Benjamin Leatherman
Audio By Carbonatix
Downtown Phoenix became a cosplayer playground over Labor Day weekend, thanks to the costumed attendees of Saboten Con 2025.
The annual four-day celebration of anime, manga, gaming and pop culture packed thousands into downtown Phoenix’s Sheraton and Renaissance hotels from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1. Fans hit up panels, attended J-pop concerts and anime raves, got autographs from guests like “Overwatch” voice actress Charlet Chung and sang karaoke.
But one of the biggest spectacles at Saboten Con was the cosplay. On-point outfits were seen everywhere, most of which were inspired by anime, cartoons and video games like “Chainsaw Man,” “KPop Demon Hunters” and “Genshin Impact.”
Inspirations spanned the full spectrum of J-culture. One group of friends rolled into Saboten Con 2025 as characters from Studio Ghibli’s catalog, including such esteemed films as “Spirited Away,” “Howl’s Moving Castle” and “Kiki’s Delivery Service.”
Local cosplayer Autumn Dayss rides her handcrafted horse in a mashup cosplay of Hatsune Miku and Chappell Roan.
Benjamin Leatherman
A highlight of this year’s Saboten Con was various mashups of Vocaloid virtual singer Hatsune Miku with pop-culture figures. Phoenix cosplayer Noon Raccoon fused her with Garfield, while another chose Ronald McDonald.
Local cosplayer Autumn Dayss topped them both by mixing Miku with Chappell Roan, complete with a cowgirl outfit inspired by “The Pink Pony Club” and a 6-foot-tall rolling horse.
She brought down the house at Saboten Con’s annual cosplay masquerade on Aug. 31, which also showcased such dazzling work as Prescott cosplayer Starlit Memory’s royal blue Princess Zelda gown, which she created using an original design, and the Valley’s Bleeding Fingers Cosplay and BB Bobbin as characters from the Chinese-Japanese anime “Puella Magi Madoka Magica.”
Eric Tso as Corporal Navajo.
Benjamin Leatherman
Others went completely original with costuming. New Mexico resident Eric Tso, a member of the Navajo Nation, used the gear he wore as an Army soldier to become Corporal Navajo. Like Captain America, he wielded a shield, only his bore the great seal of the Navajo Nation instead of stars and stripes.
“I wanted to join my friends here and I was in the service, so I wanted to make something exciting since I like tactical cosplays,” Tso says.
Here’s a look at the best costumes and cosplay we encountered at Saboten Con 2025.
A trio of sisters as the heroines from the Netflix animated film “KPop Demon Hunters.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Saboten Con attendees and cosplayers, from left, Mariah Ford, Hazed, Neilow and Zara as characters from the anime “Demonic Cultivation.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Phoenix cosplayer Noon Raccoon as a mashup of Hatsune Miku and Garfield the Cat.
Benjamin Leatherman
A local cosplayer as the Angel Devil from “Chainsaw Man.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Phoenix’s Streetlight Cosplay as Heismay Noctule from the video game “Metaphor: ReFantazio.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Mesa resident Chai Shay-Johnson as an original character named Dotty.
Benjamin Leatherman
A cosplay version of Diane from the mobile game “The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Phoenix resident Harley Kidd cosplays a character from the My Chemical Romance comic book “The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.”
Benjamin Leatherman
This cosplay duo portrayed the Japanese Vocaloid characters Kagamine Rin and Len.
Benjamin Leatherman
Arizona cosplayer Static Rabbit won an award at Saboten Con’s masquerade for her portrayal of Psi Miku, a fan-created variant of the iconic Vocaloid virtual singer Hatsune Miku.
Benjamin Leatherman
Tyson Jim of Gallup, New Mexico, created this version of the Azure Starlord Armor from “Boss Hunter.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Prescott’s Starlit Memory Cosplay in a royal blue Princess Zelda gown of her own design.
Benjamin Leatherman
Phoenix resident Vanessa Vanales nailed The Keeper from video game “The Evil Within” with a grotesquely perfect cosplay
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Las Vegas cosplayer Nycos as a mashup of Hatsune Miku and Ronald McDonald.
Benjamin Leatherman
Tucson’s Sage Yu, left, and Duke Speed as characters from the game “Deltarune.”
Benjamin Leatherman
A Saboten Con attendee cosplaying Kagamine Len, a Vocaloid virtual singer.
Benjamin Leatherman
Tucson residents purple.raine.cos as Buggy the Clown, left, and Alicia Morales as Chopper from the anime “One Piece.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Mesa’s Chai Shay-Johnson, left, as Roxanne Wolf from “Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach,” with friend Desmond as Tails from “Sonic the Hedgehog.”
Benjamin Leatherman
From left, starberrycos as Cammy from “Super Street Fighter II”; Mysticmiss33 as Tina Belcher from “Bob’s Burgers”; and Missracyrose as Princess Peach from “Super Mario.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Glendale’s Louis Angelo Solorio, left, and Victor Castanon played their respective characters, Wario and Waluigi, to a T, cracking jokes and mimicking their voices.
Benjamin Leatherman
Arizona cosplayer David Reynosodressed up as Jax from the animated web series “The Amazing Digital Circus” on Saboten Con’s final day.
Benjamin Leatherman
Velvet Chartresuse of Wickenburg as Joseph Desaulniers from the survival video game “Identity V.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Glendale resident Keira Milligan as Chevreuse from the video game “Genshin Impact.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Local cosplayers star.gummi, left, as Bomb Devil, and nap_kin_ as Chainsaw Man, both from the popular anime “Chainsaw Man.”
Benjamin Leatherman
A group of friends as characters from the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” game series.
Benjamin Leatherman
Bleeding Fingers Cosplay, right, and BB Bobbin as characters from the anime “Puella Magi Madoka Magica.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Friends corruptedxhero, left, and snowyy.cosplayys_ won the Best in Novice award at Saboten Con’s masquerade for their portrayals of Himiko Toga and Izuku Midoriya from “My Hero Academia.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Cosplaying the characters Taph, left, and Chance from the Roblox game “Forsaken.”
Benjamin Leatherman
