What is actually happening with Otakon 2021? Well, here’s the scoop. The anime scene last year and the beginning of this year was depressing. Everyone cancelled, including Anime Expo. But Otakon….is indeed happening this year.

It was officially announced yesterday by Otakorp themselves that the anime convention Otakon held in Washington DC will take place in August of this year. Some people may of course, hesitate on going; but this is indeed a HUGE step trying to get back to our normal lives once again.

Otakon will indeed be the first of the larger anime conventions to make a comeback, and this is a quite a big deal. The fate of the convention had been feared from just a few months after everything was cancelled in 2020. They weren’t sure if it had been cancelled again this year, then they would not survive the convention scene.

We know that there are going to be safety precautions and guidelines already, but what they are exactly hasn’t been said yet. After all, the announcement of the convention returning just happened yesterday. What we can assume, is that masks may be required for all, or just those who haven’t been vaccinated. It’s too early right now to assume what the guidelines are. Of course, many people still aren’t going to attend, but when you think about it- that’s okay because it’ll be less crowded.

It will also be interesting to see what guests and companies come to Otakon this year. It’s looking like no guests from Japan will be attending, due to mandatory quarantine and other things. Not to mention, Japan is having another state of emergency-and some people are trying to cancel the Olympics once more. But it’s only close to June, so who knows for sure what guests they might be able to get.

I’m looking forward to the anime industry panels once again. It’s always interesting to learn about what they are up to, what licenses they acquire and other things like that.

There are two things I’m particularly interested in finding out about. And that is the Artist Alley and the Dealer’s Room. Will they spread the vendors out, extend the room time so everyone can get a chance to do their browsing or shopping, or will they limit the amount of people to go in at a time? The last, I can’t see happening because that will cause people to get highly upset. I think, if possible, they take away a lot of the tables and chairs, but keep a few for people to sit on (in case they have boots with high heels). Because what I have noticed, is that there is usually a high amount of tables, if you took them out, you’d be able to space the vendors out even more so.

I will write more when I find out more information about the convention. But I can guarantee you, I will definitely have a review about the convention after I attend this year. So hang tight.