Anime Banzai continues to be a convention that pleases fans of Japanese anime, manga and culture. This year’s convention is again held at the Davis Convention Center in Layton Utah. This local gathering of pop culture fans and Japanese pop culture fans isn’t the juggernaut that the first annual Salt Lake City Comic Convention was, but contains many of the same components that made the Salt Lake City convention a success. The crowd is enthusiastic. The common Banzai attendee has a range of interests from comic books, cosplay, gaming, art, writing, anime, movies, manga, to Japanese cuisine.
The venue is perfect for a relaxed and laid back event. The Davis Convention Center is connected to a Hilton Garden Inn. For many that consider the 30 minute drive North of Salt Lake City an inconvenience, a hotel convention center is the perfect combination for a fun and relaxing weekend.
The Anime Banzai convention has events scheduled from Friday 18th – Sunday 20th with convention events taking place on Friday and Saturday between 9:30AM and Midnight. The convention has a mix of family friendly events like; Japanese story time; Warky; and “Make and take your own kitty ears”, and adult events like; 18+ Cosplay; Café Dating game; and Anime after dark. The variety of the events is so much larger than there is space to type in this article. Examples include instructional and entertainment panels, video gaming, card gaming, Karaoke, art show, charity events, artist alley and a vendor exhibition hall.
The event is 100% volunteer staffed; but, that only means their crew is made up of incredibly dedicated people. They began handing out pre-registration badges Thursday night from 6PM until 10PM. The lines started out very long and the staff continued to see a nice level of traffic through the end of the night. The images below are were taken at 9PM Thursday night and the line was still going strong.
Those that pre-registered received a great looking schwag (gift) with convention programs, coupons a poster and a pen. They also received a laminated convention bad and Anime Banzai lanyard.
All attendees receive a badge, but those that preregistered will have their names on printed on their badge. Pre-Registration is closed because the con started today, however full weekend and single day passes are still available as of Friday morning. Prices peak at $40 for a full weekend and single day pricing is less but varies based on the day you wish to attend. All paying adults can bring along 1 child, under the age of 10, for no additional cost and the child will receive special badge for children. The Anime Banzai site has comprehensive information on registration and purchasing passes here.
Big Shiny Robot will be covering events throughout the weekend. If you’re unable to make it out to the con, please check back often for a chance to live vicariously through the power of the Internet. I’ll also be tweeting so I check my feed regularly. If you’re at the con, give me a tweet @MarkAvo and challenge me to a game of Cosplay Chess.
