Today, I wanted to spend some time talking about AnimeNYC 2026 because it was the best convention that I ever went to. Every year, I go to multiple conventions along the East Coast. I’ve met dozens of voice actors and went to so many legendary panels over the past 11 years. But this one was extra special to me for a number of reasons. I’ll be posting about all the news and announcements in the coming days, but I wanted to get this out of the way quickly.
But I do have a confession to make first. It’s usually hard for me to fully enjoy a convention when I’m there for work purposes. It’s my job to collect content and information from panels and such, regardless of if it’s something I actually enjoy. Sometimes I have to sit through an industry panel for announcements. Sometimes I have to cover something only because it’s popular. Sometimes I have to skip an hour of the convention just so I can type in a quiet spot.
Every convention is 85% obligatory work and then 15% shopping, autographs, or things that I really want to do. I remember PAX East earlier this month. I had a couple appointments, but I didn’t do any shopping or went to panels. Last year between AnimeNYC and Comic Con, I got two autographs in total and did two events that I was excited for. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun. Usually, one autograph and one or two Artist Alley purchases makes it all worth it. I’m just forced to skip a lot of the stuff I would have gone to if I just went as a fan.
But AnimeNYC was very different. I got all my work done, but it was also the best convention I ever went to as a fan. Originally, it wasn’t supposed to be that good at all. A few days before the convention began, I had only planned to go on Saturday. I didn’t get any of the autograph lotteries and I missed all the panel reservations. So honestly, the only thing I was going to do outside of work was go to the Welcome to Demon School panel and pay for an autograph from Jonah Scott. I was going to be there for 12 hours, but those were the only two things I was going to do for me.
There was only one thing I would have loved to do on Friday, the Hololive Karaoke mini concert. But that was at 8PM and I didn’t leave work that night until 9:30. Then something happened that got me super depressed, I looked at the list for autographs lotteries. I had signed up for the 100 Girlfriends lottery during the second round, but I forgot about the third round and didn’t sign up for anything. A few days before the convention began, I accidentally saw what the lotteries were for.
Round three was for a Welcome to Demon School signing, a Re:Zero signing, and a Fate Strange/Fake signing. For the past four years, Welcome to Demon School has been my number one anime, and Re:Zero is one of the two most influential anime of my life. I have a pin set that’s been signed by six of the main English cast, and this signing was going to be for the main singer, Konomi Suzuki. Both of those signings were going to be on Saturday and I was heartbroken that I completely missed the opportunity to even sign up. But I was told I might be able to get on a standby line for one of them.
Thursday comes and I go to the convention center to pick up my badge before I go to work. I find out that the creator of Black Torch was going to do a signing Saturday night if you buy a copy of the manga at the convention and get a ticket. I’ve only watched a few episodes of the anime but I thought it would be a cool opportunity so I grabbed a copy of the manga first thing in the morning before going to work. But two things happened while I was working that night. The Re:Zero panel that was going to take place Friday afternoon opened up and I became so stressed by a bunch of health issues that were plaguing me for the past month.
I hadn’t taken a day off since July because every day I wasn’t working, I was at the doctor or doing health stuff. The emotional toll of that really added up, so I grabbed the Re:Zero reservation, bought the Hololive ticket, and decided to go on Friday. There was even going to be a different Re:Zero signing that included Yūsuke Kobayashi in addition to Suzuki. I figured I should try to go for the standby for that one if I could.
I did pretty much all of my shopping Friday morning. I picked up a few keychains, a box of Hololive trading cards, and I met Jonah Scott. Then it was time for the Re:Zero panel, which ended up being one of the best panels that I ever attended. Suzuki and Kobayashi talked about the history of Re:Zero, and that was followed by a 20 minute concert. It was a legendary panel, but the host accidently told everyone to go to the signing, even though it was already very limited.
I go to the spot that I was told to go to, and it gets flooded with people who weren’t even supposed to know what was going on. When the signing starts, they just kick the entire standby line away because there were just too many people. I wasn’t angry that I couldn’t get it, but I was disappointed with how everything was handled. I spent the next ten minutes sitting near the back of the line debating if I should wait the two hours until the Hololive concert or just go home. But then I overheard something at the next table over that changed everything.
I asked what was going on, and the lady said it was the lottery signing for Fate Strange/Fake. She said there was only one spot left and asked if I wanted it. I’m not a big fan of the Fate franchise, but I got to meet Anjali Kunapaneni and Ben Balmaceda. Then I spent ten minutes waiting in line to buy a protective sleeve for the print. After that, something told me to go back to the Re:Zero table for no reason.
Turns out, they had a bunch of spots left and I was able to grab one. Meeting Kobayashi was cool, but getting to meet Suzuki was a huge moment for me. By this point, I had completed most of my work, but as a fan, the event went from good to bad to legendary in under two hours. Friday night was the Hololive concert, and I loved it. I’ve only been a Hololive fan for a year, but Mori Calliope has become one of my favorite singers of all time. It was just a simple Karaoke event, but that also meant a lot to me.
Saturday was fun too. I did a little extra shopping, I went to the Black Torch signing, and I was lucky enough to get into the Welcome to Demon School signing. Through a translator, I was able to have a quick chat with the director of my favorite anime of all time. As a big anime fan, those two days were life changing for me. But the people I hung out with during the convention made the experience even better.
There’s this anime Youtuber that I watch named Heralen. He’s great and I started watching the people that he records with, one of whom is named TicedUp. For the past two months, we’ve been working on an interview that’s going to go up at some point during the next few weeks. We finished most of the interview two weeks before the convention, and that was when I found out that he was going to be at the convention.
So we made a little impromptu plan to get some work done at the convention. But I wasn’t expecting to end up hanging out with him, Heralen, and Co for hours on Saturday. I don’t get to bring people with me to conventions since I’m working, so being able to hang out with people and talk about anime made it extra fun. I’m looking forward to Comic Con in a few months and all the other conventions coming up, but I doubt this one will ever be topped.