# Anime Banzai

Anime Banzai was an annual three-day anime convention held during October at the Davis Conference Center in Layton, Utah. The name of the convention roughly comes from the Japanese word for "hooray". The convention is organized by Utah Anime Promotions and was run by a volunteer staff.

## Programming

The convention typically featured an AMV contest, arcade gaming, artist alley, board gaming, card gaming, cosplay contest, formal dance, karaoke, panel discussions, special guests, video games, vendors, and workshops.

## History

Anime Banzai was founded by the Salt Lake Community College "End of the World" Japanese Animation Club in 2004. Over 600 people attended the first year, while the organizers were expecting less than 300 attendees. The convention was held at the Salt Lake Community College in the Student Center for two years, the Sheraton City Centre Hotel for three, until moving to the Davis Conference Center due to the convention's growth. The convention in 2010 brought $400,000 to the economy and signed a three-year contract with the Davis Conference Center. In 2011, the convention brought an estimated $350,000+ to the economy. The 2012 convention brought $491,000 to the economy and remained at the Davis Conference Center. The convention in 2013 signed an agreement to return to the Davis Conference Center until 2015.
Representatives of Anime Banzai in 2012, while commenting on articles discussing why Salt Lake City did not have a large comic con, have stated that the convention would like to (and most likely will) return to Salt Lake City. Problems include outgrowing most convention space in the area, outgrowing the Davis Conference Center, affordability of the Salt Palace, and they hoped a new venue will be built that can handle conventions like Anime Banzai. Anime Banzai 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Anime Banzai 2024 was cancelled in early August 2024 due to numerous internal issues, but would in September change into a goodbye event.

### Event history

| Dates | Location | Atten. | Guests |
| October 15, 2005 | Salt Lake Community College Salt Lake City, Utah | 600 | |
| October 20–21, 2006 | Salt Lake Community College Salt Lake City, Utah | | Ichidan, Ken Rand, Amy Reeder, and Spike Spencer. |
| August 31–September 1, 2007 | Sheraton City Centre Hotel Salt Lake City, Utah | | Artbeat, Michael Dobson, Ichidan, and Steve "Warky" Nunez. |
| October 24–25, 2008 | Sheraton City Centre Hotel Salt Lake City, Utah | | Tiffany Grant, Ichidan, Vic Mignogna, Steve "Warky" Nunez, and Sonny Strait. |
| October 16–18, 2009 | Sheraton City Centre Hotel Salt Lake City, Utah | 3,000 (est) | Chuck Huber, Ichidan, Steve "Warky" Nunez, Michelle Ruff, and XDCosplayDX. |
| October 8–10, 2010 | Davis Conference Center Layton, Utah | 3,200 | Michael Coleman, Newton Ewell, Lynn Hardy, Ichidan, Steve "Warky" Nunez, Sonny Strait, and The Slants. |
| October 21–23, 2011 | Davis Conference Center Layton, Utah | 3,500 (est) | Tonya Adolfson, Brad Beachell, Matt Cole, COO-Interactive Entertainment, Preston Cowley, Christopher Escalante, Chuck Huber, April Nunez, Steve "Warky" Nunez, Wendy Pini, Jan Scott-Frazier, and Lisle Wilkerson. |
| October 19–21, 2012 | Davis Conference Center Layton, Utah | 4,146 | L.B. Bryant, Steve "Warky" Nunez, Chris Patton, Amanda Rush, Micah Solusod, and David Vincent. |
| October 18–20, 2013 | Davis Conference Center Layton, Utah | | Richard Ian Cox, Darrel Guilbeau, Kyle Hebert, Jamie McGonnigal, Christopher Robin Miller, Steve "Warky" Nunez, and Laura Post. |
| October 17–19, 2014 | Davis Conference Center Layton, Utah | | Chuck Huber, Vic Mignogna, Steve "Warky" Nunez, Chris Patton, Jan Scott-Frazier, and Sonny Strait. |
| October 16–18, 2015 | Davis Conference Center Layton, Utah | | Tanglwyst De Holloway, Michelle Ann Dunphy, Christopher Escalante, Bill Galvan, Danielle McRae, Steve "Warky" Nunez, Laura Post, and David Vincent. |
| October 21–23, 2016 | Davis Conference Center Layton, Utah | | Chris Cason, Kara Edwards, Julie Rei Goldstein, Steve "Warky" Nunez, Steff Von Schweetz, and Kiba Walker. |
| October 20-22, 2017 | Davis Conference Center Layton, Utah | | Sean Chiplock, Michaela Laws, Jamie McGonnigal, Daman Mills, Steve "Warky" Nunez, Pannon, and Diana Tolin. |
| October 19-21, 2018 | Davis Conference Center Layton, Utah | | Ben Dunn, Cole Feuchter, Natalie Rose Hoover, Steve "Warky" Nunez, Pannon, David Vincent, and Kiba Walker. |
| October 18-20, 2019 | Davis Conference Center Layton, Utah | | AlpacaAsh, Jennifer Cihi, Stefanie DeLeo, Ben Dunn, Newton Ewell, Trina Nishimura, Steve "Warky" Nunez, Pannon, Derek Stephen Prince, Jez Roth, Alejandro Saab, Tara Sands, and Bryan Young. |
| October 15-17, 2021 | Davis Conference Center Layton, Utah | | Ray Chase, Robbie Daymond, Bonnie Gordon, Max Mittelman, Steve "Warky" Nunez, Jez Roth, and Samantha Sawyer. |
| October 14-16, 2022 | Davis Conference Center Layton, Utah | | Aki Glancy, Bonnie Gordon, Johnny N' Junkers, Adam McArthur, Landon McDonald, Steve "Warky" Nunez, Matthew David Rudd, Samantha Sawyer, Kaiji Tang, Anne Yatco, and Bryan Young. |
| October 20-22, 2023 | Davis Conference Center Layton, Utah | | Aaron Campbell, Mary Claypool, Les E. Claypool III, Keith R. A. DeCandido, Bonnie Gordon, Marissa Lenti, Ry McKeand, Steve "Warky" Nunez, Wendy Pini, Jez Roth, Samantha Sawyer, and Bryan Young. |
| October 18-20, 2024 | Davis Conference Center Layton, Utah | | Steve "Warky" Nunez, Christopher Escalante, Shane Tay, Sean Tay, DaPaPaJJ, and Steven Crowe. |