Tokusatsu at Katsucon 2024 Convention Recap

Team TokuNet staff member Charlie Li attended Katsucon 2024 in National Harbor, MD in February, thus uniting a community of tokusatsu cosplayers and fans. 

Katsucon is an annual 3-day convention at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, MD. Katsucon is one of the largest and most popular anime conventions of the year as thousands of attendees come from all over the world to showcase their cosplays, participate in various events, and have fun with old and new friends. This year Katsucon was held from Fri, Feb 16, 2024 – Sun, Feb 18, 2024.

Starting off into the Dealers Hall, Media Blasters and Megaroad Toys And Entertainment LLC both supplied tokusatsu merchandise for con attendees to purchase. Items for sale included DX toys, DX gimmicks, photobooks, plush toys, figures, Kamen Rider Figure-Rise Standard figures, and CSM Releases. JP USA sold a good amount of soundtrack CDs from the Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Godzilla, and Ultra Series.

Tokullectibles caught the eyes of both tokusatsu and anime fans with their Gashpon machines filled with cute keychains and charms from the latest series, such as Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger and Kamen Rider Gotchard. A claw machine with Power Rangers and Super Sentai goodies was also displayed and allowed fans to attempt at grabbing their favorite goodies. The table itself displayed DX/CSM Kamen Rider belts, Memorial items, Power Ranger weapons, and statues. The shelves lined up with DX toys from the latest series, plush toys, figures, gimmicks, and more. A true paradise for any tokusatsu fan.

The tokusatsu community on Saturday evening of the convention gathered at the Tokusatsu Katsucon 2024 Cosplay Meetup, hosted by Heaven’s Gem Cosplay in the famous Gaylord gazebo. Fans cosplayed as characters from a myriad of tokusatsu shows such as Super Sentai, Power Rangers, Kamen Rider, and even Ultraman. Each cosplayer came to the meet-up with cosplays they’ve spent so much time and energy on as well as their undying passion for tokusatsu.

As our 30 minutes allotted time frame came to an end, the final picture was snapped, and everyone went their separate ways, Charlie reflected on how much the tokusatsu community has evolved since the first year the tokusatsu meetup was hosted and how everyone’s love of the tokusatsu genre contributed to the huge success of bringing tokusatsu representation to Katsucon 2024.

We want to thank everyone who attended this fun event as both a fan and a cosplayer. Charlie had a great time meeting others who share our passion for tokusatsu. We can’t wait for what’s in store for future conventions.

All photos are taken by Jason Linetsky/Freeze Frame Foto. Please do not repost or alter in any way without permission and proper credit.