The Washington State Convention & Trade Center was transformed last weekend into a paradise for fans of Japanese animation. Karaoke, film screenings and all things anime filled four floors of the convention center for a 24-hour, three-day festival.

The event, held April 10 to 12, has continued to grow each year since it first opened in 1998, from 313 paid members attending the first year to more than 13,000 in 2008. This trend continued for the 2009 convention, and by Saturday afternoon, attendance for the event had hit 16,000.

Unfortunately, this attendance increase could be seen in registration lines that took more than three hours to wait through. While the convention volunteers were knowledgeable and helpful, the absurdly-long wait times were the cause of many complaints from festival attendees.

However, the wait seemed almost worth the trouble after actually entering the festival. For many attendees, the convention marked a once-a-year chance to meet other fans and dress as their favorite anime or video game character in a process known as “cosplay.”

Jenna Oliver attended the convention as Yuna, one of the main characters from the video game Final Fantasy X.

“I’ve been cosplaying Yuna for about four years now,” she said. “I played the game and absolutely loved the character’s design. She kind of just grew on me, and every time I played the game, I liked Yuna more.”

Seven theaters played a range of films throughout the convention, from the 1991 live action Wong Kar-wai film Days of Being Wild to the recent anime Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

In addition to film screenings, one of the theaters was used to showcase music videos created by festival attendees for an anime music video contest held at the convention. Although most of the videos were the director’s basic interpretation of an anime, several stood out for their unique design. One in particular, “Revenge of Mr. Transformer,” was an audience favorite and presented a hilarious combination of the original 1987 Transformers film with the song “Mr. Roboto,” as sung by the film’s lead villain Megatron.

The convention also included panels with topics such as “Voice Acting 101,” fan workshops, concerts and competitions.

Besides the panels and events taking place at the festival, one of Sakura-Con’s highlights was the Exhibitor’s Hall, where convention attendees could purchase films, artwork and even costumes related to their favorite anime.

Local artist Ken Taya worked at one of the many booths in the Exhibitor’s Hall to promote his illustrations and art blog, called Enfu.

“Everybody has an innate desire to express themselves,” Taya said. “I make illustrations, and for others, cosplay is just one of the many ways in which creative people can do this.”

Convention vendor Elizabeth Morgan said that even with the current economic situation, business has been surprisingly good this year.

“I’ve been going to conventions all my life,” Morgan said. Along with her mother, Morgan has been working at various conventions for the past six years selling cloaks, kimonos and corsets.

The convention was not only a place for anime fans: gamers were also a presence, with rooms for video games equipped with nearly every console from Dreamcast to Xbox 360 available to play for free, collectible card games and even tabletop gaming. Rounding out the game section was a stage devoted to Rock Band 2, where convention attendees reenacted their favorite songs in front of a live audience.

“It’s my third convention,” said Chancellor Batey, who attended the festival dressed as Nero from the video game Devil May Cry 4. “And I have to say, it just feels like you fit in.”

Reach arts editor Julian Martin at arts@dailyuw.com.