Once Again, Finally, Anime Fans Have Their Own NYC Con BY CHARLES BATTERSBY New York has a major Comic Con but, in years past, there was a con just for Japanese comics and cartoons. The old New York Anime Festival was absorbed into the New York Comic Con (NYCC) five years ago, leaving the city’s nerdy Japanophiles without a major con they could claim as their own. This year saw the arrival of the first Anime NYC — a three-day event (Nov. 17-19) held at the Javits Center, where fans could indulge their love of “Sailor Moon,” “Fullmetal Alchemist” and more, in the company of fellow Otakus (a Japanese term for obsessives, most commonly of the anime and manga stripes). Although a sizable experience, Anime NYC was smaller than the juggernaut that is NYCC. Its show floor took up only a fraction of the convention center’s space — and had about 20,000 attendees as opposed to the 180,000 at NYCC. The smaller crowd was still extremely enthusiastic as they eagerly lined up to meet voice actors from games and cartoons, catch exclusive movie screenings, and participate in the Masquerade ULTRA DELUXE costume contest. It has been over 25 years since “Sailor Moon” premiered, influencing an entire generation, as such, the con declared Sat., Nov. 18 to be “Sailor Moon Day,” and had panels that allowed fans to meet the voice cast of the English language version of “Sailor Moon Crystal,” the most recent anime adaptation. Unofficial meet ups were held around the convention center too, and over 50 costumed “Sailor Moon” fans attended one such gathering. The organizer of this event, who goes by the name Rizuki, told us, “I expected maybe 10 to 20... It was quite more than I expected.” After spending an hour organizing the swarm of sailor scouts for photo shoots, Rizuki said that she and many of the attendees discovered “Sailor Moon” in the early ’90s, when the English dub first aired on American TV. She explained that the franchise has such a wide appeal because “It doesn’t matter who you are, what you label yourself as, ‘Sailor Moon’ is for everyone. The fans today proved it, so much... We have a common love and a common ground, and we can all come together with that common link and do something beautiful like we did today.” Cosplayers from all fandoms later participated in the con’s official Masquerade ULTRA DELUXE. Just about any pop culture convention will have a costume contest, but anime cons draw a distinct
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November 23, 2017
Photos by Christian Miles
Anime NYC had more people in costume than the typical con.
“Sailor Moon” fans showed off their costumes (this article’s author is in the center).
Gamers lined up to try rare Japanese arcade cabinets.
crowd, according to judges YuffieBunny and Uncanny Megan. “The cosplay is totally different,” said YuffieBunny. “It’s usually a much younger crowd at Anime Cons.” Uncanny Megan added, “There’s more focus on the cosplay because, typically, Anime conventions do contests based on craftsmanship, while at a lot of comic cons it’s just walk onstage and present yourself.” Indeed, some of the winners wore outfits that could only be fully appreciated when seen up close, like a ‘Sailor Moon’ dress that was hand-knitted from yarn. Instead of merely parading their contestants across the stage, the Masquerade ULTRA DELUXE also got the audience into the act. While the judges were debating who had the best costumes, audience members were invited onstage by host Uncle Yo to participate in party games and compete for prizes. Uncle Yo explained that this degree of interaction with the audience during a costume contest was rare at cons. “The Masquerade has always been for the contestants and the con-goers themselves,” he said, and described Anime NYC’s version as a “multi-level, Price is Right-style game show.” Random audience members were selected to compete ANIME NYC continued on p. 20 NYC Community Media