Anime NYC 2018 Wrap up

November 23rd, 2018

Dstyles

Hey all, It’s your favorite sharp-shooting photog, Dstyles here! I went to Anime NYC 2018 this November, and let me tell you, it was certainly amazing! Peter Tatara and the rest of the team at Leftfield definitely knocked it out of the park with how the show was run. It was definitely a herculean effort that deserves to be thrown out there immediately. I’ll try to break this up into a few different parts: Cosplay, panels & Programming, and an overall wrap up.

Cosplay

Man, the cosplayers came out in full force! I saw so many different characters from a myriad of different series. Contrary to popular belief, it was not just a bowsette/ chompette , etc. con…. while there were a great number, no two looked 100% alike.

Creativity and individual flair was certainly on display as shown by this warrior umbreon from chrissy yuki cosplay

And we also had some groups in the mix as well, like this cells at work group!

It was a great showing all around for cosplay and I’m excited for next year!

Panels & Programing

Idols, Ramen, & screenings, oh my! aside from the standard industry panels, Anime NYC played host to the Anisong World Matsuri: a concert that brings together some amazing talent from the j-pop world to perform in an awesome concert the definitely brought the house down. Veterans like myself were treated to the 2018 unit of Morning Musume, which was greatly appreciated!

As far as on site programing goes, AnimeNYC played host to the NYC Leg of the Gunpla Builders World Cup, which was put on by bandai and bluefin. this year there were so many entrants they had to turn people away….a sure sign that Gundam isn’t dead. An even better sign? Sunrise showed the first 20 minutes of a new Gundam movie that takes place one year after the events of the Gundam Unicorn series called Gundam NT. It will take place within the same universe as Unicorn, but focus on 3 new main characters. feel free to check gundam.info for the latest news on when Gundam NT is making its way to the US.

The event also had a good showing of community led panels as well. one that stuck out to me focused on women getting into esports and gaming related fields. it got a very good turnout, and was very informative to all that showed up.

The screenings were great, they showed the world premiere of season 2 for MOB PSYCHO 100, K: SEVEN STORIES, and many other new shows for this anime season. In terms of programing, Anime NYC came with all the heat.

Wrap up

Overall the event was amazing. there was a visible attendance increase, which was confirmed to be +16K over last year. the total attendance for this year’s convention was 36,000 people. There were some challenges with the queue and cold weather, but props to the team for sending NIGHTLY emails to update con goers on the queue situation for the next day. It was a nice touch that showed how much they value us as customers. I will definitely be back next year and hope that this con gets bigger and better.