I'm pretty sure that Otakon 2023's (July 28 - 30) attendance numbers managed to top last year's 40,000, but we won't know 'til they release the actual figures some weeks from now. I'm happy to report that the bag/prop check process has been streamlined, so no more lines of people around the block, standing in the hot sun while inching along, waiting to get in. The record number of shirtless (male) cosplayers makes sense, given the 100° temperatures over the weekend; there were a lot of Inosuke Hashibiras (and kudos if you have the physique to pull that off), but this was the year of Trafalgar Law, whose players came close to outnumbering the Luffys. (There was, as always, one Batman.)

The Dealers' Room had all your manga, cosplay, figurine, and wall hanging needs -- mine, not so much. The Gaming Room and Artists' Alley were huge, the panels were hit or miss, but Iron Editor, with two competitors given two hours to create an AMV (anime music video) from scratch, was, as always, a con highlight. The battle seemed a little mismatched this year, coming down to a competition between a music video and something kinda resembling a music video, but it was still a fun program. Among other things, we got to see the furry music videos from Anime Weekend Atlanta, built on clips from Aggretsuko, Beastars, BNA -- Brand New Animal, The Boy and the Beast, Odd Taxi, and...Bluey?

We attended a screening of episodes from Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-san, a workplace comedy about the bizarre world of Japanese manga retailers, who are relatively sane only when compared with their customers, and with publishing industry representatives. (I'd already read the manga; I ordered the Blu-ray as soon as we got home, 'cause it wasn't available at the con.)

It was a good weekend for dining in DC -- stellar breakfast sandwiches, tasty sushi, a spicy mushroom-and-black-bean veggie burger that didn't try to taste like meat and didn't need to. The best booze was, as usual, on our shelves at home.