Over the weekend, FanBros decided to check out one of the east coast’s best anime conventions, Otakon. Otakon has been around since 1994 and continues to grow more very year. Many conventions focus on the industry these days with the show floor being the main attraction. Otakon takes the focus from the floor and puts it on socializing and activities. Gaming, panels, cosplay contests, and many more things are available for anime fans. One of the first things you’ll notice is how coordinated Otakon and facility staff are. Also, if you’ve been interested in cosplay but have never tried; this is a good place to get your feet wet. There’s about a 50/50 ratio of cosplayers to non-cosplayers. And as with many cons, there’s always someone around to help with wardrobe malfunctions.
It’s highly recommended that you download the app called Guidebook that is available for Android and iOS devices. Otakon is one of the many conventions that utilizes this application to allow people to conveniently keep track of panels, photo shoots, maps, and other activities. The app also allows you to select actives and set alerts so you don’t miss anything. Upon opening Otakon’s guidebook entry, you’ll notice that are tons of activities. It’s a three day convention that has many overlapping events. Good thing is, most of the events repeat throughout the day and weekend. So you’ll be able to do most of what you want if you plan accordingly
One of the main attractions of Otakon is it’s very impressive video game room. I’ve been to conventions where the main focus was video games, but many of those games were non-playable demos and early betas. This video game room featured many different console fighters and arcade games imported from Japan. Which include the very popular taiko drum game, Taiko: Drum Master. There was even a multiplayer Gundam game which allowed players to sit in cockpits and duke it out.
Gundam pods
If you have the energy later in the evening, you can always check out whatever musician Otakon has brought in that year or just go to one of several parties that take place throughout the weekend. Next year’s Otakon is scheduled for August 10th-12th at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. I advise you plan according since hotels do go quickly. And if you’ve never been to a con, remember good hygiene and comfortable shoes go a long way.
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