New York City has played home to several different anime conventions over the years, and unfortunately many of them are no longer around. However, thanks to the folks running Anime NYC, there’s a new outlet for the cosplayers and anime fans to express their fandom. Running from November 15-17, 2019, Anime NYC took over the Javits Center in Manhattan for what amounted to be a hugely entertaining weekend.

The show made use of much, but not all, of the space inside the Javits – there was notably a chocolate convention occurring at the same time this year – which means that there’s some breathing room for the show as it continues to grow in attendance. Friday at the show seemed particularly chill, with plenty of room to move around throughout the exhibitor’s hall and artist alley; Saturday was considerably more packed with people, and it felt far more like NYCC tends to in terms of the congestion, which may point to expanding the amount of space being used in the future.

For a show that’s only been around since 2017, it’s got a huge footprint and a whole lot going for it in terms of events and guests. It featured the Lantis Matsuri, a concert featuring some of the biggest names in anime music such as JAM Project, Guilty Kiss (from Love Live! Sunshine!!), TRUE, and ZAQ – and the Lantis Matsuri was open to anyone, even those who didn’t have an Anime NYC badge, so long as they purchased a ticket to the separate event.

There were dozens of voice acting guests, both English and Japanese, including Justin Briner (My Hero Academia), J. Michael Tatum (Black Butler), Josh Grelle (Yuri!! On Ice), Kristen McGuire (Dr. Stone), Max Mittelman (One Punch Man), and Sarah Natochenny (Pokémon) on the English side, and Rie Kugimiya (Fullmetal Alchemist), Atsumi Tanezaki (The Ancient Magus’ Bride), and Aoi Yuki (Puella Magi Madoka Magica) on the Japanese end, among many others.

And in addition to all of that, the show also hosted some of the biggest creators in anime and manga, such as Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi of Dr. Stone fame, and the legendary Mobile Suit Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino.

This was my first time attending, and I had been told previously by friends who had gone in the past couple of years that it was “kind of a small show” – and maybe it was in 2017 and 2018, but it definitely isn’t now. They’re drawing a solid five figures’ worth of people to the show and with the kind of guests they’re featuring, it definitely doesn’t have a “small con” feel. And with the kind of crowds that were featured on Saturday, there’s definitely bound to be some growing pains in the coming years.

But thankfully, Anime NYC has the room to grow out a little bit, and hopefully they take advantage of the space available to them. For anime fans of any age, Anime NYC is worth checking out. There was just so much to do and see at the show that I feel like I barely scratched the surface after conducting my guest interviews (which you can look forward to reading in Scoop soon). I’d definitely recommend the show for any anime fan, especially if you have easy access to NYC.

Anime NYC will return to the Javits on November 20-22, 2020, and I can’t wait to see how they up their game from this year.

-Carrie Wood