My Otakon 2025 Experience

 

 

This year I went to Otakon 2025 which took place from August 8-10. Otakon is a Japanese culture convention held in Washington D.C. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. This was my third year attending Otakon. I attended last year in 2024 and my first year was in 2021. As mentioned Otakon is a Japanese culture convention as implied from the name of the convention Otakon is a combination of the words otaku and convention. Though it centers around Japanese culture the emphasis on the con is more centered on anime. That may be a result of the community as anime has gotten way more popular since the con's inception in the 90s. Otakon offers events like traditional Japanese dance and music performances, idol performances, a manga library, panels focusing on anime, traveling to Japan, video rooms where you can watch anime, a vendor's hall and artist alley, and so much more.

While I was looking forward to Otakon I was a bit hesitant. My experience with Otakon 2021 was poor and the only reason I went to Otakon 2024 was the guest list. Otakon 2024 had the developers from Final Fantasy VII along with the English and Japanese voice cast of Final Fantasy VII Remake. Along with several panels dedicated to the Final Fantasy series made it a dream come true experience for it. Otakon 2024 was the best con I went to period and since my experience was so good based on how much I love Final Fantasy I was worried because obviously this year none of them were coming back and I saw almost no one on the guest list I knew or cared about this year. I also was supposed to go with a coworker too who told me she couldn't make it anymore the week before. It seemed like I had nothing to worry about because I had a great time.

Though on the official website it says that the convention starts on Friday, Aug 8 it technically started on that Thursday. Last year Otakon had a matsuri (festival) on Thursday to celebrate their 30th anniversary and they brought it again this year. The matsuri took place right across from the convention center at the park/library that was converted into an Apple store. They had booths for activities like face painting and coloring, musical performances, stand-up comedy, chalk drawing on the sidewalks, Connect 4, Tug o' War, food trucks, and various vendors handing out pamphlets and samples. You could experience all of this without a badge. I can't think of any other convention that gives you a piece of it for free. It's a great alternative for people who can't afford the convention but still want to go. It's not the full Otakon experience, but you still get that otaku atmosphere. Thursday was the most chill and relaxed day of the con. I went to matsuri and picked up my badge early which I highly recommend everyone else do. The lines for registration starting from Friday went out the door. I heard it moved fast but it's still better to avoid it. Otakon also offers mail in badges and if you can make the deadline I recommend it. To have it mailed costs a bit extra but in my opinion it's worth it.

On Friday I cosplayed as Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series and I ran into a couple of people I knew outside the front door and when I went in I went straight for the gaming room after taking a few photos of cosplayers. I played some Tekken 8, watched the Final Fantasy photoshoot and browsed around the the Merchant Hall and Artist Alley. I missed a lot of the panels but something I did make it to was the video room where they were showing the first four episodes of Nana. If you aren't familiar Nana is an anime that is an adaptation of the manga of the same name that features two girls named Nana who happen to meet and move together in Tokyo. It delves into each of the girls relationships. Nana is one of the most well known shojo anime. It's been years since I've watched it and it was so comforting to watch it again. I forgot how well written it is. Nana  does a great job of making you connect with the characters and making them feel like real people and watching it with others was a new experience. The funniest thing was when I left after watching the third episode I saw a buff man in the back of the room crying saying "It's so beautiful."

 

The Final Fantasy meetup

There were so many wonderful cosplays to take photos of on Friday and the convention wasn't too crowded. It was the perfect balance. Every year during Otakon I usually buy a ticket for one of the afterparties but this year Kosupure had free afterparties for Friday and Saturday night which I loved. Conventions have become so expensive with more things being paid activities now that it was nice to have some free afterparties. The ticketed afterparties still existed. Plus Ultra Entertainment, Sonic Boombox, and Sexy Nerds all had ticketed parties this year, but I opted to save money and only go to the Kosupure parties. The Friday night afterparty that Kosupure held in collaboration with Glotaku was not good in my opinion. The venue was overcrowded and I didn't like the music so I left shortly and went to my last activity for the night which was the Boobs Through the Years panel. This panel highlighted the history of that particular part of female anime and how it's been represented throughout anime history. It took a serious tone at first, but then divulged into wild and comedic territory and it was amazing and a bit awkward to watch with so many people and I was surprised that there were so many women at the panel. My night ended shortly after and then came Saturday.

Saturday at Otakon. Saturday was packed, but the venue is pretty large so it never felt cramped like Katsucon that has less attendees, but feels more crowded because the Gaylord is a smaller space. I attended the Pokémon meetup which showed off some amazing cosplays. I saw a Genesect, Ho-Oh, Volcarona, and Frosmoth that blew me away! I swear Pokémon cosplayers are some of the most creative cosplayers.  A lot of my Saturday was spent just walking around taking pictures. I missed the Otakon Fashion Show and I came in right quick to the masquerade to see the winners of the Hall Costume Contest. If you were wondering who the winner was sorry I can't give it to you. I don't remember and I didn't record any of it. I also took another trip inside of the Artist Alley and ran into a cosplayer I had met at Magfest or Katsucon before. It was really nice to meet her again and we talked for about thirty minutes until she had to go to switch cosplays. The conversation was so fun and engaging so I was so disappointed to hear that she was from New York. We did exchange Discord handles since I no longer use Instagram so we may still stay in touch.

