Let’s get this out in the open – sales sucked. Every single person who came by with idiot questions like, “why don’t you have more things for sale?” and “why isn’t the booth bigger?” – the answer is “Because Yuri fans are cheap.” If you’ve ever wondered why there’s more Yaoi than Yuri (setting aside the fourteen million cultural, business and social reasons,) the answer is, “Yaoi fangirls buy WAY more Yaoi than Yuri fans buy Yuri.” And btw – don’t come up to the booth asking stupid-ass questions like why isn’t it bigger, when you won’t even cough up a freaking buck for a post card. Cheap. Cheap. Cheap.

BUT, I do want to thank everyone who did come by and supported us, bought a book or a postcard, had a nice chat. It’s always great to see folks every year. So thank you folks! You are the ones who make it possible to do things like publish Yuri Monogatari 5, and run events like the “Yurisai” event! On behalf of everyone at Yuricon and ALC Publishing – thank you!

Now that that is out of the way, I had an *awesome* time at Otakon this year. I spent more time with friends than I’ve managed in a long time. I already mentioned that we had a Yuricon staff dinner, which was cool. The next night some of staff/friends got together and went out with Tran and Isabel from Drama Queen, a Yaoi publishing company. We had the best time. Great food and great company. The DQ folks are just great. We’re hoping to do a show together this winter. It ought to be a hoot. :-)

Sunday we finally had our Yuri Panel. We were originally scheduled for Saturday at 10:30, which would have been great, but hey, we at least got a panel. (They had a lot of panel issues this year.) Considering our time slot, 1-2PM, which is basically the last panel of the whole con, we had a nice crowd. More importantly, the three girls I met two weeks ago at AnimeNEXT came, and they dressed as the Marimite girls again for us. Leanne and her sisters were as awesome this time as they were last time, but now all my friends know what I mean when I said how adorable they were. I did get better pictures this time, but no, you still can’t see them – you’re all too creepy. LOL

I really need to thank their father, though, because he was so cool about it all and just laughed when I said that if *I* was being to creepy, he should just tell me to back off. He also didn’t beat me to a pulp when I inadvertently said something a tad crude in front of his little angels. The youngest of the trio, who was a perfect little Shimako, was so bored during the panel. I expected her to fall asleep any second. It was breathtakingly cute. Yumi was bored too, but she was very polite about it. Leanne – please thank your sisters for being so nice to us. They deserve an ice cream or something for being such good sports.

Ohohoh – I forgot to tell this story. Leanne has the *win* story of the con that she told me. She was walking down the hall dressed as Sei when Noto Mamiko, the seiyuu who plays Shimako in Marimite, saw her and gave her a hug saying, “Onee-sama!”

She wins.

I started the panel with “Who here is on /u/ on 4chan?” Two guys w/yuri paddles raised their hands, but when I said, “Get out – you can’t have it both ways” they just looked puzzled, which made me laugh, so I let them stay. Because it was Sunday, I had no voice, so I had planned to give each of the panelists a few minutes to talk about a series of interest to them – with clips and/or screencaps where we had time to get them. Serge talked about El Cazador de la Bruja, Katie discussed Red Garden, Bruce wowed everyone with a great sell on Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, which made me want to run out and read it all over again and Sean covered Maria-sama ga Miteru. I finished with Nanoha StrikerS. The audience didn’t seem to know anything newish, so hopefully they’ll all look for those and for Media Blaster’s Simoun and Strawberry Panic releases. Although it was late in the con, I thought it went very well. If you enjoyed the Yuri Panel, let ’em know – and tell them to not bury it next year!! LOL

After the Dealer’s Room closed, I wrapped up some stuff and we met Sean and his friends for dinner, at which we got to enjoy Sean’s drunken ramblings. :-)

I went to a party afterward, but ran out of social skills early and left to go back to the room. When I got back to the hotel, I went over to Tran’s room and chatted with her and Isabel, forgetting to check in with my roommates, who tracked me down a few hours later and gave me a tongue lashing for making them worry. I felt so loved. :-)

So, in a nutshell, that was Otakon. Mostly it was time spent with friends, getting to kick back and actually relax a bit.

The next con up on the schedule is – Yuricon’s 2007 “Yurisai” Event! We’ll see you there!!

The Yuri Panel at Otakon will be held on *Sunday* at 1PM in Panel Room 1.

I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget to mention that. I hope we’ll see you there!

***

Now, for a short Otakon Day 1 report.

Big fun all around as you can imagine. You can never quite understand the enjoyment of running around to three locations for badges, unloading boxes, unpacking boxes, storing boxes, assembling and hanging banners, arranging books, etc, in an un-airconditioned in 90-degree+ heat, until you’ve done it too. But that was the day before Day 1.

