My Anime NYC Experience

Anime NYC, the East Coast of the USA's biggest anime convention, took place in the Big Apple in late August. We sent Antonio Saunders along to check it out.

This was my first time attending Anime NYC, so I went in pretty curious about what the experience would be like. I’ve always wanted to attend, and I had heard that previous years were really great, so I was excited to finally experience it for myself.

Overall, though, I felt a little underwhelmed this year. The exclusive merchandise was one of the things I was most excited about, but there honestly wasn’t as much as I expected. At times, it felt more like a cash grab than an event packed with things to experience. The food was also pretty expensive, although, to be fair, that’s not exactly unusual for New York.

One of the biggest positives was the cosplay. A lot of people clearly put serious time and effort into their costumes, and that was really cool to see. There was also a strong media and creator presence, which made it interesting from my perspective. I got to try out some indie games that are currently being developed, and by the time this review comes out, some of them may even be released.

Coming from New Jersey to New York, the trip itself wasn’t terrible. But throughout the convention, I sometimes felt like there wasn’t enough going on. There was a lot of walking around, looking for things to do, and trying to figure out where everything was. The coordination could have been better as well.

That said, there were definitely some highlights for me. I was able to pick up some things I was excited about, including some JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure merchandise, and I had one experience that really stood out.

I had the opportunity to interview Yama, the Japanese singer signed to Sony Music. The coordination around the interview wasn’t exactly perfect, and I ended up in a room with maybe three or four other people. But once the interview started, it became one of my favorite parts of the entire convention.

Yama

The questions I asked were thoughtful, and her responses were just as thoughtful, if not more. I also had the opportunity to photograph her, and being that close to someone at that level gave me a different perspective on what it must feel like to be a superstar. It was also interesting knowing that it was her first time in the U.S.—actually, her first time in New York—while I was there interviewing and photographing her. She was really nice throughout the experience.

She also performed a concert afterwards, although unfortunately, a lot of people weren’t able to attend because of scheduling and coordination issues. That was another moment where I felt like the convention could have done a better job making the experience accessible to everyone.

At the end of the day, despite some of my criticisms, I would still come back to Anime NYC. It wasn’t a bad experience, and I had some genuinely memorable moments. I just wish there had been more happening throughout the convention and that the overall coordination had been a little stronger.

For my first Anime NYC, I’d say it was an interesting experience with some great highlights, but I left feeling like there was more potential than what was actually delivered this year.

Antonio Saunders is a cinematographer and photographer for Saunderson, based in New Jersey. Anime NYC returns August 26-29 2027.