The gothic demons, mech-suit robots and spiky-haired sword-wielders of Otakon pretty much rolled with the news Sunday that the annual anime, manga, comics and gaming convention is leaving Baltimore for Washington, D.C., after three years.

Some cheered the announcement, others booed. And online, it was largely an opportunity for sports jokes and pop culture references (“It should come to Indy like the Colts,” one fan posted. Said another, “It’s not the only thing – you have Hairspray. And detective John Munch,” referring to the dour hipster-detective from Homicide: Life on the Streets.)

Their mild reaction could be because loyal fans know the con will have memorable moments wherever it takes place – moments like composer Yoko Kanno’s great performances Sunday afternoon or the hilarious late-night comedy panels led by popular voice actors Todd Haberkorn and Kyle Hebert.

Random Shouts of “Marco!” “Polo!”

For those unaware of Otakon, it is defined as the “convention of the Otaku Generation,” which refers to the super-fans who obsess over Japanese anime, videogames and music.

For these three days in August, fans young and old from all around the world gather to attend panels, show off their costumes and wait in ridiculously long lines shouting “Marco!” “Polo!” to pass the time.

For dedicated con-goers, the event means more than just seeing new episodes of anime shows or buying custom handmade swords and artwork.

It’s the biggest and best opportunity to find new friends who are equally obsessed with something as obscure as the Nintendo DS courtroom game, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. (The panel on this subject consisted of hundreds of fans debating which characters were the most likeable, irritating and heroic.)

Fans come together in places like the Dealers Room, where they buy sketches or steam-punk goggles, and try out electronic cat ears that read your brainwaves.

For Chris, from Springfield, Va., the most important part is not the organized activities but the spontaneous socializing: “The panels are nice, but to me, it’s less about the panels and more about the people you see there and it’s the experiences you share with those people,” he said.

If there was one thing that surprised me about Otakon the first time I attended in 2007, it would be how consistently friendly most of the people there are.

It’s common for a group of random people to join together and sing a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, play a spontaneous game of Yugi-oh cards or just hang out during the festivities.

The Minds Behind Cowboy Bebop

Some highlights from the con this year include a three-hour R-rated comedy session in a packed hall with four well-known voice actors, lively video game tournaments, and a pachinko-for-charity booth to raise money for gamers with disabilities.

But if there were one show whose creators knew how to cap off Otakon on Sunday, it was Cowboy Bebop. Bebop is widely known as one of the best anime shows ever, due to its intriguing mix of a Clint Eastwood-esque-bounty-hunter-in-the-future theme and high-energy jazz music.

The morning before the show, Bebop’s creator, Shinichiro Watanabe answered reporters’ questions.

A big fan of jazz, Watanabe has used the genre in a couple of his shows, as well as in Bebop and more recently Kids on the Slope (a show about Japanese kids in the 1960s bonding through jazz music).

I asked him why he had such a desire to put this traditionally Western style of music in his shows:

“I don’t remember exactly how I met jazz, but I remember I walked into a record shop and I was listening to ‘Kind of Blue’ by Miles Davis,” he said. “It really inspired me, it really hit me, and I fell in love right then and I left the store with the record.”

After a couple minutes, he eventually cut himself off and said “Never mind. If you get me started we’re going to go on forever!”

Anime Composer Performs Solo Works

It’s unique to have someone like Watanabe care about the music in his show just as much as the musical composer, Yoko Kanno. I asked him how he collaborated with Kanno, a talented pianist who is renowned for her music in anime, video games and previous bands:

“Well, first, let me be on the record as saying, she does not compose music exactly as I tell her to! She gets inspired on her own, blows up her own imagery and tells me ‘this is the song we need for Cowboy Bebop!’ I was inspired to make episodes based around the songs she brought me; as well she was inspired by my episodes to make new songs. Normally, this is unforgivable. But with Cowboy Bebop, it was a big hit! So hakuna matata.”

A big hit indeed. Later on that day, Kanno performed a concert of solo piano music in front of a packed auditorium.

The performance began and ended with her signature intro song from Cowboy Bebop, followed by contemplative songs that mixed classical and jazz styles and were mostly slow, thoughtful ballads.

But the sound was only part of what was so special about the concert. Greeted by thousands of diehard fans, Kanno emerged onto the dark stage wearing white cat ears, and sat at an odd-looking piano covered in a blanket. Projectors displayed moving images of hearts filling up the piano and a small bird walking about in synchrony with her piano playing.

It was an incredible performance that resulted in three or four encores including a jazzy rendition of The Star Spangled Banner. Leaving that concert and seeing the costumes one last time made me really appreciate how great it has been to have had this convention in Baltimore.

It made me proud to call myself an anime fan, and feel confident predicting that we can only expect great things for the city’s final three Otakons.