Anime NYC is the premier anime convention in New York City. Powered by Crunchyroll, it returned to the Javits Center for 3 epic days from November 18-20, showcasing the biggest and best in Japanese pop culture, literature, media, and art. This year’s convention featured 60+ special guests, hundreds of vendors & artists, and dozens of panels, screenings, and exclusive experiences you can only find at Anime NYC! Let’s take a peek inside and be sure to stick around for our video recap as well as the full photo gallery here.
Each day was jam-packed with giveaways, exclusives, meet & greets, and other happenings unique to Anime NYC. And even though its size may seem intimidating to first-timers, it’s actually the perfect convention for fans of anime of all levels! There are opportunities to learn more about the latest in manga, meet down-to-earth voice actors from your favorite shows & movies, and even tons of talented artists whose art you could walk away with!
Artist Alley is certainly the place to be if you want to shop for some high quality prints, apparel, accessories, and other mediums. Every artist specializes in a different style of anime/manga illustration so there’s definitely a little bit of something for everyone! We picked up art from Udon (Street Fighter) artist Edwin “Ironpinky” Huang as well as Twitch Partner & Lindsey Stirling artist “Celtis” (above). But there were so many up & coming artists we loved supporting at the con too. You just never know what you’ll discover!
The same goes for the Exhibitor Hall! A great variety of publishers, manufacturers, game developers, and even travel agencies were introducing fans to all the new things they were offering this year. Tons of attendees were taking advantage of the freebies (if you’re early enough) but were also walking away with bags & bags of apparel, prop replicas, statues, Pokemon cards, exclusive Blu-rays, and even video games:
And with Genshin Impact and Guilty Gear: Strive exhibiting with demos in the Exhibitor Hall, you just know fans lined up for a chance to unwind with some free gameplay. Plus, with a full-on Japanese arcade & console area, you could test your gaming skills head-to-head with fellow attendees with games like F-Zero, Blast City, and even DDR Extreme.
Other experiences happening all weekend at Anime NYC included an Attack On Titan manga gallery, photos with a Demon Slayer standee display, a Fate/Grand Order replica Cuirassier, a My Hero Academia concert, and a memory wall for the late manga (Berserk) artist Kentaro Miura:
What we really appreciated at Anime NYC was the availability of Asian food vendors right inside the Exhibitor Hall! That means without having to step outside or resorting to convention center food, you get to try a fine assortment of dishes like Lisa’s Dumplings, C Bao Buns, Go! Go! Curry!, Mao’s Bao, and more. This was super handy when you needed to fuel up and get ready to stand on a line to meet your favorite guest:
Christopher Sabat, Sean Schemmel, Bryce Papenbrook, Lex Lang, Robbie Daymond, and Zeno Robinson were just some of the names this year. For a fee, you could line up for autographs, selfies, and sometimes even a custom voice message! And while many guests carried a healthy number of prints to choose from, you’re always welcome to bring your own items to be signed! But when they aren’t at their booth, you’ll often find these guests also answering questions and sharing stories during their panels. (Below, Justin Leach and Kanako Shirasaki from Qubic Pictures talk about their latest projects “Eden” on Netflix and “Star Wars: Visions” on Disney+.)
Programming varied from day to day but with the Anime NYC schedule handy, you can plan out your con weekend so that you can get everything done! But no matter what time of day it was, you’re bound to come across some of the best anime-inspired cosplay around! So keep that camera handy and see if you can snap a few photos for yourself!
There’s just so much that Anime NYC offers that the best way to find out is to experience it yourself! Next year’s dates are already set for November 18-20, 2022 so be sure to stay up to date with announcements via their website (and get tickets ASAP because 2021 was absolutely sold out). In the meantime, here’s our quick video recap as well as our photo gallery!
LesDudis 