Otakuthon 2023: where cosplayers, gamers, and anime fans come together in Montreal

Anime fans and lovers of Japanese culture are in for a treat this weekend as Canada’s second largest anime convention, Otakuthon, is back at the Palais des congrès this weekend. From cosplay exhibitions to video game tournaments, over 25,000 people have pre-registered to attend the three-day event.

“Every year, we’re more and more impressed by how much the community wants to come and see everything here, to come and visit,” said Stefan Latour, co-chair of Otakuthon.

“Otakuthon’s mission is to create a space to help people get closer to Japanese pop and traditional culture. We offer pop culture in the form of anime, manga, panels relating to it, actors coming from it, musicians who perform.”

The most anticipated concert of the convention being the Japanese rock band KANA-BOON that has produced many song openings for the classic anime series Naruto and My Hero Academia. Originally from Osaka, Japan, the band will be performing for the first time in Canada on Saturday.

The event also features a list of panelists, including Japan-based YouTubers Emirichu and Daidus, both internet famous for their animated storytime videos.

“It was a lot of people. I was surprised actually,” said Daidus, who held his first solo panel on Friday.

“The panel room ended up being a lot bigger than he expected it to be,” Emirichu added. “We’re not used to doing panels very often. We’re not very IRL.

“I didn’t know that there were so many viewers in Canada. I always kind of assumed that most of my viewers are American because I’m American. But there were a lot of people. And it’s just Day 1.”

With over 500 stores at the convention, attendees also get to shop for rare anime merch and collectibles.

Meanwhile others have come from across North America to show off their cosplay of their favourite anime and video game character.

“It’s my first Otakuthon, so this is a really big experience for me,” said one Toronto native who cosplayed as Inosuke Hashibira from the anime series Demon Slayer. “It’s a beautiful event. There’s a lot of different cosplayers here from all over the place.”

“For me, I love anime, games, manga, all sorts of different Japanese stuff,” said Fiona Yu who cosplayed as Tingyun from the RPG video game Honkai: Star Railway. “And also, I just love cosplaying and it’s like that one time of the year where I can do it freely.”

“Coming here, you can meet a lot of people with the same interests as you so it’s a great way of socializing,” said Chloe Lecompte who dressed up as The English Ensemble Stars’ Hajime Shino.

Montrealers still have time to visit the gaming room, cosplay café, and even catch the Otakuthon All-Stars talent show until Sunday, August 13.