Baltimore, MD (June 23, 2009) – Otakon 2009 will once again feature an original opening animated short, created by award-winning studio Madhouse. The animation will premier at Opening Ceremonies and be shown several times throughout the convention.

This year’s segment is co-directed by Takuji Endo (Paranoia Agent, Highlander: Search for Vengeance) and Yoshinori Kanemori (Death Note, X); Kanemori also serves as character designer. The short will feature Otakon’s mascots, siblings Hiroko-chan and Hiroshi-kun, who were the focus of last year’s opener.

While once again Otakon’s staff provided a number of possible gags and situations, Madhouse’s staff was given free reign to improvise broadly. The inspiration is, once again, the much-loved Daicon IV openings.

The 2008 segment featured Hiroko and Hiroshi racing to the convention center as various familiar characters tried to stop them. In the final fight against a giant mecha (futuristic mechanized walking vehicles), the two joined forces in a special attack that caused all the manhole covers in Baltimore to strike the monster (a reference to an incident in 2001 in which a chemical spill caused several nearby manhole caps to rocket into the air). The opener was a hit with fans, who’d last seen the mascots in a CGI short created by Otakon staffer Chris Ochs several years before.

“Last year, we threw in everything but the kitchen sink, and somehow they put most of it in,” says Otakon’s Jim Vowles, the head of Guest Relations. “The end result was loaded with in-jokes and geek references – but the animators had a bit too much fun making it, and some of the parodies were a little close for comfort. We’re hoping to avoid some of that this time around, without sacrificing any of the fun.” (Concerns over parody character likenesses have prevented the 2008 version from being shown in public after last year’s convention, though efforts are underway to obtain the clearances necessary to make the animation available online.)

Otakon plans to release sneak peaks – sketches, designs, and other images – of this year’s animation over the next several weeks, so members can follow the process. For more information on Otakon’s animated shorts, visit www.otakon.com/animated.asp

Otakon 2009 will be held July 17-19 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland.