Wai-Con was an annual

anime convention An anime and manga convention (often called just anime convention) is a fan convention with a primary focus on anime, manga and Japanese culture. Anime conventions are commonly multi-day events hosted at convention centers, hotels or college cam ...

held in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. The convention was held over two days and aimed to promote Japanese culture (especially

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

and

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

) to the general community. Wai-Con was created by and run by the non-profit incorporation Perth Anime Convention (PAniC).

Programming

A variety of events are run at Wai-Con, including: * Several rooms set up for

screenings * Panels on a wide variety of topics, related directly and indirectly to the target audience's interests * Traders, selling relevant goods * Two

cosplay Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...

competitions (one per day) * Anime Music Video competitions * Art competitions * Video game competitions *

Trading Card Game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards. The genre was introduced with '' Magic: The Gathering'' in ...

tournaments * Card Trading * Cosplay Photos taken

History

In September 2003, a group of fans and representatives from the three major Perth anime clubs assembled to create the beginnings of the first convention under the working title "WestCon". As the idea developed and PAniC became incorporated, the Wai-Con name was formally adopted. While the prefix of ''WAI'' was never officially given a meaning, fans have come up with their own interpretations such as "Western Anime Insanity" or "Western Anime Invasion". Unofficially, it was chosen to pay homage to the Japanese shout of joy. On the 11th-12 December 2004 at the Arts precinct of the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

, the first Wai-Con was held. Fans were treated to a two-day

competition, artwork displays, many traders selling Japanese goods, anime music videos, as well as the latest anime screenings. Over two days approximately 400 people visited the convention, greatly exceeding the expectations of the organisers. Due to renovations at the previous location, Wai-Con 2005 was held at the Economics/Commerce/Law (ECL) precinct of

Murdoch University Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its ...

on the 10–11 December. New events at Wai-Con 2005 were the introduction of

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

to the roster, as well as the anime game show "PANIC Button". Approximately 700 people turned out over the entire weekend. After the sharp increase in attendance the previous year, Wai-Con 2006 left the university venues and was held at

Arena Joondalup Arena Joondalup is a multi-purpose sports complex in Joondalup, Western Australia, located on of parkland approximately north of Perth. Opened in 1994, Arena Joondalup is a super complex with many facilities including an outdoor sports grou ...

on the 9–10 December. Wai-Con 06 added new con-day entertainment such as the Sumo suits and martial arts demonstrations, and introduced the Fund-raising Auction as part of the Closing Ceremony. This was also the first year an Official Theme was introduced, which was Space Cadets . Perhaps owing to the venue being more remote from the city centre, Wai-Con 06 boasted only a moderate increase in numbers, with official attendance figures at 850 people. Bowing to the combined pressure from fans and traders for a closer venue, Wai-Con 2007 was held at the

Perth Convention Exhibition Centre The Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre is a privately owned convention centre in Perth, Western Australia. Description The centre has a floor space of and can cater for 5,000 delegates. It contains state-of-the-art technical facilities, ...

on the 15–16 December with a theme of Spies. Official estimates for Wai-con 07 gave a total weekend attendance of over 1600 people, almost double the attendance in 2006. Over 450 people waited in line for the con to open on Saturday morning, and a total of approximately 1200 people had stepped through at day's end. Sunday saw an estimated total of 1000. Throughout 2007, PAniC polled their members in a general survey. One of the questions asked members what month they preferred to have the convention. One of the reasons was due to the organisational issues involved for holding a convention in the December period. The outcome of the survey resulted in the decision to move the convention from December to January, and no convention being held in 2008. The next convention would then be held in January 2009. On the weekend of 31 January, Wai-con 2009 was held. The theme for that year was

Steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...

. Due to the efforts of the committee in promoting the convention, the attendance rose to 3190 people, an almost 100% increase from the previous year. This marked increase in attendance showed, with massive lines at the entrance before the con opened, and the vendors' hall and the main theatre being filled to the hired capacity. The 2010 convention was held on the 23 and 24 January. The theme was ''Angels and Demons'', and a total of 3442 people attended the convention over two days. The convention was marked by a performance from seven members of the

Eminence Symphony Orchestra The Eminence Symphony Orchestra founded in Sydney, Australia is an independent symphony orchestra which delves into the classical music featured in video games and anime, as well as film scores. History Eminence was founded in 2003 by a smal ...

