Otafest debriefings REDUX: Post-Demise Return

ADVISORIES:
ALL DEBRIEFINGS PUBLISHED BEFORE JUNE 2014 ARE OUT OF DATE.
There is a zero-tolerance policy in effect for this blog.
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This post assumes you've read all previous installments (click here to see them). Click "read more" to begin, or select a chapter.

Contents:

PDR-1. Introduction
PDR-2. 2016 pin update
PDR-3. Autographs, 2016 and making up for the past
PDR-4. It's the end...

PDR-1. Introduction

Hello. My name's Jack, and I've been pulled back to Otafest by the three voice actors who were announced in May 2015, as well as another guest who was announced later on. I'll explain more on that later. However, I had to keep myself together, and the new location, the Telus Convention Centre, was going to take some getting used to through the weekend.

Of course, I got some new pins along the way, so why don't we take a look at those first?

PDR-2. 2016 pin update

The theme of Otafest 2016 was centred around angels, as a throwback to Otafest's early years. But I chose to limit myself to the two primary mascots, Seph and Aurora, seeing as though they were the only two at the event.

Angel Seph [2016]

Seph has a skull behind her, owing to her role as the Angel of Death. The design is apparently a new take on her original costume from 1999.

Angel Aurora [2016]

Aurora has a snowflake behind her as a nod to her winter-themed origins, though she is still the Angel of Dawn. I'm gonna say her outfit design is a good counterpart to Seph's.

Speaking of counterparts, putting the two pins side by side has the pink ribbons behind the mascots form a heart, as you can see here. Revealing paired designs was the case for other pins as well, but I didn't get them.

Canada Wing

As Otafest was held on Canada Day weekend, there was a very popular pin design where the O-Wing design is red with a white maple leaf located within. Apparently they were so popular that they ran out quickly.

Before we go back to the mascots, I'll show you this.

Smile.dk

I only consider this pin a consolation for trying to listen to a few songs at the Smile.dk concert. I say Veronica of Smile.dk here is represented well in the pins' art style, but the fact of the matter is the butterfly motif here seems to be the more well-known aspect regarding her music.

TCC Seph

Returning to the mascots, here's Seph again in front of a representation of the Telus Convention Centre. This is the first of two double-layered pins I managed to get in brass-gold. Seph here has a delightful smile as she throws a heart out toward the viewer.

Speaking of the TCC, it did take some getting used to, but I managed to find my way around. Although there were a lot of restrictions in terms of camera-allowed areas due to potential for high traffic, I managed to get quite a few private recordings.

Olympic Plaza Aurora

Here's Aurora in front of a representation of Olympic Plaza, There's also the City Hall building in the distance, too. This is the second of two double layered pins in gold.

Though I didn't visit Olympic Plaza that often during the weekend, I've said that a winking character represents importance, and Aurora here has a camera with her as she gives a near-wave gesture and a wink. So I'd say she represented an important role.

Let me show you all the gold pins I have once more.

Gold pins as of July 2016.

• Cheerleader Seph (top left), released in May 2013
• Starlight (bottom left), revealed in Dec. 2013 and released Jan. 18, 2014
• Angel of Time (June) (second from top left), depicts a then-upcoming character design but released as early as Jan. 18, 2014
• White Swan Aurora, character design for Nov. 30, 2013 but released May 2014
• Royal Flush, Seph and Aurora pin released in Nov. 2014
• Calgary Seph, released in May 2015
• Angel of Energy (Mio), connected to Nov. 29, 2014 but received on July 11, 2015
• Ornament Volunteer Pin, released in May 2015, but received later that year.
• TCC Seph, released in July 2016
• Plaza Aurora, released in July 2016

And here is my current pin collection once more.

Full view

Left view

Centre view

Right view

PDR-3. Autographs, 2016 and making up for the past

2016 guidebook cover

Since I was pulled back by the three voice actors, I made it a priority to get their autographs in the 2016 guidebook, of which the cover is shown here. However...

Yaya Han's 2016 autograph.

Yaya Han was also another announced guest, so I made a point to meet up with her, too. She seemed delighted at the new location as well as the bright lighting in the Exhibitors Hall I met her in.

All right, let's look at the autographs for the three voice actors who pulled me back to Otafest.

Johnny Yong Bosch's 2016 autograph.

Johnny Yong Bosch is known as Adam Park from Power Rangers, and voiced roles such as Itsuki Koizumi from Haruhi Suzumiya, Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach, and Makoto Tachibana from Free!, among others. I didn't really say much; just said hi and my name, and let him sign the page.

J. Michael Tatum's 2016 autograph.

J. Michael Tatum had roles as France from Hetalia, Rintarou Okabe/"Hououin Kyouma" from Steins;Gate, and Rei Ryugazaki from Free!, among others. I said hi and that we met before (after Otafest Aurora 2014, of course).

Todd Haberkorn's 2016 autograph.

Todd Haberkorn had roles as Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail, Italy from Hetalia, and Haruka Nanase from Free!, among others. I apologized to him for skipping out on him six years ago for a reason you'll see very soon.



Have you noticed that I also titled this section "making up for the past"?

Well, Johnny Yong Bosch also got to sign this box for the Haruhi Suzumiya limited edition volume 3 DVD, the same one that Michelle Ruff signed six years ago, as his character Itsuki Koizumi was on it. It's what my 2009 self would have wanted had I actually gone to Otafest back then.

2010 guidebook cover

Here's a shot of the Otafest 2010 guidebook cover.

And here's Todd Haberkorn's retroactive autograph in the guidebook. I reluctantly let him look through the guidebook before signing it, though, as it was apparently a "hit of nostalgia" for him.

Finally, the autographs are together.

This means that I finally have Michelle Ruff's and Todd Haberkorn's autographs together in the same book.

PDR-4. It's the end...

So what did I think of the Telus Convention Centre? Well, its rooms were definitely bigger than the University's respective counterparts. But it just doesn't feel the same; there were a lot of photo area restrictions, so while I did get a lot of private recordings, there weren't as many as last year. Either that or I didn't know many cosplay characters.

But no matter; my primary task was to get the autographs, and I had a clean slate mentality in regards to the recordings I tried to get this year. Though I still think 2015 was best in regards to the recordings I got; I had lucky vigilance last year, anyway.

Otafest Aurora is scheduled for early November, and while their announced guest, Eric Stuart, was technically from a show I watched as well as a show from childhood, I doubt I'll even be going. No news on 2017 yet, but maybe my messy Twitter (@superslinger07) will keep you posted.

And so that does it for this debriefing. I know I didn't say much this time around, but thank you for reading this, and just maybe I'll be at peace once somebody avoids mentioning someone I had a falling out with over Twitter.

End of debriefing.