by Erica Friedman
Every con has a personality, even if some cons just fail in their promise. San Diego Comic Con is still the big con for comics professionals, Anime Expo is the big con for anime companies, and Otakon is the big anime/manga fandom con. Coming in after these three big hitters, it would seem like there isn’t room for another big con, but Anime NYC has carved itself out a strong niche and 2025 helped it continue to solidify its legacy. Created by LeftField Media, a Clarion Events company, and “powered” by Crunchyroll, Anime NYC 2025 was a feast for fandom and a place where professionals get stuff done.
A few years ago, pre-pandemic, New York Comic Con tried to grab a hold of the anime/manga market—after letting go of what they had previously built —but it was too late, Anime NYC had stepped into the gap, taken over and filled the space. It’s still possible to see large anime and JP game and toy booths at NYCC, but Anime NYC has risen as the largest and strongest anime/manga convention in the New York City Area.
The event began with the American Manga Awards, now in a second year. These are industry awards; peers who work in and around the manga industry voting not just for the most popular series, but for the best work, as recognized by those who do the work. These are held at the Japan Society, which provides an extra layer of legitimacy to what was a much-needed industry event. Awards for craft and lifetime achievement were handed out. A Hall of Fame award was given to Studio Proteus, a pioneer manga publishing company founded by the late Toren Smith, that single-handedly encouraged a generation or three to read more manga. The award was accepted by Studio Proteus letterer Tom Orzechowski. Award nominees were a fantastic selection of books by publishers large and small, so along with books from Viz, Yen, and Seven Seas, manga from Glacier Bay Books, Manga Mavericks, SMUDGE/Living The Line were given a place of honor. Kodansha’s Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow made a huge splash, winning several awards and getting heartfelt messages from illustrator Tetsuya Chiba, who was in attendance. Lifetime achievement award winner Takeru Hokazono’s art is being hosted at the Japan Society exhibit, KAGURABACHI! through November 14.
Manga publishers were out in force on the event floor as well, from the ever-growing Kadokawa Group (which now includes Yen Press, Ize Press and J-Novel Club — and it’s worth taking a look at this and Sony eating anime companies Funimation and Crunchyroll to discuss the enshittification of anime and manga) to Viz and Seven Seas. These all took up serious real estate, with smaller publishers like Denpa Books and Nakama Press were making their mark, as well.
Anime was, of course, also on the menu. Con sponsor Crunchyroll premiered new trailers, STUDIO TRIGGER held a new PANTY & STOCKING screening and talk panel, Viz held a premiere and giveaways for the Rooster Fighter anime. Anime NYC hosted musical guests hololive STAGE World Tour ’25 -Synchronize!-, a concert by Yoko Takahashi, best known for the Neon Genesis Evangelion theme. And of course there was a guest list filled with actors and artists, musical guests, cosplay and more.
This year, Anime NYC moved to a 4-day format, which allowed for even more events to be added, more panels (always a contentious issue at this con, which has been known to turn away fan panels in favor of industry panels.)
This was a huge year for queer manga. A number of BL titles received AMA award nominations, but it was a Yuri title by Sumiko Arai, The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All, that took home the Best New Manga Award. Kodansha, Square Enix Manga & Books, and Yen Press banded together to specifically talk about their queer manga offerings to attending educators and librarians in “The Future Is Queer for Manga In Libraries!” panel.
I finished my weekend as a panelist on the late Sunday Geeks Out (the organizers of Flamecon) x ANYC panel, “Finding Your Story: Manga Recommendations for Queer Readers,” where a huge panel offered uplifting and supportive recommendations, affirmed the diversity in queer manga and readership and left everyone feeling hopeful about the future of anime, manga and humanity.
And that, in a nutshell, is the energy of Anime NYC. “The world” writ large is heavy, capitalism is toxic, AI slop is looming around the edges, but this con is still a celebration of some of the best stories and art that human effort can offer.
Erica Friedman is the author of By Your Side: The First 100 Year of Yuri Anime and Manga from Journey Press and a contributor to Manga: A Visual Guide from DK.
She has lectured at dozens of conventions and presented at film festivals, and edited manga for JManga, Seven Seas, Northwest Press and Udon Entertainment, most recently Riyoko Ikeda’s epic historical classic, The Rose of Versailles.
