The annual Otakon Convention held this past weekend was overwhelmingly magnificent! Indeed, the four-day-long event broke the convention’s prior attendance record, surpassing the 46,000 who attended the 2024 celebration of the convention’s 30th anniversary. What makes the yearly event so special? The mélange of Japanese (as well as Korean and Chinese) comics and animation culture, panel discussions on these and related topics, and events which introduce the fans to the cultural and literary tropes they will encounter in anime shows, graphic novels, and literature.
Panel discussions included “Echoes of Camelot: Arthurian Myth in Anime,” “Amusement Parks of Japan,” and “Sailor Moon Yin Yoga.” One discussion we attended was “From Mine to Table!: A Dungeon Master Class,” a four-person panel dressed in cosplay (that is, character costumes) who gave practical advice on creating anime-based games. Some of their advice: when formulating directions, do not just direct players to “go through the red door,” but rather “approach the crimson entrance.” A later discussion provided practical advice on setting pacing in fantasy games.
Yet it was much more than discussion. Musicians held performances oriented around show themes. On the high culture side of things, the Embassy of Japan presented an authentic Japanese Tea Ceremony, complete with low tables, servers wearing kimonos, traditional folding screens of rice-paper panels, paper parasols, and traditional Japanese serving utensils. “There is a philosophy behind it,” a narrator helpfully explained. “It’s about appreciating the moment,” or if we may quote Kakuzo Okakura’s classic “Book of Tea,” it is “a sacred function at which the host and guest [join] to produce for that occasion the utmost beatitude of the mundane.” The speaker pointed out that the Japanese tea ceremony is traditionally slow and long, but the one presented, like many now performed in Japan itself, are now shortened to accommodate today’s faster pace of life.
Anime conventions are famous for their cosplayers, providing comfortable space for attendees to dress (and sometimes act) as their favorite anime characters. A few we spoke to included Keika, playing Ahri from “League of Nations,” and Cha-Cha and Revas, taking on Macrophage and Red Blood Cell, anthropomorphic cells from the manga (Japanese graphic novel) series “Cells at Work!” We also met cosplayers Callie and Aya, who came up from the Roanoke, Virginia region. They became interested in anime and cosplay with the “light novel” historical romance series Tian Guan Ci Fu (“Heaven Official’s Blessings”), which has since become a popular Chinese manhua (the Chinese equivalent of manga). White-robed Callie was Xie Lian and Aya with eye-patch and carrying parasol cosplayed Hua Cheng. Like many cosplayers, Callie made the costumes, with the parasol alone taking some twenty hours.
We also encountered Lauren, whose husband introduced her to anime: “My husband and I dressed as Yor and Loid Forger from Spy X Family. It’s our yearly tradition to go [to Otakon] for his birthday every year since it always falls on his birthday weekend. It’s a fun way to celebrate! We obviously love Spy X Family, but I’d have to say my favorite anime right now are ‘Frieren’ and ‘Witch Hat Atelier.’”
Indeed, “Witch Hat Atelier” is all the rage this year, with many cosplayers dressing in a costume associated with the series: a green robe and green-pointed hat, giving witches a more colorful and positive look than the traditional black outfit. One cosplayer from that literary world that we met was Alice from Baltimore, cosplaying the character of Agott. She explained that the manga-now-anime “Atelier” series is a bit like Harry Potter but with a female protagonist attending a witch’s academy and learning magic after discovering the reading of “secret charms.”
Alice was carrying a wooden magic wand, and there was a vendor at the convention selling such wands for those not wishing to craft their own. Indeed, a vast number of vendors were present, offering charming plush toys imported from Japan, anime figurines, comic books, anime themed art and clothing, anime DVDs such as “Girls and Panzer,” and many other products.
Whether your interest is in comics, classical Asian crafts, costuming, or panel discussions intersecting popular and academic culture, the Otakon Convention serves diverse tastes and interests. Most of all, it is fun!
