I went to Anime NYC for the first time—and I absolutely LOVED it.

I have heard that previous years were a bit iffy, and there have been mixed reviews, such as increasing ticket prices, not enough three-day passes, and not accepting more NYC-based influencers to their program. However, I had a great time—despite being extremely sleep-deprived and starved.  On Friday, I got there at around 1:00 in the afternoon. The line was wrapped around the Javits Center, and there was confusion about where those with special passes should go. Ten minutes and a medium Dunkin Donuts refresher later, I got inside. (At conventions, I found out that asking goes a long way)

The crowd buzzed with energy, but strangely, I felt like I was in my own world, surrounded by a lot of people. I know it’s not easy to approach strangers in this day and age, especially when not in cosplay, but walking around by myself was quite lonely. Going with friends is the way to go with any convention, but talking and interacting with new people was much easier at Dream Con than here.

Studio Trigger Press Conference

Getting our passes was easy and very quick. Security was a little rude the entire weekend, but that’s just them doing their job, I assume (not that the job should come with attitude, but oh well). I hurried to the first and only interview that OFF BLXXK had secured: the press conference with Studio Trigger.

The room was crowded, and in the front sat Imaishi Hiroyuki and Wakabayashi Hiromi, the founder and design producer, alongside a translator. They discussed their separation from Gainax, the animation studio responsible for the mecha anime Neon Genesis Evangelion and Guren Lagann. I appreciate that they constantly mentioned prioritizing the well-being of their animators. With one and a half tracks for animation, one team for producing a series, and the other for planning and designing the animation, I sensed that they valued their animators by not overworking them (unlike some other animation studios—you know who I’m talking about). The Q&A was lighthearted, and, in my opinion, both Imaishi-san and Wakabayashi-san were funny characters. In the short thirty minutes left of the press conference, I had a great time and look forward to future series Studio Trigger plans to animate.

Walking the Convention Floor

Now I understand it’s a convention, but food should never be this expensive. For six takoyaki and a salmon onigiri, I paid $25, which is astronomical pricing. I recommend sneaking food in if possible. They didn’t say anything about my Dunkin drink when I walked in, so take that as you will. I think food vendors should take the memo and conveniently station themselves outside Javits next August. That wouldn’t raise any suspicion now, would it? (ANYC staff, if you see this, please look the other way—thanks. I don’t want to starve in this economy)

I absolutely adore the cosplay community, and the perfect example of that is, for sure, the meetups. Anime NYC had several meetups for shows and games like Genshin Impact, Jujutsu Kaisen, and one I even attended for Bleach. I loved seeing fans dressed up as their favorite characters; the vibes were immaculate. I cosplayed as Rukia—her bankai version of course—and I appreciated the number of compliments I’ve received. People even wanted to take pictures of and with me! The amount of support was unreal and only inspired me to want to cosplay even more. I appreciated every moment I was there, and when I return next August, I will 100% cosplay again. My only complaint about the meetups was the location. Since Anime NYC plans to utilize the entire Javits Center next year, I hope they’ll have a designated space for the meetups since they took place in the lobby this year. I didn’t like exiting and reentering the convention when the activities were part of the con. Other than that, no complaints! Kudos to the amazing Gundam theme cosplay that everyone was in awe of. You won, period!

My heart swelled with happiness at how many Black people came to show out at Anime NYC—especially those in cosplay! I saw Rukia, Tanjiro, Luffy, Nanami, and even some cosplay from older shows like Code Geass, Black Butler, Kuroko no Basuke, and more (sports anime fans, I know you are out there hiding). Between the makeup and hairstyles using natural hair, I was overjoyed at everyone’s creativity.

Artist Alley

I would have easily spent over a thousand dollars if I had one entire day to explore the Artist Alley. There were so many talented artists who supplied merch for a variety of fandoms. I didn’t see anything from Prince of Tennis (I’m sad that the series doesn’t get any love here, okay?), but there was an abundance of Genshin, JJK, One Piece, Bleach, and surprisingly Hunter x Hunter merchandise for sale. As we all learned in school, the power of supply and demand prioritizes merchandise for popular fandoms, leaving lesser-known and older fandoms to collect dust. But I was satisfied that I managed to find the littlest bit of Black Butler stuff. The artists themselves were busy and kinder than ever, but one was the absolute sweetest: Their name is Litarnes on social media, and the Genshin art is so beautiful I had to buy a few prints. We talked for at least five minutes, and it was one of the highlights of my Sunday. I’m going to need a huge folder for all the prints and find a place to hang all of the keychains I bought now.

I only had Sunday to fully roam around the show floor which was as standard as a convention could get. There are certain things you can only find at a convention, and the wide array of options could have easily emptied my wallet. They had katanas from various series, overpriced keychains and plushies, and collectors’ items from Japan from fandoms like Free! Iwatobi Swim Club, Hetalia, 10 Count (IYKYK) and Fullmetal Alchemist. I’m sure there was an entire booth for Genshin Impact-related weapons, maybe even two. Anime NYC sponsors like Bandai Namco, Kinokuniya, Good Smile, and Yen Press had their own exhibition booths where you could check out their content and buy merchandise. Official merch was expensive, but I told myself “You only live once,” which justified all my purchases. I paid $20 for a huge Umi Sonoda (Love Live School Idol Project) acrylic keychain. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with healing your inner child! 

Crunchyroll had the entire pavilion to themselves. They featured a Jujutsu Kaisen exhibit (I haven’t seen the show yet, so I didn’t check it out—don’t come for me) and mini-exhibitions with standees you could take pictures with. They displayed popular shows such as Spy x Family, Frieren, and One Piece and had their own merchandise booth. My biggest complaint regarding the con overall: The show floor closed way too early. There were food options next to Artist Alley, and we weren’t allowed back in after 7:00 p.m. on Saturday when all the programming ended at 10:30 p.m. They need to keep the floor open later next year since it didn’t give people enough time to buy food and merchandise. After a full day of panels, I just want to check out the show floor, support my favorite artists, and eat a little something. Is that too much to ask?

Panels

The Blue Lock panel was the first panel I went to that I was super excited about. Guests Ura Kazuki, voice of Isagi Yoichi, and Arisawa Ryoya, producer of Blue Lock, showed up for the hour-long discussion and viewing party of a selected episode fans voted for days before the convention. The one thing I didn’t like was that they played the episode (*spoilers ahead*) where Isagi, Nagi, and Barou were up against Kunigami, Reo, and Chigiri. I felt that was wasted time that could have been used for the Q&A and even have fans ask some questions. They also showed a snapshot from the upcoming Episode Nagi movie, which was a lackluster surprise since it was only a photo. If they played some of the animations, I think that would have left fans more satisfied. We did get a sneak peek into what it was like behind the scenes in the recording studio, and Arisawa spoke about what it was like producing for Blue Lock and its outstanding success. Who else can’t wait for season two?

On Saturday, Idolish7 previewed their latest concert film, Beyond the Period. I have not seen Idolish7; However, I adore the voice actors, and I decided to check it out after seeing that two of the voice actors from the show/game were having a panel before the movie. I didn’t know the fans would sing along and cheer with lightsticks throughout the movie. I felt like I was in a concert hall with different colored lights and surrounded by cosplayers. Both concert films are available on Crunchyroll, but I think the movie should be watched with other people rather than by yourself for the maximum enjoyable experience.

I grew tired thirty minutes before the film was over. Those chairs were hard as hell and the movie was slightly too long for my liking, and I could sense the restlessness of others who were fans themselves. Despite not knowing any of the songs, I talked with an Idolish7 fanatic sitting next to me, who entertained me throughout the movie. It was fun asking them who each member was and which group they belonged to. It felt like I was getting into a K-pop group for the first time, except they’re dancing pixels voiced by popular voice actors on screen. Nonetheless, it was a fun experience; I just wish Utapri received the same treatment. They walked so Idolish7 could run!

Since I don’t play the game and only went for the voice actors Kawanishi Kengo and Ishiya Haruki, the Fate/Grand Order panel wasn’t what I expected. Then again, I didn’t have any expectations, but I wished the voice actors had more time to speak since much of the panel consisted of the FGO Director talking about the upcoming updates for the game. There were quite a few interruptions from the audience that I found disrespectful since the panel host was trying to get through everything. (I don’t understand why the game-obsessed men can’t sit still for an hour like they do in front of their computers, but I digress) I enjoyed the Q&A, where the voice actors detailed their journey through their acting careers, but that was about it.

