Taiyou Con 2017 Review
Taiyou Con 2017 Review
We had a lot of fun last year at Taiyou Con and this year it looked like it was going to get even better! If you are not familiar with Taiyou Con, it is a convention focused on anime and Japanese culture. They tend to bring a number of awesome Japanese entertainers to meet fans and preform! They also tend to bring a number of geeky guests as well, for example this year they brought some beloved YouTube creators by the name of Mega64!
Alright, lets jump into the review! Here is what I enjoyed about Taiyou Con:
Food
Anyone who has read my reviews before knows that food is a major deal for me. The main reason being that when you are hustling around at a convention for hours upon hours, you tend to get pretty hungry. In the past Mesa convention center has offered typical convention food such as burgers and hot dogs which are acceptable but pretty pricey. It blew my mind when Taiyou Con announced that they would be having three food vendors during the weekend.
One vendor was Dawson’s Hotdog Stand who had mouth watering hot dogs that were anything but basic. Even when they were eaten plain, they were incredible and the best of all was that it was cheaper than the normal convention food. The other two food vendors were outstanding food trucks by the names of Yatai Ramen AZ Food Truck and Flippin’ Rice. Both trucks served such fantastic food that I was on cloud nine.
Super kudos to the Taiyou Con staff for giving a bit extra to their fans!
Staff
I have never had a bad experience with the Taiyou Con staff and this year was no different! In fact I would have to say that they were even kinder this year! Any questions we had or if we got lost the volunteers were patient and dedicated to ensuring we were serviced. I am horrible at directions so as you can imagine, I harassed staff a ton about where to go! The events I attended all took off around their start time and ended pretty much at the designated time before staff helped clear out panel rooms for the next group and even sometimes helped create hype for certain events!
Great job as always to the folks who helped run Taiyou Con!
Vendors
 The vendors at Taiyou con were great! There were a pleasant mix of collectibles to art to even clothing! My favorites were Anime Trash Swag, Rin The Yordle, and pretty much every single anime vendor! I had to fight so hard to resist spending all of my money on so many dope products! It broke my heart that there was a good selection of JoJo’s stuff yet but I filled that void in my heart with other figurines!
Also we got to interview ATS:
and Rin!
Guests
Taiyou Con offered a great guest list consisting of Lotus Juice, TeddyLoid, Mega64, Lunar  Lyn and so many others! Lotus Juice and TeddyLoid are always wonderful when they roll into town but the biggest hook for me this year was the appearance of Mega64! IF you are not familiar with their content, they create geeky content that if filled to the brim with comedy. They gave us an opportunity to interview them and I was dumbfounded! The guys were super professional and gave 110% in every panel and hung around their booth to chat with fans and even wandered a bit to help support other vendors.
I appreciate the fact that more and more convention owners are putting YouTubers in their line ups. I honestly care more about Mega64 and The Completionist, who was a guest at Game On Expo, than any sort of celebrity. I am certain they are also way cheaper and are willing to interact with their fans as well! That wall between fan and entertainer is so thin with chill guests like Mega64. We had full on conversations about our favorite Anime and video games which made the entire convention so much more because I felt like I actually got a priceless experience for coming to Taiyou Con!
Cosplay
There were so many great cosplayers out at Taiyou Con! Lunar Lyn was featured as a guest, Schrei205 held a panel, Lemon Bell Cosplay was during her thing, Heartless Aquarius could be seen sporting her new Victor cosplay, Nicole and Kiba were out and about getting into all sorts of shenanigans and so many others! The cosplay masquerade was hosted by Mega64 who kept the audience entertained while the judging was going on.
I should also mention that a ton of great photographers were also doing their thing! Astraea Arts, Photo Arcade Photography, Courtex Studios, and Connor Heinzmann Photography just to name a few!
Speaking of which, be sure to check out Astraea Art’s Cosplay video!
Overall
Last year there were a few hiccups but I am so glad to say that this year was way better! In almost every aspect the convention offered so much more to their fans that it validated the $50 weekend price tag. I am excited to see what Taiyou Con offers to fans in 2018 and encourage everyone to keep tabs on their social media to be in the know!
Taiyou Con
Pros
- Food Trucks
- Mega64
- Great Vendors
- Hardworking Staff
- Awesome Events
Cons
- Layout Of Convention/Panels Was A Bit Odd
Chicano | Fighting/Writing for Diversity | DM since 08 | Anime Lover | Site: https://www.thegeeklyfe.com | info@thegeeklyfe.com | http://twitch.tv/that_deangelo | https://linktr.ee/deangelomurillo
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