2017 was the year that Anime NYC first came to be. Seven years since Peter Tatara, Clarion Events, and Leftfield Media brought back a New York Convention that focused solely on Anime, Manga, and all things Japan. The inaugural year of Anime NYC was small but held a lot of promise. Plus we can traverse the floor without much traffic compared to New York Comicon. It also has a star-studded guest list that brings music and flair that many fans were very excited about. Then it only continued to grow from there. Aside from the one-year omission due to COVID-19. With that growth, it also brought changes, some good some bad. It was fast approaching the levels of Otakon, Anime Expo, and other major Anime conventions before it. With increasing prices, and the natural convention scuff you expect from conventions. Be it from the Javits Center staff or Anime NYC staff, more to the former, you either have no problems with them or they will be your source of troubles and mess-ups. Things were changing and improvements must be made. Some say it was too late, while others say this year was just what it needed.
So did Anime NYC in 2024 amend its flaws, change for the better, and become the optimal Anime convention for New York? For the most part: Yes. If there is a word to describe Anime NYC this year, it would be balance.
Now in the current year of 2024, I would argue that Anime NYC has become optimal. The staff and Peter Tatara knew that and understood they had to improve, so changes were made. One, they moved the date to August instead of November. So what was once a Fall convention, is now a Summer convention. Second, they had use of the entire Jacobs Javits Center excluding the recent extension building. More room, more space, more features on the program. They even held an early-day sale of tickets with little to no guest announcements, which was a major leap of faith for customers. This is a point of criticism. Please announce your guests sooner, or wait till you have a base list of guests before the sale. I get it; you want early buyers and to gain at least some baseline knowledge of how many people will come to the next convention, but the fact is you want customers to buy badges with few guests known, which is a bit unfair. You instill the sense of fear of missing out. And for those who want the Anime NYC+ badge, they will be bought immediately. Now that the event has happened, I believe this is the first time tickets did not sell out. There were still Friday and Sunday tickets available during the days of the convention. Compared to previous years, they sold out. Plus as this would be in the Summer, it would make con-goers choose which one they want to go, like Otakon before it.
For the full guest list, I have to give props. They have reserved big names. They have the entire cast of Critical Role on appearance. Matthew Mercer, Marisha Ray, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, Sam Riegel, Ashley Johnson, Liam O’Brien, and Taliesin Jaffe. They attended the New York Comicon last year. If anyone went that year, you know how much they are coveted for autographs. They even returned the prebuy autograph sale at the Leap Event. This though is just for insurance. You do NOT need to buy. I met Matthew Mercer as a standby medical press and finally got his signatures for Persona 5 Royal and Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. He is a very humbling man. And Laura Bailey is just as lovely as she is. If you got a chance to meet anyone in Critical Role, shoot your shot. Also odd was that Shift Up’s Nikke: Goddess of Victory did not have a booth this time—only a big banner to promote the collaboration with Neon Genesis Evangelion. Perhaps it was too much with how big the line was last time or that underestimated the fans and the people of culture. And a small and thankful note: The Marines weren’t advertised on a Twitter post like last year, but they were present at the convention.
They had returning guests like Max Mittleman, Aleks Le, and Abby Trott. They even had veteran voice actors like the legend Steve Blum. It was amazing to see Aleks Le. He was there to meet with Creepy Nuts to talk about Mashle: Magic and Muscle. He was also to prep fans for the upcoming DLC for Persona 3 Reload, Episode Aigis. To see him after the release of the Persona 3 Relead was nothing of a pleasure. I must apologize for causing him unnecessary emotional damage. Thankfully it was all in good spirits and no harm was done. One of the bigger shows they were promoting was Dadadan. They had AJ Beckles, who would be voicing the lead of Ken Takakura. As well as an appearance of the Japanese actor for the character, Natsuki Hanae.
In terms of Japanese guests aside from Natsuki Hanae, they had the voice actor for Picdollo of Dragon Ball Toshio Furukawa. Also appearing at Anime NYC was Chiwa Saito (Homura – Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Yona – Yona of Dawn). We even had some Love Live! voice actors appearing like Akane Yabushima, Naomi Payton, and Sayuri Date. As mentioned with Aleks Le, Creepy Nuts would be performing for the first time in New York that Friday night and the Mashle panel. There would be a concert for them for those who would purchase an extra ticket to attend. This will be another point of critique and will be mentioned later as this concerns other concerts held at Anime NYC. I think this year’s Japanese guest list was okay. Not grandiose, but nothing that was lacking. Compared to prior years like JAM Project, NANO, Konomi Suzuki, and Stereo Dive Foundation, it wasn’t as impactful.
Don’t get me wrong. Some people perhaps were excited to see these particular guests and more power to them. It just didn’t resonate with me. My attention was on Aleks Le, Critical Role, Steve Blum, and the concerts. Especially for the Hololive Breaking Dimensions concert. The Breaking Dimensions concert is separate from Anime NYC and will be in another article down the line. If there is one way to describe it, it is the Taylor Swift concert for Hololive fans.
This brings my first criticism of the concerts at Anime NYC. They announced sales of tickets for the Creepy Nuts and Hololive World Stage concert. They were selling in seating tiers of Gold, Silver, Bronze, and General Admission. Gold seating is front and center of the stage and as it goes to Silver and onward, it slowly gets farther. If you were a normal attendee, you pick with whatever is your preference and budget. Creepy Nuts tickers weren’t too bad with Gold being $90, Silver at $70, Bronze at $55, and GA being $40. Naturally, Hololive was more expensive with Gold being at $100 plus, all before taxes. My main point here is that general attendees are paying more on top of their admission tickets. So the total costs can easily past $150. I couldn’t help but feel that this was capitalizing and greedy based on the appearance of Creepy Nuts and Hololive. Yes, they did the same last year for Hololive though it still feels wrong. I think attendees should be able to redeem one concert of their choice or have a concert without a ticket purchase. At least to make it feel like the prices of entry tickets are worth it.
Another note is the announcement of concerts. Hololive sold out. Creepy Nuts had Silver tickets remaining surprisingly. Oddly, a concert was announced about 3 days/ last minute: The Phase Connect Concert. If you are a fan of Phase Connect, like Tenma and crew, more power to you. However, it was odd that it was revealed so close to the start of the convention. I couldn’t help but feel this was tacked on. However, I am happy to see that fans did come to the Sunday concert and it had an enjoyable time. If you weren’t able to attend the Breaking Dimensions concert, this was a good fallback if plans didn’t come together.
Another point is regarding medical ADA members and attendees. A reminder that there will always be a section for ADA medicals. Usually on the sides of the front rows. So all you need is a general admission ticket and you still get good seats. Paying extra for Silver, or Gold tiers is only if you want to those areas. So if you are a Medical ADA, save money and get general admission. I did not like they didn’t disclose this and wanted all attendees, medical or not, to pay money before sharing information regarding medical attendees. I can’t help but feel this was greedy and underhanded.
Creepy Nuts and Hololive
That’s most of the critiques about the concerts I have for Anime NYC. Now for the details and question: How were the concerts? In a word, amazing. If you were a fan of either fandom, you will enjoy yourself. The experience is just wonderful.
This would be the first time that Creepy Nuts would be appearing in America. So to hear that they would be performing at the Javits Center was a must-see. I have been a fan of them since their initial songs from the anime Call of the Night and the show’s OP and ED “Daten” and “Yofukashi no Uta“ (Stayin’ Up Lullaby) 2 years ago. Since then, they have grown exponentially and making bangers after bangers. Recent hits they have done which have been taking over the internet and been memed to the point is the 2nd OP for Mashle: Magic and Muscle “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born“. They also had a panel with the director of the show and Aleks Le, English VA for Mash on the show on Saturday.
The recent song they have made is for the upcoming anime of the next season DanDaDan “Otonoke“.
