With thousands of attendees swarming the San Jose McEnery Convention Center over the Memorial Day Weekend (May 27-30, 2011), it’s easy to see that FanimeCon is the premier go-to event for anime and gaming fans in Northern California and beyond. Launched in 1994, FanimeCon has since grown into one of the largest anime conventions in North America.

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As with any convention, it’s difficult to encapsulate the attendee experience at FanimeCon simply because there is so much to do. The event includes a Dealer’s Room (a shopper’s paradise), 24/7 gaming hall, and Artist’s Alley, allowing fans to divide their time however they choose, and thus creating a unique experience that varies from person to person.

FanimeCon sets itself apart from other conventions with a number of main attractions that draw attendees by the hundreds, including the Cosplay Masquerade, the Black & White Ball, and the MusicFest.

This year, the celebrity guest list included the legendary Yoshiki of X Japan, Ryusuke Hamamoto, Seiji Mizushima, Takahiro Yoshimatsu, Tohru Furuya, GASHICON, Hiroyuki Yamaga, Fumio Iida, Mamoru Yokota, Gilles Poitras, and Ric Meyers. Furthermore, FLOW and Matsushita Yuya headlined MusicFest and greeted tokyohive with exclusive interviews!

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FanimeCon features a four-day schedule packed around the clock with anime & film screenings, an AMV contest, swap meet, game show, karaoke, tabletop gaming, video gaming, fashion shows, raves, and musical performances. Panels are held on a range of topics, varying from cosplay construction tutorials to blogging.

As always, cosplayers made a large presence throughout the event, with elaborate costumers and photographers swarming the venue. Intricate outfits and vibrant wigs brightened up the halls, and cosplayers swarmed together for outdoor gatherings and photoshoots off-site. In addition to the usual Square Enix, Naruto, Bleach & One Piece cosplayers, this year marked a surge in popularity of outfits from Pokemon, Vocaloid, and Final Fantasy XIII.  Some attendees even repped their K-pop pride with cosplays from SNSD’s “Genie” and “Run Devil Run” eras.

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Stay tuned for tokyohive’s coverage of Yoshiki’s Q&A panel with fans, the MusicFest, as well as our exclusive one-on-one video interviews with Matsushita Yuya and FLOW!

Photography by: Sara Siemers