How to Throw an Anime Party

Planning the Party

Make and send invitations. Buy anime-themed invitations online by entering “anime invitations” into a search engine. Another option is to make the invitations yourself. Find templates by searching online for “printable anime cards.” You may want to pair the template with cool stationery from a local office supply store. For example, you can find premade anime invitations on Amazon, or order personalized anime invitations on Etsy. You can also use an online platform to send out your invitations. Try to get them out 6 weeks in advance so your guests can make room in their calendars for the party.

Buy or make a costume. Choose one of your favorite anime characters or one that is well known. Or, you may want to pick an anime character because they have a costume you’d like to replicate. Each anime character tends to have multiple stand-out features or accessories you can imitate. Examples of popular male anime characters are L, Edward ELRIC and Kakashi Hatake. For L, you could wear a thick, black wig and carry a magnifying glass and/or sweets (L is a detective with a sweet tooth). To dress as Edward ELRIC, wear a shaggy blonde wig and carry alchemist accessories. For a Kakashi Hatake costume, wear a spiky gray wig, a headband, and a vest. Examples of popular female anime characters are: Asuna, Mirajane Strauss, and Akame. To dress like Asuna, wear long, light blue hair, fake elf ears and a white outfit. To resemble Mirajane Strauss, wear a long, whitish blonde wig with a side part, and blue contacts. For an Akame costume, wear a black wig that is long in the back and short in the front. Wear red contacts. Make sure that your guests know what the expectations are for dressing up; that way, some people won't show up in complex costumes while other people only wear a wig and a hat.

Prepare music playlists. Find anime songs online. Make some playlists that will last about as long as you think the party might run. Set up speakers or plan to stream the music from a Smart TV with an internet connection. Play regular and/or anime music. If you're looking for music to play, try J-Pop, theme songs to animes, or Vocaloid music, such as songs from Hatsune Miku. Think about the demographic of the guests attending your party—make sure that there's something for everyone!

Consider playing anime on TV or DVD. You can play it with the sound low or off if you don’t want it to compete with the music. If you have a projector you can use with a DVD player or computer, you can project anime onto the wall. You may want to watch some classic anime shows like Yu Yu Hakusho, Pokémon or Dragon Ball Z.

Make party favors. For a Japanese-American vibe, put party favors in takeout containers. Tie pieces of ribbon around them that match the color theme of your party. Tie chopsticks into the knot or bow in the ribbon at the top of each box. Items you can include in the boxes are anime keychains, candy, erasers, temporary tattoos, or whatever you like! There are many different kinds of anime merchandise available online.

Preparing Food

Make or order main and side dishes. If you’re planning to have a large party, it might be easier to order food than make it. Find Japanese restaurants in local directories online or in the yellow pages. Ideas for main dishes include teriyaki meat or salmon, and stir fry with chicken or beef, noodles, vegetables, and toasted sesame seed sauce. Some examples of appetizers or side dishes are sushi, fried rice, soup, clams steamed in butter and sake, and fried shrimp with dipping sauces.

Serve beverages. There are various Japanese-themed drinks you can serve at your party. If it’s a kid’s party, you’ll of course want to stick to non-alcoholic options. If it’s an adult party, you may want to include both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage choices. Some examples of non-alcoholic beverages you can serve are green tea, cherry blossom tea, soy milk, and Japanese sodas from a local Asian grocer. Alcoholic options include sake, Japanese beer, and wine.

Decorate sweets. Use cake decorating supplies to draw anime faces or characters on mocha, cookies, donuts or cake pops. Make or order a manga-themed cake. Design candy treats to look like sushi. Cut Rice Krispie treats into circles. Attach chewy fruit snacks and Swedish fish to them with Laffy Taffy. Wrap a Fruit Roll-Up around each circle.

Decorating for the Party

Put out anime balloons. Draw anime faces on balloons. Alternately, you can call local party supply stores to see if they have any relevant balloons. A third option is to purchase anime balloons online. You can have the balloons filled with helium, or blow them up yourself and place them around. Try asking, “Do you have any anime or manga balloons, like Pokémon, Dragon Ball or Naruto?” These are well-recognized series and will help give the party store employee a better idea of what you’re looking for.

Put anime in photo frames. Go to a craft store or dollar store and purchase a dozen or so photo frames. If you have photo frames around the house, you can use those instead and put the original photos back in them after the party. Print out some great anime screenshots or images that will fit in the frames. Place them around the party area.

Cut out anime characters to go on place cards. Print out anime characters on regular paper. Cut rectangles out of card stock and fold them in half so they stand up like tents. Glue an anime character to each one, and below that write the name of one of the food dishes at your party. You can also write or print the Japanese translation to go on the place card. Put each placecard in front of the respective food dish it describes. Instead of using the place cards to label the party food, you could put the English version of some cool quotes from animated series.

Hang paper lanterns. Buy paper lanterns, in the color of your party theme, at a party supply store or online. You can also make paper lanterns using tissue paper and bendable metal wire.

Enjoying the Party

Host a costume contest. Make sure the invitations instruct attendees to dress in costumes. Give out anime-related prizes for winners in different categories. For example, most original costume, most elaborate costume and most authentic costume.

Plan games. Maybe you want to play anime video games or trivia. You could also do a twist on Pictionary by playing an anime-based version. Another idea is to play card games, such as Beyblade or Yu-Gi-Oh! card games.

Do crafts. Plan crafts that fit in with either a kids’ party or an adult party, depending on which you’re having. If the crowd will be a mixture of ages, you can plan for both types of crafts. Examples of kids’ crafts you can have are anime printouts to color with markers or crayons, decorating magnets, painting rocks with anime themes, and making fake sushi out of felt. Adult crafts you can plan are origami, photo magnets with anime pictures, or making figures from polymer clay (provide the supplies). You can also draw anime faces or designs on mugs, or on clay vases for holding succulents or other plants.