OTAKON, now in its 18th year, is America’s longest running anime event and in July this year, for the second year in a row, I had the opportunity to attend as one of the guests.
First of all, about 80% of the visitors at OTAKON are cosplayers! And I’ll report more on the various aspects of this event and the city of Baltimore which is obviously somewhat of a haunt for otakus in my next article also, but in this installment I want to introduce one of the program highlights for me during the event, DJ Saolilith’s ani-song (anime song) rave.

“There’s an individuality about the event visitors in America that reflects a certain freeness of the country they live in. This was my first time performing a set overseas and I did a bit of research online before deciding which songs to go with, but in the end everyone just seemed enjoy the night in their own way.”
As I watched Saolilith’s performance I thought to myself, Japan’s league of otaku girls are quite possibly the most popular girls in the world right now. And if not the most popular then not too far off.

The final song for the OTAKON ani-song rave, and always the last song DJ Saolilith spins when she plays at a new spot for the first time, was ℃-ute’s “Ookina Ai de Motenashite.” It’s the ending theme song to the anime, “Kirarin Revolution.”
Saolilith is also a big fan of Hello!Project and upon returning to Japan she attended one of their live performances.
Like what you like! It’s a message from supporters of Japan and Japanese pop culture overseas that isn’t bound by age or nationality or language. I find that their straightforward mentality provides me with encouraging nudge from behind when I need it, but I also feel that Saolilith herself is a symbol of the world’s feelings towards Japan.
Otakus are popular. It would be such a shame for the young people of Japan not to go overseas and witness this fact for themselves.

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