Otaku Expo Reload: Locked and Loaded

Posted on October 11th, 2010 by Kai

Just a week after Cosmania X comes the Otaku Expo Reload at the SM Megamall from Oct. 8 – 10, 2010. If you guys remember, Ozine Encore was supposed to be set on the same dates as Cosmania X. Ozine postponed that, moved it to next week, and named it Otaku Expo Reload. As expected, attendance for this convention held in the Megatrade Hall was rather low compared to the normally cramped convention halls that are usually held there. It wasn’t that crowded as there was enough walking space for people to move around normally and take photos of cosplayers with big props/costumes.

Let me give a lowdown for each day I attended:

Day 1: This was a Friday and as expected, the con was like a ghost town because it’s a working day. The only activities they had were the Karaoke Singing Contest and nothing much. There were more gamers there because of the release of some first-person counterstrike-ish MMOG, and that was the only part of the convention that had people. I looked around the other areas and just found one or two people looking at some stalls, and my goodness there was plenty of floorspace. Cosplayers who attended this day were less than a handful so I didn’t take any pics. In other words, this day was boring.

Day 2: There were more people but not really enough to call it cramped and crowded. There were more cosplayers because of the group cosplay competition and as for activities, they continued the Karaoke contest and Battle of the Bands on this day. Congoers loitering outside were also composed of a few small groups, and for once those mall guards looked quite happy that they could manage the crowds well. Otherwise, this day had was also pretty bland.

Day 3: Obviously this day had the most people, but it only started to become crowded right after the noontime mass. This day had the most cosplayers because of the Individual Cosplay event. They also continued the karaoke and bands on this day. Although this day had the most number of attendees, there were times that a certain area becomes void of any people and you could actually see floorspace again. Day 3 was somehow interesting but the lack of activities made it somehow lacking.

There was also something that failed in the convention’s floorplan. Although there was a lot of space to move elsewhere, there was a bottleneck area between the main entrance and event area because of several booths that were in the way. This created a lot of jostling, traffic, and frustration for most people. They could’ve at least moved those booths into the back where there was a lot of space to spare.

In conclusion, I could say that this convention was boring. Many people are still drunk from the epic delivery of Cosmania X making cons like this to be some sort of side-quest for regular convention-goers. Same old booths and exhibitors were there, nothing new. The lack of activities and lack of attendees all in all made those three days a very bland experience.

Wait a minute… if this was supposed to be Ozine Fest Encore’s replacement… whatever happened to those super-special Japanese guests? o.o

And now, I present to you the pics of Day 2 and 3! Enjoy ;D

-Prawnt~