Pre-registration for Otakon 2026 started on December 1^st .

I had already decided by the time I set foot in Union Station that this would be my last Otakon

(at least for the time being).

Otakon has been fun for me but it’s expensive – even more so when lumped in with the cost of groceries, home repairs, and the small random unplanned expenses that quickly grow humongous and grotesque when you when look away even for a second. I imagine them as the weeping angels from Dr Who. They move in closer and grow more monstrous when you stop looking at them. However, my weeping angels don’t send you back in time though. They send your bank balance back to zero if you don’t pay attention.

I have to say it’s a little frustrating. At $90 for a weekend pass Otakon should be cheapest convention I attend. The other two I attend regularly, Anime NYC and New York Comic Con are more than double and quadruple the price, respectively. But they’re both local. I don’t have to pay for an Amtrak ticket ($300 roundtrip on the Acela) or hotel ($150 a night for four nights). Sure, I go out to eat after the conventions in New York but I have the option of going home and Dr Frankensteining some leftovers together into something appealing. Palatable. Visually and in taste if I’m lucky. I can’t do this in DC.

But being forced to eat out has had its perks. First, there’s no dishes to clean up afterwards and second, it’s helped me discover some great restaurants near the convention center. Tatte has been a favorite since the first year. This year was my third consecutive Otakon. The weather was nice enough this August for me to sit outside and enjoy their traditional Shaksuka.

The Unconventional Diner is another restaurant near the convention center that I go back to every Otakon. This summer, I ended up eating lunch and dinner there on my last day in DC. I also found a little market, Streets, a few blocks from my hotel. I bought a bunch of bananas and apples, some yogurt and nuts in an attempt to save money and “eat better.” But I didn’t eat out less and I didn’t order less.

Right now, it’s hard knowing that I’m going to miss Otakon next year. Even now I’m playing with the numbers in my head. Trying to convince myself I can afford it. I wish I had the words to explain the vibe. The thrill of being immersed in all that creative energy. In all that positivity. It’s an ego-free id super-recharge. I’m physically and mentally exhausted after the convention but creatively pulsating.

Otakon is “by fans for fans.” I look forward to the fan-led panels as sources for creative new perspectives and introductions to content I’ve yet to explore. I’ve attended panels that questioned the boundaries of the anime genre, presented Godzilla as a measure of social comfort with nuclear energy, and that examined selected anime titles as cosmic horror. The most interesting panels I attended this year were one that discussed how mascots are a bridge to cross social norms and another about the history of toilets in Japan.

Babybeard was my Otakon highlight this year. Their performance included a WWE-style wrestling match that gave a newbie like me something familiar to grasp even if only tangentially. I know as much about wrestling as I do about Kawaii metal music – Nil – but I remember names like Junkyard Dog, Andre the Giant, and Macho Man Randy Savage just like I recognize Kawaii metal names like BabyMetal and Band Maid.

With a hulking white man dressed in a bright anime maid’s outfit, towering over two smaller similarly dressed Japanese women, Babybeard could easily be dismissed as just a novelty act but they were so committed to their performance that I felt a certain “sincerity” that would make me want to see them again. Congratulations to whoever scripted their Otakon performance. It was well-timed. The wrestling match occurred just about midway through their set when my attention was starting to wane. It brought my full attention right back into the moment.

Otakon 2025 is how I want to remember Otakon until I can afford to make new memories. In addition to the convention itself and the restaurants I went to, the weather was beautiful. It was four days of a warm spring at the start of August, filled with creativity and positivity.