As a child of the 80’s/90’s and someone who is a self-professed “recluse” these days, there have been far and few events that make me want to go out and have fun. Ages ago (at least in American culture), arcades existed and were plentiful, movies were more of a spectacle, and theme/amusement parks weren’t the price of donating a kidney. In modern day, conventions have bridged some of those gaps with entertainment of all shapes and sizes, from movies, television, comic-books, video games, cosplays, and so on.
I’ve already talked up conventions like New York Comic-Con and Atlanta’s DragonCon, but this year I decided to take the dive into a convention I’ve been hearing about for a while. AnimeNYC is New York City’s (and by association the entire nation’s) biggest convention of Anime, Japanese Culture, Cosplay, and more! The brainchild of former ReedPop executive Peter Tatara and LeftField Media (founders of D.C.’s Awesome Con).
AnimeNYC History
The origins of AnimeNYC can be traced back to New York Anime Festival by the aforementioned ReedPop, who also run NYCC. NYAF’s first three years (2007 until 2009) were kept as a separate event from NYCC, and was decided (likely to capitalize on the latter’s growth) that both could be combined for 2010 as well as 2011 which would be it’s last year, ultimately being folded into NYCC and rebranded as “The Block,” which itself would be phased out after a few years. While the convention itself maintains an Anime aspect, it was certainly not the same as had been during the NYAF years.
By 2015, Tatara had parted ways with ReedPop, helping to embrace and celebrate Japanese culture and entertainment, which would ultimately lead him to partner with LeftField to create and launch the first AnimeNYC in 2017. The event itself, would go on to eclipse the original NYAFs, gathering upwards of 50,000+ attendees by 2023! It was at that point that Tatara would move on from his role at AnimeNYC and become the Director of Film at the Japan Society, maintaining his passion to celebrate and educate the Western world of the Eastern cultures in entertainment. Speaking of, AnimeNYC hosted the first-ever American Manga Awards in conjunction with Japan Society.
The Experience
History of the con itself out of the way, as I eluded to I’d heard from friends exactly what AnimeNYC has become in the last few years… not only as an alternative to NYCC, but something different. Friends had mentioned beforehand that the show utilizes Jacob Javits Center’s floor a bit more liberally than NYCC does, and it shows. Recent iterations of NYCC have used the newer floors in the upper sections of the complex – which make for even more of a trek to locate panels, etc. While not to the capacity of the former (yet!), AnimeNYC continues to use the main section for the exhibit hall and merchandise as well as artist alley, food, and other amenities, also maintaining the lower floor for access to panel rooms (including the main hall), rooms for Professionals, Cosplayers, etc. and also PlayNYC (a formerly separate event celebrating its first year as part of AnimeNYC) touted as “NYC’s premier gaming convention” showcasing indie gaming as well as arcade, console, and tabletop gaming.
AnimeNYC as a whole definitely had a classic NYCC feel. Crowds (especially Saturday) felt large, but not terribly overwhelming – not sure if that was due to volume (a record setting 101,000!) or me having better control over my anxiety. Exhibitors weren’t too over the top either, ranging from the standard anime (and main sponsors of the event) – Crunchyroll, Aniplex and Viz Media adorned both the main floor and panel rooms, plus an amazing setup by long-time entertainment company Bandai-Namco (which we’ll have a write up specifically about sooner than later this week). Hulu showcased a bit of anime as well as the big deal of the weekend, Netflix revealing the first two episodes of their upcoming Terminator Zero anime produced in a joint US-Japan venture, by Skydance and Production I.G. (will also have some articles soon). I didn’t even get to mention the awesome cosplays/section dedicated to cosplays on the top floor (which NYCC has emulated in recent years, or vice-versa).
In Conclusion
As a first-timer to the convention, I felt it was nothing short of excellent! Suffice to say, it brought me back to my college days watching Toonami (and later Adult Swim Action) and embracing Anime. If you’re looking for an event chock-full of Japanese animation, culture, gaming, merchandise, and all-around entertainment while not having to deal with too much hassle… this convention is for you. Here’s hoping AnimeNYC 2025 is an even bigger success… I hope to be there and experience even more!
Look for more AnimeNYC coverage this week and check out our pictorial of all kinds of cosplay and more!
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