Otakuthon

Otakuthon
Otakuthon's logo
Status	Active
Genre	Anime
Venue	Palais des congrès
Location	Montreal, Quebec
Country	Canada
First held	2006
Organizer	Quebec Anime Committee[1]
Filing status	Non-profit
Attendance	Over 9,000 in 2011
Official website	http://www.otakuthon.com/

Otakuthon is Quebec's largest anime convention promoting Japanese animation (anime), Japanese graphic novels (manga), related gaming and Japanese pop-culture.^[2] It is held annually for 3 days in Montreal during a weekend in the summer months. It is a non-profit, fan-run anime convention that was initiated by Concordia University's anime club, named Otaku Anime of Concordia University (Otaku Anime for short).^[3] The name "Otakuthon" is a portmanteau of the Japanese word "otaku" and "marathon". Otakuthon strives to be a bilingual (French and English) event, having programming, the masquerade, and the program book in both official languages.^[4] The first edition of Otakuthon was held in 2006 in mid June, but later moved to early-mid August / late July from 2007 onward.

Programming

As with most other anime conventions, Otakuthon offers a wide range of programming, exhibits, and other events. Otakuthon's programming consists of cosplay events, masquerade, vendors, artists alley, panels and workshops, game shows, anime video screenings, dances, karaoke, and music concerts. New to 2008 are a photo booth, a garage sale^[5] and a manga library.^[6]

History

View of the main hallway of the Palais des Congrès during Otakuthon 2010, with some attendees in cosplay

Otakuthon evolved from the annual Animethon^[7] anime marathon presented by Otaku Anime of Concordia University, held at the Hall Building on the Sir George Williams Campus. The anime marathon had over the years, used one or several screening rooms, over the course of one^[8] or two^[9] days, and had included ancillary events. In 2005, the 10th edition of Animethon was renamed Otakuthon.^[10] In 2006, Otaku Anime joined together with other local anime clubs and individuals to turn the annual anime marathon into a full blown convention.

While convention membership at the 2006 edition was free, admission fees were introduced from 2007 and onwards.^[11] There was a pre-registration option for the paid memberships, and attendees who pre-registered could arrive on Friday afternoon to receive their membership badges in order to gain instant access to all convention events on the same day at opening time.^[12] Admissions for the Masquerade and J-pop concert were included in the membership fee.^[12]

The 2007 edition's outstanding success prompted Otakuthon to move its venue from Concordia University to the much larger Palais des congrès de Montréal in summer 2008.^[13] This allowed the convention to increase its capacity, concentrate the main attractions on a single floor instead of multiple floors at the university, as well as free itself from restrictions imposed upon by the institution. In the same year, Otaku Anime and the other anime clubs managing the convention formed the Quebec Anime Committee, Otakuthon's parent organization.^[1]

With a great number of out-of-province Guests invited in 2009, Otakuthon was upgraded from a regional-level convention to a national-level one. 2010 introduced a Thursday evening badge pickup option for pre-registered attendees, which alleviated the long lineups on Friday as well as provided them immediate access to the convention area when the doors opened on Friday afternoon. Year after year, Otakuthon has occupied more and more conference spaces and hallways of the convention center following an annual progressive growth; while in 2008 less than half of the 5th and 7th floors were booked, in 2010 nearly 80% of those floors plus the main exhibition hall of the 2nd floor (for registration) were open for the convention. Expansion of exhibit and conference space is expected to continue in the upcoming years as the convention continues to maintain a strong growth rate.

