Claire Murphy has drawn ever since she could hold a pencil, she says. That interest has led the 19-year-old Chandler resident into the world of Japanese anime and manga, a thriving subculture in the East Valley.
“Ever since elementary school, I’d get ‘How to draw manga’ books,” she said. “My first year in high school, my best friend introduced me to anime.”
Murphy is one of thousands who recently attended Mesa’s Taiyou Con, a gathering of anime, video game, cosplay and manga fans.
“We knew that there was an anime community in the East Valley,” said Michael Spadafore, a resident of Ahwatukee and director of Taiyou Con. “There was a convention before us that moved to northern Phoenix and then to Glendale. We decided to use that Mesa event as our starting ground.”
The convention in early January marked the eighth one for Taiyou Con – “taiyou” means “thick sunlight” or “sunshine” in Japanese. The timing of the event takes advantage of Mesa’s “thick sunlight.”
“We felt Mesa at that time of the year was missing something, with no big events,” Spadafore said. “We thought this would be a lot of fun if we had a convention like this.
“Last year, we had 3,200 to 3,400 people in attendance,” he said, adding that he was expecting 3,500 this year. “It’s grown substantially, but always consistent growth.”
Murphy agrees that anime and manga culture are healthy in the East Valley.
“There are a ton of fans in high school, and even in college,” she said. “They range from liking a show to obsessing with cosplay and collecting figurines.”
Murphy obsesses too, dressing up for Taiyou Con. She wore different costumes for each of the convention’s three days.
Read more:http://www.ahwatukee.com/community_focus/article_1c39a51d-9db8-5253-921d-85b964bc3143.html