Otakon 2024: Welcoming The Next Otaku Generation

Note: Due to the time-sensitive nature of our coverage, this will debut on the main Anime Herald site on August 10. We apologize for the inconvenience.

• Author: Samantha Ferreira

• Editor: Samantha Ferreira

On the final weekend of July 1994, three hundred fifty anime fans gathered at Pennsylvania's Days Inn Penn State for Otakon 1994, a new convention that carried the tagline "Convention of Otaku Generation." Artist Robert DeJesus headlined the event’s guest list, which included translator Neil Nadelman, translator C. Sue Shambaugh, and Anime Web Turnpike founder Jay Fubler Harvey, among other local legends. It opened with a screening of Gainax’s Otaku no Video, the self-proclaimed “Graffiti of Otaku Generation.”

Even in its inaugural year, Otakon bore many hallmarks that are enjoyed and celebrated today, from video rooms and panels to an Anime Music Video contest. Panels such as “Ethics and Future of Fan-Subtitling: Where Do Ya Draw the Line?” and “Anime and the Internet: Roadkill on the Information Superhighway?” dotted the schedule, alongside cel-painting and fan subtitling workshops, game shows, and art auctions.

At the time, though, neither the staff nor attendees knew they’d be a part of the community’s collective history; they were just losing themselves in the vibe of a shiny new convention.

In the years that followed, the anime community and industry would undergo seismic changes, as anime wove itself in the greater popular culture. The one-two punch of Pokémon and Toonami sparked the fourth wave of anime fandom in the United States, as the greater industry rose to stratospheric heights. Names like Cowboy Bebop and Gundam entered the popular lexicon, as DVD sales boomed to unprecedented levels. Meanwhile, companies like ADV Films and Pioneer Entertainment became seemingly irreplaceable fixtures in the minds of many fans.

Otakon grew in tandem with this burgeoning community, moving to the Baltimore Convention Center in 1999, where they would attract more than 4,500 attendees over a sweltering Fourth of July weekend. As the decade went on, the show would welcome bigger crowds and more prominent guests. Headliners like T.M. Revolution, JAM Project, and Koge Donbo would grace their halls, as fans created legends of their own in the con’s backyard. To this day, many reminisce about the “Ice Cold Water” guy; it’s hard not to join in the nostalgia.

And, when the industry crashed and the economy cratered in 2008, Otakon stood as a place of stability, where fans could forget about the world for a moment, and find joy in fandom for a few days. When the industry roared back to life in 2012, Otakon welcomed fans new and old alike with open arms.

In 2017, Otakon found a new home in the heart of Washington D.C. The convention held its first event at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, to the excitement and exuberance of the nearly 25,000 attendees, who welcomed icons from around the world, including Flow, Hidenori Matsubara, Tony Olver, and Frederik L. Schodt, for an unforgettable weekend. And though they had to cancel festivities in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they led the charge in the return to normalcy, with their 2021 event.

To say that the convention has woven itself deeply into the fabric of the North American community is an understatement. Generations of fans have come to call Otakon "home", as many of those kids who attended in the ‘90s have formed families of their own, who now travel to the con together. It’s served as a landmark, a place to return to, and in more recent years, a ray of sunshine during turbulent times. 

This year marks the convention’s 30th anniversary, and the fans and staff alike had high hopes that Otakon 2024 would herald good fortune for the convention in the coming years. And, as tens of thousands of people made their way to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on August 2, it was clear that this year would be a celebration like no other.