Otakon is an anime convention that used to be held every year in Baltimore, Maryland. With the amount of people growing in attendance, the convention was moved to Washington DC this year. When it comes to anime conventions, Otakon was the first one I’ve been to; and that was last year. It was very crowded and actually hard to move around in, and as a slight claustrophobic, the move was a great relief to me. Last year I went basically Saturday and Sunday, so really, I didn’t see much of the panels; pretty much the cosplay and dealer’s room. This year was amazing. I found out they had brilliant professional photographers, so I decided to experience it myself.

The weather was actually quite nice for the entire weekend there. It was hot, but I don’t think it was anything like last year, where it was almost over 100 degrees outside. Yes, it was humid and hot, but at least people weren’t melting as they walked to wherever they were going to. When there was rain, it didn’t rain until evening to late evening. It was perfect.

There are plenty of hotels to choose from if  you’re an anime fan and decide to try the convention for the first time. The prices weren’t…too bad, especially if you’re staying two nights. The parking is a pain in the ass though. I stayed at the Hyatt that weekend and parking, I kid you not, was like 90.00 for Friday, Saturday and then Sunday morning. So yeeeeaaahhhhh… DC is not exactly cheap.

Otakon required a bag check for the first time, which upset quite a few people. Not that I am saying all of Washington, DC is a violent area, but with people who cosplay a character with a weapon, there is a small chance someone that is not an attendee, could try to sneak in with an actual weapon. But their bag checks ran really smoothly and people were happy!

The convention center itself…it seemed TWICE the size of the Baltimore convention center. It was a bit sad not to be at Baltimore, because the convention center was in a perfect location. It was in Inner Harbor, and it was definitely walking distance to the Baltimore Aquarium, hotels, restaurants and shops. So there was always something to do. But in another perspective, Otakon was in a perfect location in DC. Anyone could walk to the Smithsonian museums, the Washington Monument, and so on.

Read more in Part Two!!