Fanime is coming up next weekend. This is the long-awaited return of one of California's mainstay conventions. It's been a long three years since the last one (having been on hiatus since 2019) and we're finally back in the city of San Jose, CA.  We at The-O Network have been attending Fanime for upwards of 10 years so this is one of our most loved conventions, and given its proximity to many of the staff here, is best considered our home convention.

It's a little pared down from what you usually see from Fanime, but we'll work what with we have. The Masquerade, MusicFest, and Swap Meet, which were staples for me, are absent this year. A number of other events and features are also absent but will return (hopefully) next year.

Fanime has always been something of a party/hang-out con so having some of its elements absent may pan out to not be a huge factor. It's always been the kick-off of what I like to call the California Con Season, and being on Memorial Day Weekend, is well positioned. It'll be followed up by Anime Expo on the July 4th Weekend, San Diego Comic Con in mid to late July, and finally, CrunchyRoll Expo in late August/early September.

Let's go over what Fanime has in store for next weekend.

For starters, there are no in-person Japanese guests, but looking at all of the conventions this year, they're all fairly light in the Japanese department. Even the juggernaut that is Anime Expo has but one announced Japanese guest.

Fanime has always featured a cosplayer or three and this year is no different. Long-time cosplayer Maguma starts things off. He's been cosplaying for upwards of a decade and a half and is very involved in the fighting game community working both fan events and official company events. He's also one of the driving forces of Anime Los Angeles which takes every January.

VampyBitMe (or Vampy for short) is next on the list of cosplayers. She is no stranger to Fanime and has attended Fanime as both a guest and exhibitor for multiple years. She's been featured worldwide for her cosplay and has worked with a number of video game companies as an official cosplayer and promoter.

Propmasters HokuProps are a duo of costumers who have embraced 3D modeling, 3D printing, resins, along with traditional sewing, to create intricate and elaborate props. They also have a master-level They've been contracted by major companies/games such as Riot Games, Corsair, and esports team 100 Thieves to create official outfits and designs

In terms of our virtual Japanese guests, we have Aoi Yuki and Keisuke Ueda. Aoi Yuki was mistakenly not announced as a virtual guest back in March but that was quickly (and sadly) fixed. She'll have a pre-recorded panel where she'll answer a variety of questions that were submitted by fans. She's better known as the voice of Lumine from Genshin Impact, Madoka from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Tsuyu from My Hero Academia, and Tamaki from Fire Force.

Keisuke Ueda is a singer, stage performer, and voice actor. He has participated in many stage musical adaptations of Japanese franchises such as Demon Slayer, Yowamushi Pedal, Hetalia, and World Trigger. He will also have a pre-recorded panel.

English voice actors are also a big component of Fanime. They have veteran voice actor David Vincent and Xanthe Huynh on deck. Vincent you will recognize as Grimmjow from Bleach, Gilgamesh from Type-Moon's Fate series, Richter from Castlevania, among other things. Huynh's probably best known for her work as Haru from Persona 5, Hanayo from Love Live, and Menma from Anohana.

Rounding things up is foodie Alvin Zhou who has made his career on YouTube where he creates food from anime in real life as part of the Anime with Alvin series of videos. Which, honestly, is pretty cool given how some anime and manga have made some really delicious looking food.

As mentioned earlier, MusicFest is absent from this year's edition of Fanime. That may be the most disappointing thing this year as it's one of the things I look forward to every year. I'm a concertgoer and music photographer at heart so I really will miss it.

So, see you there. I've got a lot more friends I haven't seen in literal years coming for this one so it'll be good to be back, party a little (safely, of course), and see everyone again.

For further details about Fanime and how to buy tickets, please visit fanime.com.  Fanime runs on May 27 through May 30 (Memorial Day).