Benjamin Leatherman
Audio By Carbonatix
Anime is a vibrant and imaginative realm, to put it mildly. So it stands to reason an event like Saboten Con, the largest anime and Japanese pop-culture convention in the Southwest, would be equally colorful.
Such was the case at the 2024 edition of the annual four-day event over Labor Day weekend. More than 20,000 people invaded the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel, many wearing costumes inspired by anime, manga, video games and pop culture.
There were characters from such popular anime series as “Chainsaw Man” and “My Hero Academia,” as well as games like “Genshin Impact.” Some Saboten Con attendees even dressed as memes or viral figures, such as San Francisco resident Albert Ng’s cosplay of Yusuf Dikeç, the Turkish marksman who went viral during the 2024 Olympics in Paris and has been embraced and parodied by anime fans.
Here’s a look at the memorable costumes and cosplayers we encountered at Saboten Con 2024 in downtown Phoenix.
Local cosplayer Dez Meow, left, and a friend dressed up as human versions of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee from Transformers.
Benjamin Leatherman
These Tucson cosplayers respectively portrayed Charged Armor Link, Ember Armor Link and Frostbite Link from “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Prescott cosplayer Starlit Memory as Princess Zelda from “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Romanov Ball Cosplay as Cardinal Caterina Sforza from the anime and manga “Trinity Blood.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Print Bash Props of Prescott came to Saboten Con 2024 as Helios from “Sailor Moon.”
Benjamin Leatherman
San Tan Valley cosplayer Hydrangia Workshop wore the T-65 Power Armor from Fallout 76.
Benjamin Leatherman
The group cosplay was inspired by characters from “Minecraft.”
Benjamin Leatherman
One of many cosplays inspired by “Five Nights at Freddy’s” we saw at Saboten Con 2024.
Benjamin Leatherman
Killian Davies of Mesa attended Saboten Con as Stolas Goetia from the animated series “Helluva Boss.”
Benjamin Leatherman
These friends are cosplaying Mirko from “My Hero Academia,” left, Alice from “Alice in Wonderland, center, and Power from “Chainsaw Man.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Cosplayer lydia33.cos as Lelouch from the “Code Geass” anime series.
Benjamin Leatherman
This group of friends staged a scene from the anime series “Wind Breaker.”
Benjamin Leatherman
A group cosplay inspired by the “Kaiju No. 8” anime and mange series.
Benjamin Leatherman
Cosplaying Shigaraki, left, and Deku, right, from the popular anime “My Hero Academia.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Local cosplayer Xaskfy as Silver from “Twisted Wonderland.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Local cosplayer _lost_feathers as Keigo Takami (a.k.a. Wing Hero: Hawks) from “My Hero Academia.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Wendy and Colonel Sanders during their off hours.
Benjamin Leatherman
Lux Larkin’s amazing-looking costume is a cosplay representation of a mythical Phoenix.
Benjamin Leatherman
These friends dressed as characters created by manga author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (a.k.a. MXTX).
Benjamin Leatherman
This local cosplayer created a character and costume of their own design.
Benjamin Leatherman
Albert Ng of San Francisco came to Saboten Con as Yusuf Dikeç, the Turkish marksman who went viral durining the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Benjamin Leatherman
Chris Short of Mesa as Maid Levi from “Attack on Titan.”
Benjamin Leatherman
These friends cosplayed Mabel Pines, left, and Dipper Pines, right, from “Gravity Falls.”
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Something wicked this way comes.
Benjamin Leatherman
Schrei205 of Chadler as a Blood Elf Priest from “World of Warcraft.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Southern California resident Cherimage Cosplay as Cressida from the game “Tactics Ogre: Reborn.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Cosplaying characters from the anime series “Delicious in Dungeon.”
Benjamin Leatherman
