{"id":218443,"date":"2026-03-13T18:32:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T18:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/218443\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T18:32:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T18:32:07","slug":"central-valley-anime-convention-draws-fans-and-cosplayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/218443\/","title":{"rendered":"Central Valley anime convention draws fans and cosplayers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Wanted to go to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/cc\/\">Comic-Con<\/a> in San Diego but couldn\u2019t get tickets?<\/p>\n<p>Or don\u2019t feel like leaving town this summer to attend the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.anime-expo.org\/\">Anime Expo<\/a> in Los Angeles?<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a more convenient option for those in the central San Joaquin Valley, and it\u2019s about to go down this weekend.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/ani-me.com\/\">Ani-Me Con 14.0<\/a> will take place Saturday and Sunday at the Fresno Fairgrounds.<\/p>\n<p>Though not nearly as grandiose as those premier events, Ani-Me 14.0 has grown significantly since its inception in 2011 when it was held at Manchester Mall.<\/p>\n<p>This weekend is expected to draw more than 9,000 people, along with 240-plus different vendors scheduled to set up shop as fans come together to celebrate Japanese pop culture.<\/p>\n<p>Dress up like your favorite anime character.<\/p>\n<p>Meet some people who played or provided the voice of some of your favorite Japanese cartoon characters.<\/p>\n<p>Or check out the various items for sale \u2014 from Pokemon cards to comics to plushies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are the biggest anime\/gaming\/sci-fi convention in the Central Valley,\u201d said event organizer Thor Phoeung. \u201cCosplay has always been a wonderful escape and wonderful hobby for all to enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Actors scheduled to attend:<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/eryanbartley\/?hl=en\">Ryan Bartley<\/a> \u2014 voice of Sage from Sonic the Hedgehog<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/billsvoice\/\">Bill Rogers<\/a> \u2014 voice of Brock from Pokemon<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/schiplock\/?hl=en\">Sean Chiplock<\/a> \u2014 voice of Subaru Natsuki from Re:Zero &#8211; Starting Life in Another World<\/p>\n<p>Online tickets are sold out.<\/p>\n<p>But tickets at the door are still available ($15 for Saturday, $10 on Sunday, $20 for weekend pass). Children 9 years old and under are free with an accompanying adult ticket.<\/p>\n<p>Gates open at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. VIP admission is 9:30 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>        Follow More of Our Reporting on  Uniquely Merced<\/p>\n<p>        Related Stories from  Fresno Bee<\/p>\n<p>                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fresnobee.com\/profile\/218451040\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-thumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773426727_205_BJ mugshot.JPG\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" alt=\"Profile Image of Bryant-Jon Anteola\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fresnobee.com\/profile\/218451040\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bryant-Jon Anteola<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n<p>            Bryant-Jon Anteola is a multimedia reporter for The Fresno Bee, writing stories and producing videos about sports, news and random topics relatable to those in the Fresno area. He\u2019s won a McClatchy President\u2019s Award and received honorable mention by the Associated Press Sports Editors. He enjoys sports because of the competition, camaraderie and energy, and views sports as a microcosm of society.\n            <\/p>\n<p>    <script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wanted to go to Comic-Con in San Diego but couldn\u2019t get tickets? Or don\u2019t feel like leaving town&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":218444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[100094,100095,512,62676,112,114,113],"class_list":["post-218443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-ani-me-con","tag-anime-convention","tag-central-valley","tag-cosplay","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}