Anime NYC has loads of things to do for fans of anime and manga!
This year Anime NYC put a heavy emphasis on webtoons, web novels, graphic novels, and manga with Industry panels and fan ones alike encouraging the creation of, and the discussion of creative processes behind popular series.
Friday, Day 2 of Anime NYC 2025
This is my 5th year attending Anime NYC and my 2nd year attending as press.
I’ve actually had quite a lot going on in my personal life and wasn’t sure if I should attend the event or not this year, but decided to submit the application (albeit a bit late) this year anyway and thankfully – I was approved.
I learned from my (useless) saga last year of wasting time, and booked it to the Press Room first thing this year to check in. In fact, while checking in at Will Call, the man behind the counter actually gave me directions to the Press Room after handing me my badge and urged me to check in – which was a nice reminder.
There were cushioned benches with chargers this year behind the doors and although I saw regular convention-goers mixing in and trying to camouflage with press, the area remained relatively quiet and a nice respite from the convention crowds.
I was able to pop in, charge my devices between panels and events, finish writing my notes, and check over my schedule of cool events to attend in peace without having to look over my shoulder, worried that I’m in the way of somebody trying to pass by if I were still on the convention floor.
NIUHI at Anime NYC
This year, the Press Room at Anime NYC was sponsored by Niuhi, Komodo’s next gen manga platform that fans worldwide can use and enjoy.
On Niuhi, you can discover, purchase, sell, and even translate high quality indie manga and comics from Japan. I received a small demo on how the platform works, and found it interesting that with a simple tap of the finger, you can translate Japanese text to English (or your chosen native language) with a very intuitive and user-friendly web design.
Just for some background context, I had begun studying Japanese in high school by watching Naruto Shippuden episodes and writing the OP and ED theme lyrics on index cards in hiragana and katakana.
I took a Mandarin course in college and learned traditional Chinese characters (and their Japanese kanji equivalents) before taking my first formal Japanese language course later on (while still in college). I didn’t like the draconian language drills, surprise pop quizzes, and general language learning methods the teacher employed however, and didn’t study Japanese again in a formal capacity until I started working at the Japanese Cultural Center.
There, I took courses at their on-site language school, on top of the working-capacity language learning immersion I experienced simply by hearing and seeing almost nothing but Japanese all day. Hearing the language spoken at work, and at the Japanese grocery stores and businesses I shopped at during that time only increased my proficiency naturally.
On my own, I began supplementing this study by again using anime to learn Japanese and often visited Kinokuniya to purchase Japanese versions of my favorite series to continue Japanese self-study with manga.
While I no longer study each day, I do still know enough Japanese that I can eavesdrop on a conversation if they are speaking colloquially, or I can leave the volume up and walk away from watching an anime episode for a few minutes only to return and still understand the context of the episode and conversations the character had on screen while I was away.
(Japanese comes back to me in odd ways, haha.)
Something like Niuhi’s manga platform where you can first read everything in Japanese, (quiz yourself if you want to use it for study), and then convert to English would have been a complete game changer for somebody like me who was primarily relying on manga for self-study years ago.
So, that’s why I’m mentioning it here: Niuhi is a cool platform to discover new indie manga series from Japan and can also be utilized as a tool for Japanese self-study.
Not only does the platform allow indie mangaka an opportunity to show off their work, but you are allotted free reads every day which encourages exploration of new series, genres, and more language learning opportunities.
Niuhi will also attend Comitia in Tokyo this year, in addition to Anime NYC.
Anime NYC 2025 Show Floor and Exhibitors
I emerged from the Press Room to begin my adventure of exploring all of the offerings and exhibitor booths on the showroom floor. I saw lots of Lord of Mysteries promo and banners around the convention which was nice – aside from it being my favorite show this season, I also just think it’s a solid introduction to donghua (Chinese animation) for first-time Western fans like myself.
The Aniplex of America booth was celebrating its 20th anniversary by displaying an array of artwork from its popular and beloved series.
There was a pretty nice display of Sword Art Online’s nervegear tech iterations in glass boxes for fans to see. Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Gurren Lagann also had displays showcasing key moments through its artwork.