One of my favorite panels from the convention was “Queerness in Sports Anime.” This was one of the few queer-centered panels, if the only one, at Anime NYC. I am a huge fan of sports anime, so I had to attend. Geeks OUT, an organization that hosts the LGBTQ+-themed convention Flame Con, spoke about the range of implicit to explicit LGBTQ+ representation in sports anime, singling out characters or popular pairings that have the possibility of being queer. They talked about Haikyuu, mentioning the implicit relationship between main characters Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shoyo, Yuri on Ice and the very explicit representation between Victor Nikiforov and Yuri Katsuki, and queer-coded characters like Shino Ainosuke (Adam) from Sk8 the Infinity and Asuka Yu, who’s nonbinary, from Stars Align.

I’ve seen almost all the shows they talked about, shamelessly at that, and enjoyed their analysis on why they think certain main characters were in relationships *cough* Kakeru and Haiji from Run with the Wind *cough* and them mentioning the stereotypes of gay and trans people in the respective shows. They did get the smallest and almost hard to find panel room and had a late time of 8:00 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. This combination gave me a slight ick as it appeared to me that the topic wasn’t “important” enough to get a slot in the daytime, on top of the targeted demographic being a minority. That could be me reaching, but I hope they have more LGBTQ+ panels next year with the bigger venue. If anything, I’ll pitch one myself!

As a budding journalist, I found the Anime News Network panel chill yet informative. The audience appeared to be longtime fans of the publication, asking the writers questions about their work, journalistic practices, and what they hope to do in the future. They mentioned that they only have six writers and a handful of editors, and Jacki Jing, content creator and writer for ANN, gave me some words of encouragement after the panel was over. These conventions sure know how to inspire someone because words of encouragement can go a long way.

Final Thoughts

While conventions are usually crowded, I felt there was enough breathing room at ANYC. I didn’t feel too squished except for the time spent in Artist Alley. I found the convention organized as events started and ended on time or earlier than expected, which bumped my rating. Organization is so important, and I believe they delivered on that part. I did find that the staff was concentrated in high-density areas like the special events hall; I wish there were more organizers scattered around the site so I could ask questions. The staff I interacted with were still friendly, and it was nice to have pleasant interactions on top of all the running around that the con consisted of.

I never would have guessed I would see any voice actors face to face, but Sunday made that dream come true. Wanting to wrap up for the long weekend in the press room, I was face to face with Atsushi Abe and KENN, voice actors of Yotsuba Tamaki and Osaka Sogo from Idolish7. My impulsive thoughts won, and I called out, “I like Izumida!” in Japanese to Atsushi-san, who voices Izumida Toichiro in Yowamushi Pedal. Much to my surprise, he responded with Izumida’s signature quip, “Abu,” and a fist bump to the air. I smiled like a goofball, not knowing what to say afterward, and in a blink, they were gone. I almost cried with joy, amazed that I talked (not really) to a Japanese voice actor—and one that I’m a big fan of at that. It was a sign from the universe, and I’m going to make it my mission to bring more people into the seiyuu (Japanese voice actor) community.

Overall, Anime NYC is worth it, but only for the whole weekend, in my opinion. There is so much to explore and do that one day simply is not enough. If you are new to anime, then one day is sufficient. However, I’d recommend a 3-day pass for veteran readers and watchers to get the most out of the panels, exhibition floor, and Artist Alley as you can. If you are into the latest or the big three shonen anime like Naruto, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, or One Piece, and games like Genshin Impact or anything else that has gone viral on social media, this con will be enjoyable for you. They have a ton of content that fans—and future fans who haven’t been introduced yet—would enjoy. I’d like to see Hoyoverse, the gaming company of Genshin Impact and the newly released Honkai Star Rail, have a panel at the convention sometime in the future, given they already have three games under their belt and another one on the way.

If you are more of a niche enjoyer—No. 6, Elfen Lied, or into any sports anime that’s not Haikyuu, for example—it’ll be hard, or you may not find the things you like. It’ll take a little digging, but there will be something there to pique any interest. Other than the show floor closing early and rude security, I had no other problems except Anime NYC did not let me sleep. I couldn’t attend any after-parties like I wanted to because of the exhaustion. However, the prices were pricing: Those $30 tickets are no joke if you go for two nights, so not attending was a smarter choice for my wallet. I do recommend going to at least one after-party since the con got a bit dry once everyone left around 8:00 p.m. My first impression of Anime NYC was much better than Dream Con, particularly with its timeliness and organization, and its Artist Alley catered more to my tastes than the New York Comic Con did. This is a convention to plan for; no last-minute cosplay adjustments or the burn-out will get real, fast. Thanks, Anime NYC; cheers to a fulfilled year!