THE ART OF FUN: ANIME NYC CELEBRATES THE LOVE FOR JAPANESE POP CULTURE
The fifth edition of the popular and beloved convention featured big stars and great premieres of the most successful animes and mangas.
NEW YORK, NY – November 22, 2022
What a phenomenal display of unconditional reciprocal love between fans and artists/creators was the 2022 edition of ANIME NYC. For three days, the Javits Center in New York City was filled with passionate and exhilarated visitors who were spoiled with several premiers and celebrity guests throughout the entire show.
The absolute acme of the convention took place on Saturday the 19th, when Hajime Isayama, the creator of the global phenomenon ‘Attack on Titan,’ made his first-ever appearance in the U.S. For almost an hour, the 2,000-plus exulting fans could hear directly from their idol the rollercoaster of challenges, successes, dramas, and gratifications Isayama-sensei went through to realize one of the most successful manga and anime of all time.
This event's fifth edition featured a few great first performances: the East Coast premiere of the short ‘Summer Ghost’ and the world premiere preview screening of ‘Kayuga-sama: Love is War - The First Kiss that Never Ends.’
‘Summer Ghost’ is an emotional, heartbreaking, and inspiring coming-of-age story produced by Flat Studio and Avex that represents the directorial debut of Loundraw. The short film, which I really can’t recommend enough, is currently available on Amazon Prime and is now also available in America on Blue-Ray.
On the opposite spectrum of emotions, I had the pleasure of joining the hilarious panel for the world premiere of ‘Love is War,’ a hilarious and amusing romantic psychological drama in which two genius students develop over the top and clever schemes to try and get the other to confess their love first. Because to them, love is war, and the first to confess their feelings loses. This event also saw the main hall filled with hundreds of ecstatic fans, who attended the screening and the panel with voice actress Aoi Koga, voice actor Makoto Furukawa, and director Mamoru Hatakeyama.
The rich calendar of the show presented an incredible number of panels, artists’ and vendors’ stands, and screenings.
Particularly interesting was the conversation held by Ultraman Connection, the new official international community for Ultraman fans all over the globe. During the panel were announced two fantastic pieces of news that made fans drop their jaws: Netflix is working on a visually stunning and innovative animated series that is scheduled to be released in 2023/2024, and Marvel Comics has as work-in-progress a cross-over series between some of its most popular heroes and Ultraman.
The main floor of the Javits Center was filled with dozens of vendors, and the official stands of several production studios, in addition to being home to the ‘Gundam EXPO U.S.A. 2022,’ featuring two giant statues of the beloved mobile suits and many exclusive models.
In a time when, in America, most of the entertainment has been, unfortunately, taken hostage by toxic woke activists and ill-intended corporations, it was refreshing to see so many companies and creators focused exclusively on making good content and great stories, prioritizing customers, and privileging fan service. And, on the other end, to see the unconditional love of so many people for their beloved franchises, heroes, and heroines.
But, as always, the real protagonists of the show were the legion of cosplayers who colored the event with dozens of different costumes, bringing to life so many characters and interacting with each other.
To them must go our gratitude and admiration for their dedication and for making Japanese pop culture thrive more and more every day, so we can get more of the stories we like.
See you next year. Yatta!
Article and photos by Joseph Ralph Fraia
@jrfstudio - jrfstudio.com
@livein_magazine - livein-magazine.com