A board asked fans to write down their favorite Aniplex memory and to quote one particular note: “people die when they are killed”.
(I ruined somebody else’s drawing to write “Madoka”😊)
Kodansha gave away a textbook-sized issue of the seinen-focused Young Magazine for free at the Kinokuniya booth.
After reading, fans could vote on which potential series should receive serialization in the future.
If you’re interested in picking up a copy of Young Magazine US, you can check the Kinokuniya Store Locations page of their website to see which of the 17 locations is nearest to where you live. The magazine will be distributed in stores from August 21st – November 10th, 2025 while supplies last.
There was a photo opportunity nearby the Viz Media booth with a takeaway foam boxing glove for One Punch Man Season 3, set to premiere this October.
Sony Honda Mobility’s AFEELA 1 unveiled a special anime itasha wrapped car in celebration of Anime NYC. This is the first vehicle to feature Crunchyroll’s in-car anime entertainment experience.
Attendants gave interactive demonstrations of the car where you could get inside and test the system out for yourself. They also gave away mystery box items if you provided your email for a quick survey.
Ito En had a strong presence at the convention again this year and even (sponsored) the Ito En Tranquili-tea Lounge as a quiet respite away from the madness of the convention floor. Inside, you could find free tea bag samples of their Matcha Genmaicha, Hojicha, and Green Tea on tables for hot or iced beverages.
There were also stickers, markers with a pamphlet sheet teaching you the kanji character for tea (cha) along with the written phrase “tea, please” in Japanese, and a little bit of history on the Japanese tea ceremony on the table’s center serving as informational centerpieces and potential conversation starters.
I popped into the Speed Friending Event before heading down to the gaming section of the convention and only stayed for a few minutes because I came in late, and people had already grouped up based on previous ice-breaker conversations.
The environment was very inviting though, and I’m sure I could have met tons of new people if I jumped into the crowd and tried to make that connection.
Journey to the Industry Mixer Lounge
This year, Anime NYC had something new to offer for Content Creators, Pro badge holders, and Press – an industry mixer lounge! (You also had the option to join without one of these badges simply by asking and seeing if there was space available 😊).
The lounge had networking events for educators, pro badge holders, content creators, streamers, voice actors, and for various others holding positions within the anime production industry (like directors, producers, etc).
I went to the (general) Pro Badge Mixer and stayed so long I ended up in the middle of the Content Creator’s mixer hour.
Oddly enough, I ended up by complete chance meeting a bunch of other writers who happened to be huge fans of (traditional) mythology and folklore like myself. The first person I met was an educator and writer who happened to share a mutual love for Oshimi Shuzo’s The Flowers of Evil – he even had a cool tattoo of the flower on his wrist.
I also met a young man (whose contact information I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to receive) who was a writer working on a visual novel based on mythology, and two women from Scholastic who were a pleasure to speak with.
Mario B. Long, President of Sakura Phoenix Studio – the first black-owned manga and game production studio based in Tokyo, Japan – and author of God Tier (a story based on a mythology-inspired battle between the gods and mortals) came by our table and dropped off a flyer promoting his work and a panel he would be presenting at on the following day.
Mario said he had a good feeling about coming to the table, and we all collectively had a fun chat with one another as time around us seemed to slip by.
There was a section within the Industry Mixer room for a “Lace up” closet cosplay, a curtained changing area, and an area with a sofa and props which (I guess) was for cosplay photo ops.
Destination Cosplay
As the convention begun to crowd and its halls fill up, I figured it was time I made my way up to Destination Cosplay in the River Pavilion to check out everybody’s unique and skillful cosplays.
There were a lot of great cosplayers gathered in the concourse as per usual, so I had to stop there first and ask permission to take a few pictures before heading up the escalators.
The cosplay hall wasn’t too packed yet, and you could still move around comfortably without getting caught up in the crowds.
Anime costumes from Frieren, Cardcaptor Sakura, and the Gun Devil from Chainsaw Man were on display.
There were cosplay stage sets again this year for different themed photo shoots and bigger photo shoots and fandom meetups towards the back of the space.
