AnimeNYC Crowd on Saturday, a busy day! / Photo by Sahtrese
It’s August 2024 in New York City, and you’ve been dying to find a place to go all out on your favorite anime happenings over the past year. Lucky for you, it’s August 2024 in New York City; and AnimeNYC is right around the corner where you can experience your favorite things in one space. Hold up, though - the internet has been kinda crazy to Black cosplayers recently, and you really want to find other Blerds like yourself. Just how inclusive is AnimeNYC?
AnimeNYC had a few options for us at their annual convention in the Javits Center this year! During AnimeNYC 2023, I searched for answers on how people who look like me feel in this community. As a Black woman, I know it’s been hard for me to find solace in spaces that might not have been the most welcome to me in the past. Because of previous isolation and ridicule when participating in the anime community, I wanted to ask other black anime fans and creators what AnimeNYC brought to us - and the responses I gathered were amazing!
I found a whole population of black fans ready to partake in their favorite convention activities, facilitate spaces for us to talk about our achievements and goals, and insight into more ways we can create community. There was a mixture of easygoing panels and thought-provoking panels; each had something to offer which became an amazing introduction to the black anime community through AnimeNYC. Aside from a couple of tips on what I wanted to see from AnimeNYC in the future (such as bigger rooms), it was an enjoyable experience where I met so many passionate people.
So, rejuvenated and ready to jump back in just nine months later, I wanted to see how AnimeNYC 2024 held up on diversity and inclusion this year! I marked a few panels worth checking out, grabbed my notepad, and my Runa Yomozuki jacket, then took on AnimeNYC 2024 with a lollipop and pen in hand!
First Day Press Badges / Photo by Sahtrese
Honestly, I already had a few notes before entering the convention. There were a few conflicts with some panels mixing black fans and anime interests - a lot ended up being at similar times. Especially on Friday! I was running from panel to panel, making sure I caught the different events being offered to us from us. Interestingly, though, it simultaneously felt like the panels related to black topics weren’t as high in number. Or, maybe it’s that the topics were more related to specific pillars in the Black anime community over general conversation about blackness and anime.
The first panel I attended was “Being BIPOC Creators in Manga”. Moderated by Renee Scott, the panel hosted Fredrick L. Jones (founder of SaturdayAM), Odunze Oguguo aka Whyt Manga, Morganne Walker, and J.R. De Bard – all mangaka’s who work with SaturdayAM. SaturdayAM itself is a manga anthology, dedicated to creating diverse manga comics by diverse creators for diverse audiences. The creators on the panel each author a series under SaturdayAM – and get their input on how the presence of [diverse] media changes manga’s landscape. “Everybody is more and more comfortable, especially on the creative side, creating work that is more representative of where they’re from.” Says Oguguo, creator of “Apple Black”. “Readers are starting to see more of themselves in their heroes.” Having our own cultural spin on media and creating a space where the ideas of authentic creators can thrive is essential at this time! Morganne, the creator of “Soul Beat”, chatted a bit about introducing cultures into her work that weren’t seen in movies or television growing up, while “Underground” creator J.R. spoke on how he was able to believe himself as a creator and inspire others through SaturdayAM.
From left to right: Renee Scott, Fredrick L. Jones , Whyt Manga, Morganne Walker, and J.R. De Bard during Being BIPOC Creators in Manga panel / Photo by Sahtrese
It was interesting to me when Fredrick L. Jones pointed out how the percentage of African Americans interested in the anime world has been going up – we represent more of the pie as the generations get younger, meaning our interest in manga and comics holds more weight. This is where the need to ingest media that speaks to us becomes larger – and our voices mean something. I left this panel with a shirt, the “Clock Striker: Volume One” novel, and a bit more excitement for the direction our media is heading in. SaturdayAM also had a panel on Saturday as well (no pun intended) talking about new projects in the work – from novels to apparel to games, they were excited to share all new plans of content with characters we can see ourselves in. I’m keeping my eye on SaturdayAM for the next year – they have so much in store.
