For the second time, Anime NYC was hosted in August instead of the previous November. However, they actually turned it into a four-day convention by adding a single day from the 21st to the 24th. How does a three-day con fare when it tacks on an extra day? Well, read on to find out.
Honestly, travel to conventions can be tiring, but it isn't something most people bring up often. One exception to that is when an entire airline is on strike (Air Canada) and forces some interesting routing. What was supposed to be a five-hour direct flight ended up with a stop in Phoenix on top of the five-hour flight. Let's just say the total flight and layover time was over 13 hours. There was a pretty distinct possibility that we weren't even going to be able to make it. Thankfully, it all worked out, and we made it there, albeit a day later.
As with previous years, Anime NYC was hosted at the Javits Center, a pretty huge space. Ever since they moved the convention to August, they were given access to the entire space, making for a lot more room for the event. One thing you'd notice right away was that the hallways between booths were spacious and very generous. Even some of the busier booths, such as the Hololive booth, had lots of space for you to get through.
In addition, it provided a lot more space for both vendors and artists alike for the hall. The front area was the dealer's hall, while the Artist Alley was located near the back, directly behind it. Again, the walkways were large, allowing you to get from one area to the other with east. It was one of the reasons why Anime NYC, even as big as it is, didn't feel as claustrophobic.
At this point, I'm not sure I even know who they all are.
One thing that has become really big over the past years is the Hololive area and booth. It's always located near the entrance, since they have a large screen displaying streams, videos, and other media. We've heard rumors that the area has gotten so busy that some of the other vendors don't exactly love being next to it. I guess this should come as no surprise, though, given how much Hololive has seeped into the culture here.
We'll come back to this later, since this is probably one of the two big things at the convention that we saw plastered all over the event. I mean, they did have a concert at the event and a concert at the nearby Radio City Music Hall. We can leave it as being really busy and popular. Whether you're a fan or not, you're blasted with it throughout the entire event. (I hope you've picked an oshi. More on that later.)
Other VTuber companies and indies were also around in various areas around the main hall. It just goes to show how big the fad has gotten over the past years.
It is still an anime convention, so of course, the major players in the anime space were there. That included Crunchyroll and an assortment of other companies. In addition, game localization companies, manga/book companies, and others were present. Not to mention the Manga Awards were also handed out during the week of the convention. The booths keep getting bigger each year, and there's always that swag you can grab at all the booths. Whether you're looking to buy something or pick up some free swag, Anime NYC has got you covered.
When it comes to vibes, Anime NYC is generally a busier convention due to the hustle and bustle of the city. However, the convention itself is much more relaxed, and the space, as we've discussed, is great for you to even walk around just to see the booths. This was especially obvious in the Artists Alley, where the area was probably more spaced out than at most other conventions.
As stated before, they extended Anime NYC by an extra day for this year. The issue is they had very little scheduled for the day, other than badge pickup and the dealers' hall and Artist Alley being open that day. It would probably be wise just to call it a day 0 instead of a full day.
The editor vetoed my idea of focusing more on gacha games.
Other than VTubers, the second feature throughout the weekend was gacha games. One of the big sponsors was this game Brown Dust II. I honestly have only really heard about it a bit, and I'm pretty into gacha games as the resident gacha game writer on staff. Either way, they had a fairly large booth featuring their game that sold merch and had both cosplayers and staff on hand in between their events. (I wanted to talk more about them, but it got vetoed by our editor. Feel free to blame them.)
It's pretty interesting how all of the booths are blended together in this main hall instead of over different halls like a lot of other conventions that split off some of the gaming booths. Other companies of note that were there include Yostar with merch for their games, as well as some other retailers with goods for Hoyoverse properties.
HUMAN WILL RECLAIM NIKKE THE SURFACE
It wouldn't be an anime convention without a healthy dose of NIKKE plot. As with previous years, they were back with a lineup of goods that really featured their keepsake highlights. Unsurprisingly, some of their goods were already sold out by the time we dropped by their booth later in the day.
I think it's safe to say gacha games are here to stay and they'll continue to be a large feature and draw for many anime conventions. Now, whether that actually increases your gacha luck, one can only guess.
Given that we were in New York City, we had to make sure to see a show of some kind. So, what better way than to attend the Hololive Concert at Radio City Music Hall? It really was a scene that's hard to explain or even imagine without seeing it first-hand. Have you ever seen a giant line of Hololive fans following a daki made into a makeshift banner? Well, I can tell you most of New York City has not. The # of people who saw it thinking it was a protest was larger than you'd be able to imagine. Honestly, if you told me it was a protest march, I would have believed you. At times, it might have been better if it were.
Crazy to think that this was even possible.
Regardless of the trek to get there, we made it for an on-time performance. The music hall was filled with people wielding penlights, as you'd expect from a concert of this type. Honestly, we were pretty impressed by the technical details behind the concert. One thing to note is that the side screens projected the 3D version of the concert, similar to what you'd be able to see on the stream. The main display was a 2D representation showing more of the members at the detriment of them being stacked on top of one another due to them lacking an axis.
It's hard to describe the atmosphere, except to say it was electrifying. It really brought back Japan concert vibes, having been to a few in Japan. Who could have guessed there'd be a full New York theater filled with Hololive fans? All in all, the concert was an interesting experience to say the least.
So, how was Anime NYC 2025? It was still a fun experience and had the same great vibe. The only downside was the extra day being kind of empty. It really felt like a day 0 instead of a full day. Maybe it was a test for the following years, but the empty day needed a bit more content to be considered a full day at a convention. I'm hoping they fill up the schedule a bit for the extra day next year to improve the overall experience. Even with that, it was worth the crazy day and night of flights to get to Anime NYC.
Would we come back for the following rendition?
Most likely. We're hoping the extra day is busier so we can better justify the additional time spent there. Otherwise, we're looking forward to the next year.
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