Back to the Show Floor for Events
Heading toward the next panel I wanted to see, I caught a few more photos of cool cosplayers and passed the ever-packed Brown Dust II photo experience. I swung past the Yen Press booth for the timed event LOM Klein the Fool Tarot Card, and noticed the amount of tea sellers that had booths.
Gamer Supps’ GG Energy gave out free samples of their powdered energy drink that really was all energy and no jitters. It’s the first energy drink I tried that tasted good and didn’t give me crippling heart palpitations and make me question my existence after consuming the beverage.
The Hololive booth was as packed as last year with fans even seated on the carpeted floor watching something on one of the TVs, and Watanare was polling best girl with heart stickers.
Seven Seas Entertainment Industry Panel
The Seven Seas Entertainment Industry Panel was presented by publisher Lianne Sentar, sales and marketing manager Lauren Hill, and licensing manager Lena LeRay. Seven Seas Entertainment is an award-winning publisher specializing in bringing Japanese manga and light novels to English-language audiences while also offering Chinese danmei (Chinese equivalent to Japanese BL), webtoons, and other assorted books from around the world.
Some of their popular titles include: Yandere Dark Elf, Classroom of the Elite, Mushoku Tensei, The Yakuza and his Omega, and Loving Moon Dog. Titles such as Evangelion Anima, Record of Lodoss War, and Lout of Count’s Family are available as audiobooks.
Popular danmei titles offered by Seven Seas Entertainment include: Heaven Official’s Blessing, Run Wild, and Legend of Exorcism. They also offer webtoons that are typically in full color, read from left to right, and are optimized for the vertical scroll format popularized by South Korean manhwa. Featured titles from around the world include: I Ship My Rival x Me, King the Land (with a popular Kdrama adaptation) and Bastard.
Notable Boys’ Love and Girls’ Love titles with ratings ranging from teen to mature from around the world in their roster include: The Titan’s Bride, Eat, Punks Triangle, Tough Love at the Office, There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless…(Watanare), and Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl.
Newly licensed series unveiled at Anime NYC for Seven Seas Entertainment include:
- A Prince of a Friend by Sukeroku
- Astrolabe Rebirth (Audiobook) by Arise Zhang, also known as Fei Tian Ye Xiang (非天夜翔)
- Catnaps, Catnaps Everywhere! by PANDANIA
- Dai Dark Deluxe Edition (Vol. 1-3 Hardcover Omnibus) by Q Hayashida
- Dear Sister, I’ve Become a Blessed Maiden by Yuiko
- Dungeon Elf: What’s a Dungeon without Treasure Chests? by River Slan
- Girl Meets Rock! by Kuwahali and Tetsuo Ideuchi
- His Little Amber by KAZKI NATSUME
- History of the Kingdom of the Orcsen: How the Barbarian Orcish Nation Came to Burn Down the Peaceful Elfland (Light Novel) and (Manga) by Kyoichiro Tarumi, THORES Shibamoto, and Takeshi Nogami
- How to Survive as a Maid in a Horror Game (Comic) by KimYomYum, SINcere, SUCH, and KD
- Legend of Exorcism: Tianbao Fuyao Lu (Audiobook) by Arise Zhang, also known as Fei Tian Ye Xiang (非天夜翔)
- Love Between Fairy and Devil (Audiobook) by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang
- Panguan: The Twelfth Gate (Novel) by Mu Su Li
- Riverbay Road Men’s Dormitory (Audiobook) by Arise Zhang, also known as Fei Tian Ye Xiang (非天夜翔)
- The Dangers in My Heart (Light Novel) by Kota Nozomi and Norio Sakurai
- The Delinquent and the Transfer Student by Fujichika
- The Twelve Kingdoms (Audiobook) by Fuyumi Ono and Akihiro Yamada, and narrated by Grace Lynn Kung
- Wild Love: A BL Guide to the Animal Kingdom (Omnibus) by Aratama Tsubuko
You can learn more about Seven Seas Entertainment’s offerings and catalogue on their website.
After the panel wrapped, I did one last sweep of the convention floor before heading home.
Overall, I had fun and there were a lot of exciting booths and informative panels to check out.
What did you find the most exciting about the convention?
Read my Saturday Anime NYC convention review.
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☆ In Asian Spaces ☆ Ephesians 6:12 ☆
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