Katsucon: Washington DC's Annual Anime Convention

"Katsucon" is the Washington DC Metropolitan area's premier annual Japanese anime convention. The event has been established beginning in 1995 as the demand for anime was getting bigger in North America. In the early nineties, Japanese anime wasn't as popular in North America as it is today. A good deal of Japanese anime that was present in the United States was science-fiction based taking place in the future somewhere on earth, the moon, or outer space. As a result, it was merely a part of science-fiction and would be mainly a part of the various science fiction conventions across North America. I can understand and relate to the growing popularity of Japanese anime from the mid 1990s until now.

During the time of Katsucon's launch, you could go to any comic book store that had Japanese anime available. But, the titles were very much limited and focused on the science fiction genre. You wouldn't see such titles like: "Cowboy Bebop", "Tenchi Muyo!", "Street Fighter II V", "Outlaw Star", "Samurai Champloo", or any other title. The selections available were purely science fiction. Also, the graphics had a feel of the seventies and the eighties.

But it was more than enough to get people interested as the result of a bigger demand for anything related to anime and manga. Members of "The Virginia Tech Animation Society", "Virginia Tech Science Fiction and Fantasy Club", and Baltimore's science fiction convention "Balticon" joined forces to present what is known today as Katsucon. Though a year younger than "Otakon", Katsucon is just as popular as it brings a lot of people to Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC. But the event wasn't originally set in Washington DC. The original location would be at Virginia Beach in Virginia as the number of attendees was in the three figures until 1997. Due to the higher number of attendance, they would have to move to a bigger location.