This January, Taiyou Con is celebrating their 10th anniversary and looks to have an enjoyable weekend plan for attendees. Taiyou Con has always been in held in Mesa but it spent a few years at the Hilton Phoenix East (in Mesa) before moving to its now home, the Mesa Convention Center. This year you can celebrate the new year and the Taiyou anniversary together as the event is being held January 3 – 5. Here is a look at what to expect during the three days of Taiyou Con…

GUESTS

What sets Taiyou apart from any other anime convention in Arizona is the quality guests they bring in from Japan. While some other cons might be one or two (and are usually music guests), Taiyou regularly brings out voice actors/actresses that lend their talent to some of the most popular anime and video games. This year is no different as Rei Matsuzaki (Kirari Moroboshi from The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls) and Marie Miyake (Ringo Oginome from Mawaru Penguindrum) will be making the journey to Mesa and will be joined by several other guests. You can expect to see Kyle McCarley (Ryo in Devilman Crybaby), SungWon Cho (ProZD), and cosplayers Iwood Cosplay and PiggyNukka Cosplay to name a few.

EVENTS

Aside from the normal programming and vendor hall, there are a few events Taiyou Con is offering that you can participate in. You can either shop the Sunspot Bazaar which is a night market that attendees bring things from their own collection to sell. If you are interested in being able to sell items yourself at the Sunspot Bazaar, registration is now open for this event (Friday and Saturday). Other events include Taiyou Con Rumble which is fighting game tournament with several games being offered such as Tekken 7 and Dragonball Fighterz. For rules and registration info, you can click it here. Those are not the only two events of course, you’ve also got the Nikko Festival and the Masquerade!

 

While the panel listing isn’t available on the site yet, keep your eye out for the full panel guide as we get closer to January. Don’t forget, you can purchase your Taiyou Con badges (different bundles and individual days are available) currently on the Taiyou Con website. I just want to point out that attending a convention at the Mesa Convention Center is usually pretty nice due to open and free parking as well as the close proximity to the light rail.

Food trucks, cosplay, art, and plenty of things to purchase! Don’t miss out this chance to celebrate the new year at Taiyou Con.

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