When hearing this song, you can tell it was just a mood. Other songs performed on the tracklist were “Bad Orangez“, “BIRKEN“, and “Nidone“. The talent that these two have is just nothing but amazing. It was hot on stage and Rapper Creepy was sweating to the point, but he didn’t care. He brought the fire with his raps and delivery and DJ Nuts was just as amazing on the turntables. I can understand the arguments and claims that these two are the best Rapper/ DJ duo in Japan currently. While they only speak Japanese on stage, they conveyed their feelings clearly when speaking to the crowd and were amazed by the love from the fans here in New York, amazed by the New York sights and culture of the people. So if you are a fan of this amazing duo, check out their concerts when they are in your local area.
All Photos above are credited to : @HiroyaBrian
Now what about the Hololive Concert?
As I wrote last year retrospect, the community was just another level. The concert this year was the hololive STAGE World Tour’24, featuring Kobo Kaneru, Moona Hoshinova, Ninomae Ina’nis, Hakos Baelz, Takanashi Kiara, AZKi, and Tsunomaki Watame. This would be the appetizer concert before the main weekend concert of Breaking Dimensions.
Again, the hololive community is just something. Cover Corp has grown so much and it now brings these concerts all over the world. There is not much to add to the concert as last year’s coverage of them pretty much covers it. The new additions are Watame, AZKI, and Ina on the roster this time. While only two hours, it felt like a lifetime. You see the light pens and the singing of the fans. The smiles from both talent and audience. It is just an experience you have to attend at least once. Seeing your idols on stage and interacting with them is always fun. Words do not do it justice and I wish they allowed the Press or their media team to release photos of the event. Alas, they continued with last year’s restrictions and said NO Photos or Videos of the Concert or be escorted out. It still baffles me and remains my one complaint about concerts or panels. However, you can probably find people taking shots and posting them on Twitter via a simple Google Search. Due to the convention regulations and respecting their wishes, we will not post anything about the concert here. But in the future Anime NYC, Please release some official photos we can use. Or again, have a section for the press to allow coverage for certain portions of the concert and no other parts. We have so many concerts that are not too strict about photos. From the Sonic the Hedgehog Symphony, Final Fantasy Orchestra, and New York Comicon, people were allowed to take some shots. So perhaps make some amends to this in the future? The one thing I can share is that the CEO of Cover Corp, Tanigo Motoaki (Yagoo) was in the audience to see it all. Grateful that the boss himself came to attend, and be part of the experience, and thanked the people for coming.
Reminder, this was just a preshow for Breaking Dimensions.
It then leads me to my next point of Anime NYC and Vtubers. They are not going anywhere anytime soon.
Vtubers Are Here to Stay at Anime NYC
While the main show and many guests were a solid part of Anime NYC, it was a solid reminder that the world of Vtubers is here and will not fade away anytime soon. With Hololive, Vshojo, Phase Connect, and Indies, if you are a Vtuber fan, you won’t be lacking in options and seeing your favorites.
Hololive was right at the entrance of the main exhibit floor. You cannot miss them. Aside from promoting their Breaking Dimensions Concert, they were promoting an in-company Minecraft event called ENigmatic Recollection. You can see the event on YouTube and each talent’s channel.
Before knowing what it was, they released a fully animated trailer for the event. It looked good and it was focused solely on the Hololive English cast, That’s why the EN in ENigmatic is capitalized. While personally not what I thought it would be, it had plenty of great moments with the girls. For example with the recently joined Hololive Justice and how Raora Panthera could not say Kronii’s character of Tam Gandr. There are plenty of other funny moments to discover, should you wish to find more. Returning was also the Hololive Meets, with talents appearing at certain time slots. Again, it is crazy to see the crowd seeing their Oshis like Elizabeth Bloodflame doing a karaoke of Frank Sinatra’s “New York”. Being right by the entrance, the general public will notice regardless of whether you are a fan or not. If the Dodgers game in LA was any indication, Hololive is slowly taking over in the West. You can view the interview that we did with Cover USA’s Max Kim and what he wishes to do here in the Western market while continuing the mission statement of Cover Corp.