“Soul Beat” Shirt and “Clock Striker: Volume One” from Being BIPOC Creators in Manga panel / Photo by Sahtrese
A panel I enjoyed was “Black Representation in Anime”, as it was the most general panel for black audiences. Creators like Rena Tyner with sonymusicjapan, producer Justin Roblero, LAN Party CEO Greg Apollon, rap group ITFS Collective, and co-founder of Otaka House Kimberly gathered to talk about black people and anime. The questions asked were phenomenal - things like what draws us black fans to this space, how we’ve contributed to the anime community, how the industry can be more conscious and mindful, plus more. It felt like a culmination of all the things I already wanted to figure out, meshed with entertainment and banter all in one.
From left to right: Rena Tyner, Kimberly, Justin Roblero, Greg Apollon, and ItsFCollective after Black Representation in Anime panel / Photo by Sahtrese
“Black Trailblazers in the Anime Industry” was the next panel that intrigued me - this one was centered around black creators in the community sharing their journey and giving tips on what they know. Hosted by podcaster Victoria Johnson, the panel consisted of Shonen Pump Party creator Darius Hoyte, RetroCrushTV Head of Acquisition Mary Gibson, horror mangaka Gigi Murakami, and illustrator Nikolas Draper-Ivey. Each creator is individual in their accomplishments, but still had intersecting experiences and engaging things to say about what it was like being a notable Black figure here. From cultural differences to contradicting feelings of being wanted, because they are Black vs. imposter syndrome, it seemed synonymous that each person had a strong belief in the community surrounding them building them up.
After the panel, I had a chance to catch the illustrator Nikolas and ask a bit more about Black representation in anime/art and what the future of this can look like. His art has made its way across the black community through projects like “XOGENASYS”, and MARVEL’S “BLACK PANTHER: THE ALBUM” album artwork - he now catches the eye of many fans and industry workers alike, with his Afrofuturism x manga-style creative pieces.
“I would like to create something... That is undeniably, like, objectively beautiful. For everyone. No matter who you are, you can look at it and see characters that look like us, and see the divinity in us, and carry that on with others' projects. Other people start doing that. That's the best way I can see it.” He asserted the fact that it doesn’t have to be his vision to start - anyone can bring forward a new way of presenting Black culture, as the ability to show a wider audience any authentic vision is a step in the right direction.
From left to right: Victoria Johnson, Darius Hoyte, Mary Gibson, Gigi Murakami, and Nikolas Draper-Ivey at Black Trailblazers panel / Photo by Sahtrese
“Kinks & Curls” was another panel I was super looking forward to attending again. The panel, featuring Lizzette Lewis and curated by Vanta Black like last year, was just as hilarious and informative this time. In a room full of Black cosplayers, we not only took tips from the panel on how to work a natural hairstyle into your weekend cosplay (yes, wigs were still being worked on the night before!), we were also able to help each other figure out what works for our curls and cosplay in general.
This one was all laughs and all-inclusive. We hummed in agreement over hair products, got a live de-wigging from Lizzette in the name of wig-cap education, and even helped one non-black cosplayer connect with a black hairstylist on learning how to take care of black hair. It’s so cool to see what we do with cosplays in general, and the “Kinks & Curls” panel always provides a multitude of inspo ideas for black cosplayers of all genders.
Lizzette Lewis and Vanta Black in the front with “Kinks & Curls” panel attendees / Photo by Sahtrese
Saturday mainly consisted of my talking to Black cosplayers and seeing what other things AnimeNYC had to offer… one such place was the Artist Alley (queue the angelic music and sparkles). I LOVE me an hour or two in this hall where my favorite things are mixed - amazing art and good ol’ crazed fandom creativity. One thing I did notice - as I traversed all the booths, I would spend my money like it grew on a tree - was a general lack of Black artists. It was only occasionally I’d run into a Black seller, which made me think again about how these spaces don’t always allow us to showcase the beauty we create. It feels like we constantly must make spaces for ourselves and work across to bring more of our own to a profitable place like this.
