Benjamin Leatherman
Audio By Carbonatix
Thousands of Valley residents gathered at Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix on Saturday and Sunday for Arizona Matsuri, the annual celebration of Japanese culture.
Among the colorfully dressed crowd at the two-day event – which featured a wide variety of vendors, artisans and performers – were dozens of local cosplayers dressed as characters from anime, manga and video games.
Phoenix’s Yuhki Kanetani, a comedian and anime fan known as “Uncle Yuhki” who has hosted Arizona Matsuri’s annual cosplay contest since 2003, says interest in wearing anime-inspired costuming at the event has grown “substantially” over the past two decades.
“Cosplay was just starting to be popularized around when we (first) did the costume contest,” Kanetani says. “At the time, one of the anime vendor booths wanted to have all these cosplayers be represented. So we did the contest and it stuck.”
Local cosplayers gather on the SRP Martial Arts Stage at Arizona Matsuri 2025.
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Kanetani says cosplay and anime are often considered niche interests compared to other aspects of Japanese culture.
“(Arizona) Matsuri has been very gracious to us in giving us this opportunity because it’s quite a standout event compared to the rest of the culture,” Kanetani says. “And sometimes people think of (anime and cosplay) as almost counterculture because it can be a little bit out there and not as poised and graceful as other parts of Japanese culture.”
Kanetani says that turnout for Arizona Matsuri’s cosplay contest has increased as interest in anime has exploded in recent years.
Phoenix resident Dylan Woolley’s priest version of the title character from “Chainsaw Man” won first place during Saturday’s cosplay contest at Arizona Matsuri.
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“It’s amazing how much anime is coming into American culture and I couldn’t feel better about it,” he says. “Back in the day, I used to have to try and fill an hour with playing games like ‘Simon Says’ onstage. But now, I’m racing to try and get all of our contestants through. Just last year, I think we had 30-odd contestants. This (year), it was like over 40. So it gets bigger every year.”
And the quality of the costumes showcased during Arizona Matsuri’s cosplay contest, held on both days of the festival, has become even more spectacular.
“That’s the other thing, too,” Kanetani says. “The more people who (participate), the tougher it’s become to pick a winner.”
Here’s a look at the best anime-inspired cosplay we saw at Arizona Matsuri 2025.
Bret McLaughlin of Riverside, California, as Master Roshi from “Dragon Ball Z.”
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These cosplayers came as a set of “Pokémon” trading cards.
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Eszti Mendez of Surprise as Skull Kid from “The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.”
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Mesa resident Sergio Siqueiros, right, as Suguru Geto from the anime “Jujutsu Kaisen” with friend Ciara Garland of Glendale, left.
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Phoenix residents Bianca Roman, left, as Sailor Venus and Annie Guevara, right, as Sailor Mini Moon.
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These local cosplayers dressed as Kagamine Rin and Kagamine Len, a pair of virtual singers from the rhythm game “Project SEKAI COLORFUL STAGE!”
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Local cosplayer Bella Monster as Ai Hoshino from the anime “Oshi no Ko.”
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Christopher Short, left, of Mesa as Satoru Gojo and Vonnie Yuen, right, of Tempe as Yuji Itadori, both from the anime “Jujutsu Kaisen.
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Mesa cosplayer Kibbs as Corrin from the Japanese fantasy role-playing game “Fire Emblem.”
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Kasey Lingo of Phoenix as Diane from the anime “The Seven Deadly Sins.”
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Yuhki Kanetani, also known as Uncle Yuhki, as Tanjiro Kamado from “Demon Slayer.”
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Arizona cosplayer Gen Panicker as a character from the 2021 fantasy anime “Belle.”
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Phoenix cosplayer Yukichan62 as a Kurapika from the anime and manga series “Hunter
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Arizona cosplayer Aurabun.Cos came to Arizona Matsuri dressed as Usada Pekora, a virtual VTuber from Hololive.
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These Arizona Matsuri attendees cosplayed Amelia Watson, left, and Gawr Gura, a pair of virtual VTubers from Hololive.
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Mason Andrew of Scottsdale as Princess Zelda from “The Legend: The Tears of the Kingdom.”
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Local cosplayers Lila.G.Cos, left, as Mitsuri from “Demon Slayer,” Turtlesaur, center, as Malleus Draconia from the game “Twisted Wonderland” and Echo, right, as a character from the manga and anime “Haikyu!!”
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Alfredo Rasivas served as a “cosplay medic” at Arizona Matsuri.
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Apollo Spencer from Phoenix wanted to attend Arizona Matsuri “as colorfully as possible.”
Benjamin Leatherman