Of course, I had to attend the Hololive Panels of Hololive Justice and Spotlight with Fubuki and Mio. With the amazing debut of Hololive Justice of Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame, Gigi Murin, Cecelia Immergreen, and Raora Panthera making an appearance in New York, there was no way I was going to miss it. It was similar to the Holo Advent meet-up last year. It tested the group’s knowledge of New York while also testing the fans. There were also prominent Hololive fans you recognize in the community who also appeared like Jimmy Weeb Shooter (MukiRose). The Justice panel was fun, especially when Raora asked a fan what her favorite toppings on pizza were. Of course, the fan answered cucumber, which was wrong. But hey. It is for the content. The incorrect answers from either side would get a punishment, ranging from cute voice acting to, cringe impressions of other gen mates. The Fubuki and Mio panel was also fun and it seeing them in NY was surreal and awesome. The Kon of Fubuki and seeing Miosha recovered after some medical problems, it was good vibes all around. Though another criticism I have to address here. When it was at the end of the panel when I tried to take a picture of the QR code they showed, a Javits security guy slapped my wrist down. What the heck man?! Are you going after someone when it’s the END of a panel? I mean props to dedication but to that is a bit too much. What is the line of what can and cannot take a shot of? A slightly sour note, but nothing to be angry about.
As mentioned before Phase Connect was also present on the floor and doing meet and greets. While I wish they were here like last year, Vshojo was not present this time around. Their presence however was evident. From Senpai Squad and Artiist Alley. Even Indie Vtubers were around to promote themselves. As I said before, Vtuber is here to stay in the culture for the long run. How long it will be? Who can say?
Anime NYC Future: A Fair Balance
So it goes back to my theme when I opened this article. If there was something that you were looking forward to, Anime NYC pretty much got you covered. It may be Critical Role. Maybe Hololive and the myriad of Vtubers present. Perhaps a specific voice actor you want to meet? Or some Japanese guests. It feels like this year they had covered their bases quite well. It may not be focused on a certain point like with prior years like Anisong or dedicated concerts like with JAM Project, but it was enjoyable for everyone present. Critical Role and Creepy Nuts were my highlights, and Hololive is always a blast. So that is a personal win in my book.
For the TLDR, here are my suggestions and critiques I hope can be addressed in next year’s Anime NYC:
- Have one concert be open to the public instead of having to pay extra to attend. Make a basic day ticket worth it.
- Reveal details of concerts and guests a bit sooner. It is bad enough to have FOMO be a factor. It is another when we have to compete with early buyers and scheduling. Don’t announce last-minute concerts like with Phase Connect. Please give us some time to prepare.
- Be a bit more transparent with concert ticket details. Especially for those who are medical and ADA attendees. Don’t be too greedy with your customers.
- Have a dedicated Press section for panels, so you will know who can and cannot take pictures. New York Comicon got this part down. Why can’t you? And perhaps some leeway for the Hololive panels? Granted, that is up to Cover Corp to decide. But you know people will get some pictures in. Just do a simple Google Search.
- Keep Using the Entire Center. Very happy that there was enough room for everything from autographs to floor exhibits and panels. If there comes a day when it expands to the extension of the Javits Center and to the Empire Stage, then that would be an achievement for Anime NYC.
So in conclusion, Anime NYC 2024, you did well. A solid spread of many interests and using the Jacob Javits Center to the fullest. Like the song of Persona 3 Reload “Full Moon Full Life“, it grew to a full convention with heart. Even reminiscent of the first year back in 2017. An anime and manga convention that is dedicated to the fans, for the fans, and bringing love of the culture about. Still some room to improve, but overall it was a great time. Here’s hoping that next year can be bigger and bring in star power like Nana Mizuki or another Anisong concert. We shall wait and see.
Until next year Anime NYC, sayonara and stay golden.