, an anime and videogame themed orchestra. Eminence also brought with them

Yasunori Mitsuda is a Japanese composer and musician. He is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the '' Chrono'', '' Xeno'', '' Shadow Hearts'', and '' Inazuma Eleven'' franchises, among various others. Mitsuda began composing music for his own ...

, a videogame composer famous for his work on such titles as

Chrono Trigger is a 1995 role-playing video game by Square. It was originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as the first entry in the ''Chrono'' series. The game's development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dr ...

, and several of his pieces were played during the concert. Following the tradition, Wai-Con 2011 was held again on the final weekend of January. The theme for that year was "Sports". The convention saw a modest increase of 237 patrons, bringing the grand total to 3679 attendees. This convention marked the first voice actor appearances for Wai-Con bringing over international guests, Spike Spencer and Donna Burke. Both of these two guests have voiced in numerous anime and video games and were well received by the attendees. On 28 and 29 January, PAniC held the 8th annual Wai-Con. The theme for this year was 'Invasion'. Once again, the convention saw a modest increase of attendees, reaching the highest number yet of 3750. Wai-Con 2012 brought back the Saturday night event, with comedian John Robertson performing "Dragon Punch Turbo". Along with John, international artist, Kelly 'Coelasquid' Turnbull, came to Wai-Con to show her work and run panels about the comic book industry. In 2013, on 2 and 3 February, Wai-Con returns for its 9th convention. The theme for this year's Wai-Con is 'Circuit'. Due to Australia Day being the last weekend in January, Wai-Con was moved to the first weekend in February. Due to increase attendance, Wai-Con has moved the traders hall from the foyer into Pavilion 1 in the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. In 2013 Wai-Con achieved its greatest attendance to date with 4109 people at the convention over the weekend. 2014 was Wai-Con's big 10 year anniversary and a record-breaking 5027 people attended. Changes were made to the policy regarding minors, getting rid of the need for permission slips. Despite some setbacks with their guests, Wai-Con welcomed

Bryce Papenbrook Bryce Papenbrook, sometimes credited as Bryce Rothstein, (born February 24, 1986)Birthday reference: * * is an American voice actor. He typically provides voices for English versions of several Japanese anime series. Early life Bryce Papen ...

and

Tiffany Grant Tiffany Lynn Grant (born October 11, 1968) is an American voice actress and script writer who is known for her English-dubbing work for anime films and television series as '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'', in which she voiced the character Asuk ...

as their special guests. 2015 did not hold a Wai-Con due to decision to postpone by membership at a SGM. There was an event in February 2015 called Ani-Games Showdown run by PAniC to help raise funds for future Wai-Cons. In 2018, it was announced that PAniC would officially be dissolved, therefore ending plans for a future Wai-Con.

Event History

Organizers

The Perth Anime Convention Incorporated (PAniC inc) is the name of the group responsible for running Wai-Con. It was formed in September 2003, though it was only formally made into a non-profit incorporation a few months later.

PAniC Honour Roll

PAniC officially recognises and honours those who have given a great amount of their time and effort for PAniC and Wai-Con.

Mascots

The mascots for each year is decided through an open design competition based on the set theme for the convention, with the then current committee judging and choosing a winner. For The 2012 convention it was decided to make Watami a permanent mascot of Wai-Con. Watami was join by the second permanent mascot in 2013. Paco the boy who was riding a pig in 2009 was aged slightly and became the second mascot of Wai-Con {, class="wikitable" border="1" , - ! Year ! Theme ! Artist ! Mascot , - , 2004 , Journey to the West , - , - , - , 2005 , Fantasy , Min L , - , - , 2006 , Space Cadets , - , - , - , 2007 , Spies , Ken B , - , - , 2009 , Steampunk , Erry H , A boy and his pig , - , 2010 , Angels and Demons , Marie F , , - , 2011 , Sports , Erry H , , - , 2012 , Invasion , Karis T , Watami , - , 2013 , Circuit , Emily S , Watami and Paco , - , 2014 , Anniversary , Emily S , Watami and Paco , - , 2015 , No mascot , - , 2016 , Heroes , Emily S , Watami and Paco

References

Defunct anime conventions Recurring events established in 2004 Recurring events disestablished in 2014 Conventions in Australia 2004 establishments in Australia 2014 disestablishments in Australia Festivals in Perth, Western Australia