ANIME NYC 2017 RECAP:
WHAT’D YOU DO LAST WEEKEND?

Anime NYC wrapped a few days ago, but I’m finding it hard to return to the real world – still amazed by everything we accomplished together. Anime NYC was started with the dream of creating a community for NYC’s anime fans and a platform for publishers in the biggest city in America. We were hopeful to make a pretty cool show, but we couldn’t have fathomed all the support, emotion, and amazing experiences.

Anime NYC welcomed over 20,000 fans. That’s not turnstile, but 20,000 unique, individual fans who came together to celebrate what we all love.

We built a con for NYC, and fans, of course, came from all five boroughs, but they also came from well beyond. We played host to fans from 38 states and 10 countries – including Canada, Mexico, England, Italy, Spain, China, Australia, and Japan – and we’re filled with complete awe.

Thank you to all of you for creating something special.

Looking next to the industry, we’re humbled by all the support we received from Crunchyroll, Aniplex, Bandai Namco, Bandai Visual, Bluefin, Culture Japan, Funimation, Kinokuniya, Kodansha, Lantis, Noir Caesar, Saturday AM, Sentai Filmworks, Sony Music Artists, SUNRISE, Tokyo Otaku Mode, Vertical, VIZ, Warner Bros. Japan, and Yen Press. This was our first year, but you treated it like it wasn’t, and we want to make sure we continue to work with you as partners to showcase the best of Japanese pop culture.

This was a weekend with so many remarkable moments – from big things like Anime Diva Night, Sailor Moon Day, Gundam Thunderbolt, the NYC Ramen Summit, and the US Premiere of Fullmetal Alchemist – to smaller moments – impromptu volleyball games with Haikyu!! cosplayers, that epic Star-Lord dance off, and a sing-along with just a few hundred Sailor Guardians.

The banners and booths of the first Anime NYC have now come down, but what we started will endure. We want to continue creating the best con we can for our fellow fans in New York City, and while we continue to be amazed by everything we could accomplish this first year, there’s so, so much more 2018 has in-store.

Next year, we’ll have a lot more space – including the Special Events Hall and Hall 1E – which’ll allow us to have a much more proper main stage, more and bigger panel rooms, and many, many, many more autograph sessions with our voice actor guests. We planted a seed this year, and we can’t wait to have the space for it to grow.

Anime NYC has been something a lot of people have dreamed of for a long time, and I couldn’t be more proud this dream came true. We made something special together, and we’ll do it again November 16-18, 2018.

Peter Tatara
Event Director
Anime NYC

PS: And we’ll do it much sooner than next November, too. I keep talking about community, and I mean it. I want to make sure we foster meet-ups, parties, screenings, game nights, and gatherings throughout the year. We’ll see you very soon!