As they did last year, Anime Sushi was on hand to host the cosplay contest.

Here, they are setting up on the stage area, sharing the space with the closed down dealer's booths behind them.

The Prof and his wife garb Steve Bennett in his princely Roman toga in preparation for hosting the contest.

When I first heard that the contest had been moved to the student center, I was devastated because I though they were adopting the same stage format that other cons use. The one thing that makes Anime Express, small as it is, truly unique is a stage in which the audience is as much a part of the act as the cosplayers themselves.

However, my fears were laid to rest once I saw how the seating was set up. They had just moved to a much larger stage, but the format would stay the same with the seats surrounding the stage.

A little after 7, the doors opened and folks started to come in and get seats. Below Snow Fairy Sugar and Sun Fairy Salt get ready to watch the show.