Otakon 2021, subtitled “The Con at the End of the Rainbow,” occurred under circumstances unseen since the first American anime convention welcomed fans in the early 1980s. America, Washington DC included, is still in the midst of a pandemic despite federal and state campaigns urging citizens to get vaccinated. The introduction of the new Delta variant has seen a sharp spike in hospitalizations of the unvaccinated, as well as increased concerns for at-risk populations who cannot get the vaccine at all; such as those who are immunocompromised or children under the age of 12. Nationally, the U.S.’s worst day was January 8 with over 300,000 newly recorded cases. New infection cases began dropping steadily and yet, for the first time since February, the U.S. is averaging more than 100,000 new cases a day.
Contextually, for the DC area specifically, a little over half of residents…