Once again, I’m led to believe that it’s our community that brings us together at these events rather than any specific spotlight coming from AnimeNYC. It’s not an obligation for AnimeNYC to do so, but it’s intriguing to see how we make a space our own regardless. Even when going to other panels on diversity on Saturday and Sunday, the range of inclusion didn’t always compare to the way we include ALL kinds of people in our spaces. When Black people (especially Black women) spoke on inclusion through the weekend, everyone was covered - diverse bodies, diverse sexuality and spectrum, diverse mental struggles, and more. While we aren’t perfect and there’s always more to educate about, I think that we still ultimately find our way here because of our inherent draw to other Black people in ANY community.
Whether it was through teens of color recollecting on the impact manga has had on their digestion of media, or the Fanboy Fighter panel that had y’all up in ARMS over Bakugou and Shinomiya’s character development, there were so many ways we made this place FUN. I love our ability to have fun wherever to connect this Black nerd community.
Cosplayers at AnimeNYC 2024 from @animenightclub3, @jay.roseeee, @dance10fikshun, and @bboyswirv / Photo by Sahtrese
I’d also had a chance to attend some other panels speaking on topics like cosplaying with health conditions, transgender representation in anime, diversity in voice acting - and a couple of event outliers like the “AniMusic vs Nerdcore” performance or a Gyaru panel (the gyaru topic will definitely be a talk for another day!). I enjoyed seeing how all kinds of diversity present itself at conventions, and how we make space for one another. It was affirming; to hear from so many people who experience a range of things outside of the binary on a platform.
On my last day, I mostly just wandered around and enjoyed what the convention had left to offer. After a couple of premieres, a few personal interest panels, and I was on my way home again to reflect on my AnimeNYC experience. There were a few ways that this year was better - someone must’ve seen my comment on Panel Room 5 last year and gathered themselves quickly! But it would’ve been nice to see a similar span of panels across more days like last year. As well as more Black artists in the Alley next time, as they do choose who gets a booth within the space offered.
Con Attendees in the Gaming Hall / Photo by Sahtrese
In my opinion, Friday was a great start to my weekend - it made my hopes high for Saturday and Sunday…. unfortunately, a bit too high. As mentioned before, most of the events that brought together Black fans bunched up on Friday. I will say, though, that the rooms were an upgrade! I’d heard that AnimeNYC was able to rent out more areas in the Javits Center this year, meaning that the panel rooms we were in became much more spacious. Kudos to not getting rushed out of the smallest room, and now being rushed out of slightly bigger ones! Still, I think they could’ve done better with spanning panels on Black topics and Black Music further along the weekend aside from crowding them on one day. It wasn’t just me who noticed – I found myself talking to other attendees and even panelists on this problem as we decided which panel to attend or groaning over the ones we’d miss. You’re always going to miss out on a panel you enjoy at a con, but it shouldn’t be that they mostly overlap on one day the whole weekend.
Other than this, I felt a similar sense of community at this year’s AnimeNYC as last year, but in a different way. It was mostly through talking to others this time rather than the panels I attended, but maybe this is just because much of this part of my experience was on Friday. I got to see some familiar faces on the panels and in the crowd, as well as meet new ones all with the goal to impart wisdom and connectivity to each other. The “wisdom” part is especially true this year – while many spoke about their experiences, I feel like so many topics came back to elevating ourselves in this space rather than what we experience on a social level. This isn’t a bad thing necessarily; I do think I preferred last year, though, because of that aspect.
On AnimeNYC specifically - despite the larger rooms, I HATED that the Main Event Pavilion didn’t show all the Crunchyroll new release premieres anymore. It felt so *magical* last year when you’d walk up that hall with the beautiful windows and watch a villainess on her seventh live, marry her enemy (7th Time Loop Supremacy) as the sun set. Most of them were in regular panel rooms, with people either standing up or being turned away if they didn’t get there early enough. They really should move these back to a larger space next year.
Once again, I’ll look forward to the ways you’ll come back better next year. Thanks, AnimeNYC 2024 - I’ll see you in 2025!
Baymax and I being very cool / Photo by Friend
