Here comes the girls

August 5, 2006, midnight.

Ten orgasms were heard in Baltimore Convention Center’s Ballroom 2, possibly, in the whole floor.

Seriously.

DQ (Drama Queen), a fast growing Western Yaoi publication, organized a panel for male-lurv loving fangirls and fanboys. The panelist, founders of the said publishing house, announced a few manga and manwha titles to be released in fall/winter ‘06 and in ‘07. From the cover arts they’ve shown, I say, it’s H-A-W-T.

The evening started with yaoi enthusiasts and curious con-goers sitting by outside Panel 4. As soon as 11pm strikes, we lined up, entered the room, and awaited the show. And they certainly put on a show.

The informal presentation coupled with the sincere enthusiasm of the panelists truly sold the effort. Well, the eye-candy and risque art also did help.

Apart from the announcements, the true highlight of the evening are nine girls and one boy. In an effort to “shame” their fans, DQ held a very unusual tournament (for me, at least). Thus, a Fake Orgasm Competition was born. Well, there are freebies involved so I couldn’t blame the contestants.

As my very first anime con panel, I am completely astounded. Unfortunately, I was too busy laughing that forgot to bring out my camera. Argh. I can only imagine the reactions of the straight dudes in the audiences. I was too involved with the cheering, clapping, and whistling.

The yaoi panel ended my first day in Otakon. And that was a hell of a closer.

In case you’re wondering, the dude was the one who won. What can we say, we certainly like men doing the monkey lurving, even though make-believe.

I’ll definitely have some more tidbits later on. This panel was simply precious. Plus, I have a very soft spot to yaoi. Mushy, in fact.