!
2 hours from Chattanooga (for fellow Chattanooga Otaku)

Cons

Small Dealers Room
Lines, Lines, Lines!!
Expensive for At-Door attendees
Did I mention lines?

I would definitely plan to come back to MTAC next year, especially since they are planning to split up their events to one of their overflow hotels. And that their theme for next year (Ninja in ’09 for ninjas (?), Odyssey for a look back the past decade) focuses on music. I wonder if Quaff will come back…