On Day 1, inexplicably, Baltimore weather was beautiful and bright with a light wind and not excessive heat and people arrived and it becomes a acid-trip of color and fun and noise and other stuff that simultaneously delights and annoys. :-)

Hello to everyone who came by the table to chat – especially those of you who said that you read Okazu all the time. As I always say, it’s great to know that someone other than me and the wife enjoy it. ;-)

I have to say, we were pretty busy yesterday, which makes the day go much faster, so be sure to drop by and make our day go faster! LOL We’re at Table 410 in the DR (Ignore the other, empty booth that have Yuricon signs. I have no clue what went on there….)

Last night we did something we’ve never done before – almost all of the Yuricon senior staff was gathered in one place, so we went out for dinner, actually got some business done(!) and had a great meal together. It was really pretty cool. After 7 years. it finally felt like a “real” con. That willl change as I will undoubtedly do something completely different next time. :-)

I expect some fun today – if it all pans out, I will have a great story to tell you tomorrow – check back!!

Submission guidelines for our 2007 Yuricon Fanfic Contest are up!

Our theme this year is fairs and festivals of all kinds – Yuriko and Midori want to celebrate, and we want you to tell us all about it! “>Read the rules and get those stories in!

Don’t forget the AMV and the Cosplay and the exclusive “Simoun” Cosplay contests, either – all the rules are up on the 2007 “Yurisai” Event Page.

Join us at Otakon for the largest Yuri panel of the year. We’ll be in Panel Room 3 at 1-2PM on Sunday, July 22. And don’t forget to drop by our table in the Dealer’s Room for massive discounts on 100% Yuri!

Check back soon for more Contests, more Yuriko fanart and more excitement as the 2007 “Yurisai” event draws near! Join us for the only 100% Yuri day of 2007! Register at http://yc07.eventbrite.com

Yuricon – “For real women who like their women…animated.”

Looking for a Yuri Panel at a con near you? Check out the Yuri Events Page on Yuricon first! If you know of a Yuri panel or event happening, email it to us so we can add it to the list!

Yesterday, I had the pleasure, once again, of participating at AnimeNEXT, my local general con. I’ve been involved with them since their first year and I consider it a privilege and a pleasure to have been there as staff, as a board member and like yesterday, as a panelist. So, many, many thanks to the folks at ANEXT for their kindness and for the table in “con row.” :-) I go as much for the hugs as anything else. lol

Because of something I can’t yet tell you about, I wasn’t able to do the whole con, but we had a great day yesterday. :-) Books went well, the Yuri Panel looked to have about 40 people and the Fanfic Writing Workshop I always do there had about 20 people, most of whom were really into it. So, overall, a good day.

But that wasn’t what I wanted to tell you about. The thing that made my day, above all things, were three girls who walked by dressed like Yumi, Shimako and Yoshino. I almost died they looked so cute. I am not a fan of cosplay, and I am not a fan of cute, but oh, my GOD were these kids adorable. The girl who was Yoshino, Leeann, (and I hope she reads this and corrects me if I spelled her name wrong!) was a spitfire. She was funny and smart and cute as a button. She was also obviously the ringleader, which was perfect. LOL She assured me that her hair, when she had the wig off, looked like Sei’s and when she came by later, it did indeed! I took a picture of the three of the together as first-years (Shimako was wearing her rosary on the correct wrist! swoon) and then Leeann as Sei, hugging Yumi. Sadly, my pictures were with my phone and the lighting was bad, so they didn’t come out well, so I can’t share. But oh, my goodness, were they CUTE!

I changed the Yuri Panel age rating, so that anyone could come in, and my friend Leeann showed up, with good questions. There was a Shizuma in the front row and Sei there in the middle. How happy was I as a Yuri panelist. LOL

Anyway – Leeann and your two friends, thank you. You win as the best cosplay *ever* in my experience. Even better than the Japanese girls who cosplay them because you looked JUST like the characters. So that pretty much made my day. LOL

(A belated note to the woman who asked for some good not-schoolgirl Yuri manga. I’m sorry my brain was so friend when you asked. Here are a few top contenders: Iono-sama Fanatics, Shoujo Sect 2 which, although it starts off as a schoolgirl story wraps up as an adult story. Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodama no Majyo to and Moonlight Flowers. All have been reviewed here – you can find them on the right-hand Categories.

Next up, I and a large chunk of the Yuricon senior staff will be at Otakon. Yuri Panel is Sunday 1-2PM, all ages. Don’t miss it!