Anime Banzai 2019

Anime Banzai 2019

Layton, Utah

October 18-20, 2019

Review By: John Fragglepuss Evans

The 15^th annual Anime Banzai took place this weekend at the Davis Conference Center. 2019 guests included: Alejandro Saab, Derek Stephen Prince, Tara Sands, Trina Nishimura, Warky, Jennifer Cihi, Stefanie Deleo, Ben Dunn, Newton Ewell, Jez Roth, Pannon, Alpacaash, Bryan Young, Caryn Larrinaga, Jared Quan, Cassidy Ward, Kylee Berry, S.J. Restivo, and Alex Harrow.

Some of the events at this year’s Banzai included a card/tabletop gaming room, an arcade/video game room, the vendor hall, Artist’s Alley, the 6^th annual scavenger hunt, Kid’s Corner, countless panels, and two viewing rooms that offered anime all day long. Some of the main events included Banzai’s Got Talent, the Opening Ceremony, Cosplay Chess, Speed Cosplay, AMV Contest, Cosplay Contest, and the Monster Ball.

Anime Banzai’s charity quilting auction returned this year with multiple quilts as part of the silent auction. All proceeds will be donated to charity.

The AMV Contest showcased 34 videos this year in the main event room.

Anime Banzai AMV Contest 2019

Anime Banzai AMV Contest 2019

Some of my favorites include:

Dance Like It’s Your life by Synaesthesia Productions

Konosuba Rhapsody by Opner

Anime World Cup by AntaresHeart07

Sanity Test by DopplerDo

Happy Little Clouds by Glitzer

Without Madoka by Dariru

Thanks to everybody that attended our What’s New in Anime 2019 panel. The usual panel crew included Breanne Evans, Brittany Evans, Lindsay Starke, and myself. It was our 7^th year presenting this panel and it continues to be a blast every time we do it!

The anime we covered in the panel include:

Babylon
Kemurikusa
Rilakkuma and Kaoru
Are You Lost?
Fire Force
Magical Sempai
Ascendance of a Bookworm
Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious
Bloom Into You
Conception
Try Knights
To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts
Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?
Cinderella Nine
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War
Dororo
Bem
Vinland Saga
Lord El-Melloi ll’s Case Files
Fairy Gone
Robi Hachi
Violet Evergarden
Cop Craft
Dr. Stone
Run with the Wind
Granbelm
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Sarazanmai
The Rising of the Shield Hero

Anime Banzai is always well run and organized. I appreciate how the organizers of Banzai strive to make it an interactive convention with something for everyone. There’s a variety of panel topics, various main events, all sorts of games, and even a courtyard for dancing at any time of day!