Event history

Dates	Location	Atten.	Guests
June 10–11, 2006	Concordia University Montreal, Quebec	1,872	Boxed Rice Productions, Joany Dubé-Leblanc, Matt Hill, Irulanne, Gisèle Lagacé, Delphine Levesque Demers, Christopher Macdonald, Sara E. Mayhew, Claude J. Pelletier, Emru Townsend, Sukoshi Yoshi and Tamu Townsend.[14]
August 4–5, 2007	Concordia University Montreal, Quebec	1,946	The 404s, Arashi Daiko, Boxed Rice Productions, Sirkowski, Irulanne, Christopher Macdonald, Les Major, Dawn "Kaijugal" McKechnie, Tim Park, Claude J. Pelletier, Scott Ramsoomair, Lucien Soulban, Mark Sprague, Mandy St. Jean, Sukoshi Yoshi, and Venus Terzo.[15]
July 26–27, 2008	Palais des congrès Montreal, Quebec	3,250	The 404s, Maral "Sarcasm-hime" Agnerian, David Coacci, Disorder, Sirkowski, D.S. Gannon, Tiffany Grant, Matt Greenfield, Gisèle Lagacé, Delphine Levesque Demers, Les Major, Dawn "Kaijugal" McKechnie, Tim Park, Claude J. Pelletier, Lucien Soulban, Spike Spencer, Mark Sprague, Mandy St. Jean, and the Ontario Anime Society.[16][17]
July 31–August 2, 2009	Palais des congrès Montreal, Quebec	5,500	Johnny Yong Bosch, Stephanie Sheh, Kevin McKeever, Pikmin Link, athenaWaltz, The 404s, Claude J. Pelletier, Dawn "Kaijugal" McKechnie, Sirkowski, Maral "Sarcasm-hime" Agnerian.[18]
August 13–15, 2010	Palais des congrès Montreal, Quebec	7,310	The 404s, Maral "Sarcasm-hime" Agnerian, David Coacci, Lar DeSouza, Aaron Dismuke, Quinton Flynn, Sébastien "Sirkowski" Fréchette, D.S. Gannon, Caitlin Glass, Jacob Grady, Mohammad "Hawk" Haque, HIMEKA, Irulanne, Kyowa Québec, Stu Levy, JoEllen "Lillyxandra" Elam, Sara E. Mayhew, Dawn "Kaijugal" McKechnie (canceled), Scott A. Melzer, Vic Mignogna, Ananth Panagariya, Claude J. Pelletier, A.E. Prevost, Ryan Sohmer, Mark Sprague, Yume Mirai.[19]
August 12–14, 2011	Palais des congrès Montreal, Quebec	9,000+	Haruko Momoi, The 404s, Academie des chasseurs de prime, Maral "Sarcasm-hime" Agnerian, Eric Allard, David Coacci, Leet Street Boys, Lar DeSouza, Maile Flanagan, Sébastien « Sirkowski » Fréchette (Miss Dynamite), Mel Gosselin, MUSEbasement, Jacob Grady, Yaya Han, Karl Kerschl, Dawn "Kaijugal" McKechnie, Scott Melzer, Yume Mirai, Dream Pod 9, Kyowa Quebec, Ryan Sohmer, Robin Sevakis, Mark Sprague.[20]
August 3–5, 2012	Palais des congrès Montreal, Quebec	TBD	TBD

Mascot

Yurika, Otakuthon's mascot

Yurika, a fictional blue-haired teenage girl, serves as Otakuthon's mascot.^[11] She appears under many forms on Otakuthon booklets, badges, website, clothing, and other wearables. She was originally created for the convention by local artist Jessie Rong.^[11] Yurika has been drawn by various artists over the years and a mascot contest was even once held.^[21] Véronique Thibault, Yinyin Liu, Sharyl Chow, Meryem Bahnini were credited in the Otakuthon 2010 souvenir booklet for different versions of the mascot.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Otakuthon homepage". http://www.otakuthon.com/en/. "The Quebec Anime Committee is a joint committee composed of Otaku Anime and other anime clubs and individuals. Incorporated with the Quebec government in January 2008 as a non-profit organization, it has been formed shortly after the decision to change the convention venue from Concordia University to the Palais des congrès. The "Quebec Anime Committee" name can be seen at the bottom (footer) of every page of the Otakuthon website." 
2. ^ "Protoculture at Otakuthon". Protoculture News & Updates. 2006-05-30. http://protoculture-mag.blogspot.com/2006/05/protoculture-at-otakuthon.html. Retrieved 2007-02-02. 
3. ^ "Otakuthon set for Hall Building". Concordia Journal. 2006-06-01. http://cjournal.concordia.ca/journalarchives/2005-06/jun_1/007079.shtml. Retrieved 2007-02-02. 
4. ^ Otakuthon English & Otakuthon français
5. ^ Attractions - Otakuthon 2008
6. ^ Manga Library - Otakuthon 2008
7. ^ Not to be confused with Animethon, the Edmonton anime convention.
8. ^ Animethon 1998 (Google Groups)
9. ^ Animethon 1999 (Google Groups)
10. ^ Otakuthon 2005 webpage
11. ^ ^{a b c} Otakuthon 2007 :: FAQ
12. ^ ^{a b} http://www.otakuthon.com/en/faq.php?view=reg
13. ^ http://www.otakuthon.com/pdf/Otakuthon-PR-2008-01-29.pdf^{[dead link]}
14. ^ "Otakuthon 2006 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/997. Retrieved 2008-02-02. 
15. ^ "Otakuthon 2007 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/1193. Retrieved 2008-06-06. 
16. ^ "Otakuthon 2008 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/1519. Retrieved 2008-08-23. 
17. ^ "Otakuthon Editions Information". TekNews.net. http://teknews.net/otakuthon.php. Retrieved 2008-11-03. 
18. ^ "First Round of Guests Announced!". Otakuthon 2009. http://www.otakuthon.com/2009/home/. Retrieved 2009-05-25. 
19. ^ "Otakuthon 2010 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/2113. Retrieved 2010-08-12. 
20. ^ "Otakuthon 2011 Guests". Otakuthon 2011. http://www.otakuthon.com/2011/guests. Retrieved 2011-08-05. 
21. ^ Otakuthon 2009 :: Mascot Contest

External links

Official websites:

• Otakuthon convention website
• Otaku Anime of Concordia University

Other websites:

• Montreal Gazette review of Otakuthon 2008
• Otakuthon 2008 Cosplay at Montreal Gazette
• [1]
• [2]

Coordinates: 45°28′52″N 73°24′35″W / 45.48111°N 73.40972°W / 45.48111; -73.40972