So if you haven’t heard, Anime NYC had 36,000 unique attendees at the Javits Center this year. That makes it the 3rd largest North American anime convention, behind Anime Matsuri and Anime Expo…
…in just its 2nd year.
Well then!
Ignoring that this convention has doubled so significantly — and as Tatara mentioned in the Publishers Weekly piece that if they turnstiled, “we’d be 50,000 plus,” — to have gained the support of just about everyone in the industry so fast and to also hear sales for the companies reached or exceeded expectations in year 2 is pretty major. I do imagine it being in New York is a major factor, and also being in good standing from a relationship standpoint (Tatara was a part of NYCC/NYAF in the early days) helps as well. Still, despite all of that, just about all the numbers went up, and for that to happen so quickly is great.
But no convention is perfect, and there are definitely a few things the con could do to keep improving. So just like last year, I’ll share some of the good, the mixed, and the bad for Anime NYC. Will spoil this immediately: one thing managed to land itself in the good and bad category somehow…what it is you’ll have to read to find out!
Good
+ It was very busy. There were complaints last year that there was nothing to do, and if you weren’t into much of the panels, then I could understand that.
This year if the panels weren’t for you, you had premiere screenings, extra dealers in the exhibit hall, a massive artist alley, and Anisong Matsuri, just to name a few things outside of meet-ups. Also, if the panels were for you, you might have been real busy.
+ The locations were a lot better. Having to go from the exhibit hall all the way to the main event stage was more of an annoyance than it should be last year.
This year, everything was a lot closer to each other, from the panel rooms to the artist alley to the main events, which was held below the exhibit hall this time. It’s clear that this was a big priority for the con, and it’s great that they solved it.
+ (Outside of Saturday) it was good to move around despite the crowds. With more space, that meant more dealers, and yet there were easy lanes to walk around and generally not feel things were congested at most points. The industry booths were placed together so you couldn’t miss them, and you had a generally recognizable way to find booths this time. So from that to the artist alley, it was not too shabby.
+ Energy was very good. Ultimately the panel rooms were pretty well placed, and each room appeared to have the right amount of people, with probably a few where the room was capped (VIZ was one, Crunchyroll was the other for me). It seemed like people, from industry to fans, were excited to be there, and the convention should only continue to exceed expectations going into year 3.
Mixed
• They may not want to put the panel rooms and the autograph area together. It was actually tough to get used to where the panel rooms were. While last year’s location was fine, it was in a better area this year, but I’m so used to how it was for NYCC and even past cons that there were times where I just went the wrong way. That’s an obvious mistake on me.
But Saturday at one point became a situation where panels ended around the same time, and that led to pretty massive congestion. What might have made it easier was to have the autograph section somewhere else (maybe in the exhibit hall?), which would’ve opened up some space and possibly avoided this. Ultimately with more space they might not be in this location next year, but if they are, I think one or the other has to go somewhere else…or maybe I get used to it.
• Video game section in the exhibit hall. It was back once again in the exhibit hall, just on a different side this year. I still don’t think it’s a big deal to have it here, but I only passed by this once over the weekend. Also I’m not the gaming guy anymore so if you think there should have a dedicated gaming area, feel free to let me know.
• Lines were just weird. One of the panels I went to (can’t remember if it was Sentai or FUNimation, but it was Panel Room 2), they had a large line that ultimately just went into the room and didn’t swing around like they were supposed to. It was funny to see, but it just makes the fact that they taped the floors more profound since it didn’t work in that case.
I can only speak for me so I can’t comment on if it happened in other panels, but I’d like to think having actual bars might be better than this if you want a bit of order. Or have more staff (which they appeared to have Saturday, but who knows).
Bad
– It was very busy. I guess I should point out that I since I attended as press, this experience could only apply to me, but let’s just say I didn’t get to go to the Artist Alley until 4PM Sunday when the con closes at 5pm.
The biggest culprit is the Saturday schedule (and Friday to an extent) which had literally everything happen that day. Needless to say, this can’t be great scheduling. I obviously get why, but there should at least be a company or two that has their panel on Sunday, or at least have one of the Saturday panels on Friday.
– Line confusion. Good news for Anime NYC is that they learned that there were some issues with getting people inside the con, which shows they definitely reacted and had a plan in place in case something went wrong. But yeah, that they had to send this email isn’t all too great, so unfortunately, they will have to fall in this section. I imagine they’ll avoid this problem next year.
– Snowstorm! Sometimes snowstorms are good when you’re home and you get to see the snow fall…but it’s not good if you have to work in it.
And it’s also not good when it happens the day before a convention!
I imagine it did have some effect on the schedules for Friday, and I know for sure this affected people getting in elsewhere. This is not actually ANYC’s fault, but this is the worry when you have a convention this late in the year. This isn’t to say you can’t, but there’s a reason the major cons happen in summer and fall. The weather wasn’t a problem last year, but it was this year. It’s just an additional worry that could potentially impact the con as long as it stays in November. And it will be in 2019, so let’s hope the weather doesn’t affect things again this year.
– Security check…still annoying! So I wasn’t sure if having bag checks at about every point last year was a one-time thing. I can confirm it was not a one-time thing as it continued into this year.
And I don’t really get it. I’ve gone to a bunch of cons for a while now, and the checks aren’t anywhere as extensive as ANYC. You basically have to get your bag checked to get into the exhibit hall, panel area, special events, and artist alley. If you leave those areas and want to go back, you will have to get them checked again. This is either security policy or convention policy. And it’s not great. And kinda unusual. Maybe there are other cons that do this, but I certainly don’t know who else does this. I really hope they just make it easier to get in next year.
Outside of the security issue and the weather, pretty much most of this can be fixed, and even then, the con has shown to be responsive to issues from my experience. Now that they will have even more space next year, Anime NYC will definitely continue to grow and likely get bigger somehow. So I’m looking forward to what they have in store next year.