Speaking of the Artist Alley, Otakon's Vendor's Hall and Artist Alley are huge, well the Vendor's Hall is huge the Artist Alley is a little above average size. The Vendor's Hall is where vendors or merchants who sell generally mass-produced goods. This is where you will find the prop weapons, furry tails, apparel, plushies, Funko Pops, and things like that. The Vendor's Hall was huge and easily the biggest one in the DC Metro Area cons. I found there was a lot of variety, so much that I never saw the entire thing but the products they offered ranged. Aside from the ones I mentioned I also saw manga, figures, statues, jewelry, anime DVD box sets,  Japanese sandals, and trading cards. The Artist Alley was all the way in the back and much smaller compared to the Vendor's Hall. The Artist Alley is where independent artists sell their artwork and handmade items which usually range from art prints and originals, stickers, charms, keychains, wood carvings, and sculptures. When I go to conventions I tend to gravitate to the Artist Alley more as it feels more personal and that my funds are helping people that really need it. I got a necklace and keychain for myself and a DDR charm for a friend. I also ran into one of my favorite artists, Geneva Bee who is a colorful digital artist who hails from my home state of North Carolina and bought a sticker from her.

I forgot to mention the food options at Otakon. The Walter E. Washington Convention Center has a lot of options for food in it, but they're not good. In the main area of the con there's a mini food court where you will find the locally famous burger joint, Ben's Chili Bowl selling at an upcharge of course, a chicken tender place, a mini cafe where you can buy things like chips, and premade sandwiches, and a pizza place. Inside of the gaming hall all the way in the back past the cosplay meetups and photoshoots there was a stand selling stuff like salads and there was a flight of stairs where there was a restaurant selling typical fast food; burgers, chicken, and fries. I think this same place was inside the Vendor's Hall and Artist Alley, but I'm not sure if they're menu was exactly the same. I did see someone with a pizza, but since I wasn't interested in eating any of those places I wasn't sure if they were also selling pizza in the gaming room. Also, on the official convention center website none of their food options are listed.

There's also another mini food court at the end of one of the hallways. They sell the same thing every year, but I did see that they had another Ben's Chili Bowl in here this year which I found really redundant when there was already one upstairs in the other mini food court. They also had a Caribbean spot, a Chinese spot that's like Panda Express, and a café. I've had the Chinese food before and it was just okay. I discovered this year that the Marriot has a five-star restaurant inside of it though as far as I could tell no congoers were eating there. There are a lot of food options outside of the convention center as well. There's a Sbarro right outside the con by the metro, a Subway across the street, a few cafés, and since the convention center is just up the street from Chinatown, plenty of sit down and fast food options. Also the Marriot Marquis that is connected to the con has a public microwave in the lobby which I used to heat up hamburgers I made on Friday and Saturday. Otakon has a lot of options for food. I just recommend either bringing your own food or eating outside of the convention. The food inside of the convention center is overpriced and doesn't taste good.

 

My Saturday night was capped off with the Kosupure afterparty at Public Live Bar. I've been here many times before, but that night was magical. It was definitely the most crowded that I've ever seen. The first floor was packed with so many people I couldn't see the video games that they had set at the front walls. I saw a lot of familiar faces and the music was hitting like it should. The first floor also has an elevated DJ booth where some cosplayers were allowed to go up to and dance. I even tried myself but was denied by security although two friends of mine were allowed. He said it was because they knew the DJ which I'm not sure if that was true. I might text them to see if that was true. There was trap, hip-hop, anime and cartoon themes, and pop. Public Live Bar is a three level venue so you could switch floors if you wanted to get away from the crowd on the first floor. The second floor had couches, TVs, and an overhead look of the DJ booth, but it was for VIP only, but only for a certain time because later that night anybody could go in and the third floor had a wood furnish aesthetic and played different music from the other two floors. When I was on the third floor they mostly played Latin music. The energy was really great in the room and people were dancing, though not as much as I was hoping especially for the twerk songs. I could've used a bit more cartoon or gaming songs like the Teen Titan's theme or the Proud Family theme. After the party was nearing the end close to 2:00 AM and the music got worse I suppose to incentivize people to get out I headed back to the Marriot Marquis to hang out in the lobby. There was a ton of people. I mingled for a bit and tried to find some info on some room parties and came up short. Even walked the halls of the hotel to see if I could hear any going on in anyone's hotel room, but no luck. I usually don't have a problem finding room parties at Katsucon, but Otakon just might not be a con for it. Katsucon has very little to do at night which is probably why Katsucon is known for their room parties while Otakon had a lot of late night panels and three afterparties on Saturday so people didn't need to make their own fun. As eager as I was to end my night with one more hurrah especially because this might be my last con for the year I decided to just head on home.

A My Little Pony cosplay group

Sunday at Otakon I beelined for the Windjammers 2 arcade cabinet in the gaming room. Saturday there was a tournament for it so I didn't have an opportunity to play. I only played this game at Magfest before so I was itching to play this with another human being and I spent an hour playing with a few people that were new to it. My last opponent was a mother with her child and left after a single match in order to let her play with her son. I took one last spin at the Artist Alley and chilled for the remainder of the day. Sundays at cons are usually like that. The crowd massively died down from Saturday, but it didn't feel empty. The con closed at 4PM that day and I tried to get one more session of Windjammers in but I couldn't find an opponent so I just played against the CPU. Afterwards I just hung out in the Marriot for a bit, got some food, went back for just a little bit and then went home.

Overall, this Otakon was a good experience, great even! I don't have any particular criticisms for this year but I will reiterate that they should have the matsuri every year and I hope Kosupure decides to do free afterparties again next year. While the lack of guests didn't end up being an issue for me this year I do hope we can have someone in the future that's almost as good as having the Final Fantasy team from 2024. This is a con I can recommend to anyone.