Ohayocon 2013

Report and photography by Stefanie M.

Ohayocon was held on January 18-20 in Columbus, OH at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. This has always been one of my favorite conventions as the atmosphere and the people I've met have always given me a positive con experience. Our stay at this convention was relatively short lived as we were only able to attend for Saturday but the 8 hour drive from NJ was very worth it for such a last minute trip.  We didn't spend much time doing panels or such at this con and spent most of the time wandering the floor and taking pictures and meeting new people.

As previously stated, I'm always impressed by this convention and the people I've met. It's such a positive change of attitude from the East Coast conventions I've attended. Everyone I met was extremely nice and friendly. There wasn't that air of exclusiveness I've felt at conventions in my home area. It didn't matter what you were cosplaying or what anime you were from, you were welcome.

I was very impressed by the dealers room at this particular convention. The walk ways were spacious, and had very little crowding save for around some of the more popular booths and even those were large enough to accommodate the larger gathering of patrons. The variety offered in the dealers room was excellent and catered to fans of many different tastes. In particular of note were the Steampunk and Renn Faire-esque dealers that also offered dollfie items and cosplay items. There was also a rather large K-pop booth in attendance that seems to be making it's rounds at the local cons. I didn't purchase anything this time around as my funds were a bit low however there were plenty of items that had caught my eye.

The artist alley was located on walkway overlooking the dealers room that I found to be rather sparse as far as selection goes. I personally am more interested in the artisan handmade items, rather than fanart or original art prints. However the artists that were there, were all extremely talented and it was refreshing to see them all given an abundance of space to display their art and items rather than packed in like sardines as I have seen at other cons.

The cosplay selection at this con was as varied as the anime they all came from. I was impressed to see cosplay from old series such as Tenchi Muyo, Outlaw Star, and Slayers as well as the newer popular series like Tiger & Bunny, Madoka and Ao no Exorcist.

The evening was spent sitting at the bar of the con hotel where I had an amazing opportunity to meet some fellow con-goers and cosplayers and got to make some new friends. Overall I would say that for only getting to spend one day at this wonderful convention, it was entirely worth our 8 hour drive. Ohayocon has been and continues to be one of my favorite conventions I've attended.