Convention Report: Otakon 2025

Tina's Anime Convention Reports and Cosplay

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OTAKON!!!
I love going to Otakon. It was the first really BIG convention I attended (back in 2002!), and I remember getting there and seeing the sheer amount of panels and guests and cosplayers in one place and feeling thrilled because, for the first time, it hit me that the community I had become part of was so much wider and more diverse than I had ever imagined.

Fast forward 23 years from that Otakon, and I find myself feeling just as excited to attend. I still look forward to it with that eager sense of "something very fun is only X sleeps away!"
This year, I rode up with a couple of friends and the three of us were lucky enough to stay in the Marriott. If you've been to Otakon since it moved to DC, you know what a boon this is, because it means you don't need to go outside into the summer heat to travel between your hotel and the convention center. The Marriott is connected to the WEWCC via a series of nice, air-conditioned hallways. So, right from the get-go, we were feeling great.
Badge pick-up at Otakon always seems to be really fast and easy, and I really appreciate the registration staffers for running that whole process so efficiently.

To go along with this year's theme of "Camp Otakon," there was a cute campsite set up in the main hallway!

A photo of me smiling at the camera while sitting in front of the Camp Otakon campsite inside the convention center
Does this technically count as summer camp?
A photo looking up at two bright blue and pink LED signs that say OTAKON MECHA KAIKAN in Japanese and English
The Mecha Kaikan signs were so cool and were a really good landmark all weekend. "I'm over by Mecha Kaikan, just look for the signs!"

Thursday

We spent Thursday afternoon getting settled in, getting our badges, and then headed out to grab dinner at a German restaurant nearby. After that, it was time to get into cosplay!

A photo of me inside the Prost DC restaurant. The decor is all bright blue and looks like a festhaus.
Having dinner at Prost DC!
A photo of a hotel room closet, stuffed with many cosplay outfits on hangers, with other costume pieces on the shelves. The closet is very full of clothing in many colors and textures.
POV: you open the closet in a hotel room where three cosplayers are staying.
Four of us made bards from various series (plus one actual William Shakespeare XD ), but with the added twist of referencing the costumes from the musical Six. Did we, perhaps, want an excuse to make sparkly interpretations of our favorite bards? Yes, aboslutely.
A mirror selfie of me showing my full Volothamp cosplay.
Volothamp Geddarm, at your service. Now, how many goblins did you say there were? 200? 300?
A photo of me from the waist to the knee, showing off the cerulean and indigo striped pants I made for my Volo cosplay.
PS I unironically love these pants and will be wearing them to many a Renaissance faire. They're modified from McCall's M6770 (ignore the big mirror smudge)

Friday

My roomies had things to do on Friday, so I headed to the convention mid-morning to see what was going on. I got to visit the video game hall, and most of my time in there was spent playing rhythm games, which I love playing but am incredibly bad at.

Pop'n Music, my love. Why am I still so bad at playing even after 10 years? Random fact: Nyami is my favorite PNM character.
After that, I ended up getting to watch most of the AMV contest, which was just as much fun as I remember it being years ago! I love AMVs. I even got to chatting with another attendee in the audience between entries, and it was really nice to just enjoy the contest with another random congoer.
The AMV ballot before I marked all my votes. There were loads of entries! Otakon even gave out little blue and white Otakon pencils to the audience. I kept mine as a souvenir and have been using it to mark patterns while sewing XD
I had to scoot out of there about 3/4 of the way through to go help one of my roommates with something, and then it was time to get into our fancy Over the Garden Wall costumes! I made Wirt.
My fancy Wirt cosplay. I'm so proud of how the cape turned out!

Saturday

Saturday was LOTS of shopping, and then the masquerade! Hey. I LOVE a cosplay masquerade. If there's one event I try to never ever miss at an anime convention, it's the masq. Otakon's masquerade is always packed with great skits and beautiful costumes, so I had a really heckin' good time.

Sunday

Sunday was pretty low-key for a checkout day. Everyone in my hotel room was pretty much packed up and ready to go, so we all got up, got dressed (some in cosplay, which I think is superhuman), and headed down to the convention. I ended up wandering a little bit and came across the Anime Home Video Museum, which was a trip back in time. The collection on display was so incredible and made me feel really nostalgic. I also completed the stamp rally, which is something I've tried to do for the past THREE Otakons, so I was so happy to do it this year! The prize was an absolute ton of Otakon stickers, which I have just been sticking on anything and everything.
I got to see friends, visit the manga library, and eat some poke bowl for lunch, and then it was time to head home! Looking foward to next year.

-Christina