Photos by Theresa Keil.

Otakon is the annual celebration of Otaku culture. To the best of my understanding the event is based in Japanese pop culture. Besides Dragonball Z, Ninja Scroll and that game show where the contestants have to run full speed through paper walls that may or may not be solid on the other side, the editors at What Weekly confess that we know very little about Japanese pop culture. We did however, have a hunch that the art that would be on display at Otakon would be phenomenal. Sadly, we missed the deadline to request press passes, but when we found these photographic gems in our inbox from photographer Theresa Keil we were stoked.

We won’t pretend to know who these people are or what they’re trying to convey with their costumes. We will say that this an amazing display of individual expression and we’re glad to be able to share them with you.

Photos by Theresa Keil.