Anime Expo 2011 Offers North America’s Largest Anime Masquerade Competition Cash Prize

LOS ANGELES (February 2, 2011) — Anime cosplayers: start your sewing machines engines now! It’s time to get stitching and rehearsing to have a chance to get your share of $25,000 in cash and prizes at Anime Expo 2011. Celebrating its 20th anniversary and themed “The Year of the Fan,” Anime Expo 2011 will award a spectacular $10,000 cash to the “Best of Show” winner in the wildly popular Masquerade, making it the richest anime costume competition in North America. Masquerade second and third place winners will receive $2,500 and $1,000 respectively, while winners of the Midnight Tea, Pop Shock Masquerade and other Anime Expo competitions will split close to $12,000 in cash and prizes.

Anime Expo — North America’s largest anime and manga event — returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center and L.A. Live from July 1 – 4, 2011 with the biggest exhibition and program in its history. A non-stop marathon of Japanese pop culture that’s been likened to Halloween in July, Anime Expo (AX) fully immerses guests into the world of Japanese animation, manga (comic books), music and fashion.

“The fans who work so hard on their costumes and performances all year long and who make Anime Expo so exciting will be well rewarded in 2011,” said Marc Perez, Chairman and CEO of the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation, the non-profit that produces the event. “In addition to the large awards in the formal Anime Expo competitions, we’ll have a roving team of judges giving on-the-spot prizes like tickets to exclusive events and valuable collectibles to outstanding cosplayers they see anywhere throughout the Convention Center.”

Anime Expo gives fans the rare opportunity to meet and hear from some of the most famous anime, manga and musical artists from Japan and get into the action through everything from costume play, karaoke and video competitions to exclusive screenings, non-stop video gaming competitions and Masquerade, in which fans transform themselves into their favorite anime and manga characters through creative costuming, accessories and make-up and put on their own show before an audience of thousands.

Tickets

Ticket prices range from $45 for a one-day adult pass to $75 for a four-day adult pass. A one day for children ages 5 – 12 is $25. Children 1 – 4 are free. Admission to the AX Japanese Street Fair is free. To register for Anime Expo 2011, please visit www.anime-expo.org.

Hours: Los Angeles Convention Center

Thursday, July 1       9 a.m. – 4 a.m.
Friday, July 2           9 a.m. – 4 a.m.
Saturday, July 3       9 a.m. – 4 a.m.
Sunday, July 4         9 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Address

Los Angeles Convention Center
1201 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90015

For more information, visit www.anime-expo.org or call 805-654-0171

About the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation

The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to popularize and educate the American public about anime and manga, as well as provide a forum to facilitate communication between professionals and fans. This organization is more popularly known by its entertainment property, Anime Expo®. For more information, please visit www.spja.org.