Delicious Food, Good Vibes, A K-Pop Random Play Dance, And Creative Cosplay | My Experience At Anime NYC 2026
It’s that time of the year again! It’s time for Anime NYC, and this year was my eighth year attending this convention. I have been attending Anime NYC since its inception on November 17, 2017. And as one of the OG attendees, this con holds a special place in my heart, and I look forward to attending this convention every single year to purchase merch and unique items, try Japansee food, see incredible cosplay, and just overall be surrounded by others who share the same love for anime, Japanese culture, K-Pop, and fandom as me. It honestly is my favorite convention of the year.
Thank you, Anime NYC, for approving me for a Press Badge this year.
About Anime NYC
Anime NYC is the largest anime convention on the East Coast, in the biggest city in the US! Bringing together 150K fans from around the world for four days of excitement, it showcases the best of Japanese pop culture with unique exhibits, exclusive screenings and experiences, and appearances by top creators from Japan and beyond.
Summary from AnimeNYC.com
Entering The Building
This year, I attended the convention only on Saturday with my partner, and she had a regular Saturday badge.
Side note: I want to get back into going to multiple days of Anime NYC, but if you are on a budget like I am, one day is enough time to see and do most of what you want as long as you have a game plan. Don’t feel bad if you can’t afford more than one day; with enough planning, you can have an incredible one day at this convention.
I picked up my badge, and instead of using the Press entrance this year to enter the convention, I went with my partner to the regular entrance, and I am glad I did because I can give a more accurate review of the convention since, in all honesty, it has been a while since I have entered the con at the main entrance.
Any OGs remember when Anime NYC was in November, and some years it was soooo cold when we had to wait for the con to open?
The doors didn’t open at 10 am; they opened around 10:15 am, so we waited for the huge crowd to go down, then made our way to the main entrance of the convention.
I do not blame Anime NYC for the late start to the convention, as I noticed it was a third-party company that opened the doors to the con and was in charge of security. This is something I took issue with again this year, and I’ll cover it in my cons of the con section.
I loved this huge map
Artist Alley
This may be the first Anime NYC where I did not live in Artist Alley. There was so much to see, do, and eat this year that we honestly only saw a quarter of Artist Alley. Once again, the artist alley was MASSIVE and overwhelming in a good way. This year, I wasn't looking for anything in particular, unlike last year when I was obsessed with Arcane, but I did want to find a nice print of Rhaenyra Targaryen. But since this was an anime-centric convention, I did ’t expect to find any, though I did find a cool map of Westeros.
Exhibit Hall
Build Your Own Saber Booth
This year I spent the majority of the con in the Exhibit Hall. It got super crowded midday, but it thinned out by late afternoon/early evening. There were so many different booths with different types of merch, and I honestly thought it was the best selection they have had in a while.
As someone slowly approaching 30, there are many things that excite me now that didn’t when I was attending conventions in my early 20s. I LOVE practical things now. We found cute bento boxes, rugs, and even smelled tea.
And this year the only thing I ended up buying outside of food was delicious-smelling tea from Wynnwood Farms and The Gilded Teafling.
Fall is coming y’all, so I had to stock up.
I loved how the lanyards this year advertised the release of Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Walpurgisnacht: Rising. Madoka Magica is one of my favorite anime and honestly one of my favorite pieces of media. I put it up there with Wandavision, Tár (2022), and The Odyssey (2026).
That’s how much of an imprint it made on me.
Just watch it; it’s fantastic.
This year they did have a designated 18+ section. I'm not sure if this is the first year they are implementing it, but I like that all the adult content is in one section. Because it was quite jarring in past years to see a wholesome piece of art, then look down the aisle and see a lewd body pillow that has parts of it censored.
I am not shaming anyone who enjoys this type of content, as I am not the morality police (and I also own a somewhat lewd body pillow of Lady Dimitrescu), but I do wish a different approach was taken to this 18+ section. I think it should have been more secluded, as I did not see signage until we were leaving the section. I think they should have implemented a wristband system and had clearer signage at each entry point to the 18+ section.
An experience my partner and I had at one of the 18+ booths made us not want to explore the section further.
We were only asked to show ID once we picked up an 18+ book at this manga booth, which honestly was so weird to me. These books were sitting there, and there was no signage requiring ID before flipping through them, since some were not wrapped and could be flipped through.
I understand why we had to show ID; I’m not complaining about that. What worries me is that I did ’t feel like there were enough people at this specific booth to keep an eye on all the 18+ material and make sure no minors were looking through it.
Panels
The only panel we attended was the J-Pop/K-Pop Random Play Dance.
There was no big Crunchyroll announcement panel this year, and I was very disappointed ngl.
But this J-Pop/K-Pop Random Play Dance, while fun, was very disorganized.
As K-Pop becomes more popular, many anime conventions have a Random Play Dance (RPD) panel; some do it right, and others need improvement. Compared to last year, this is a big improvement, but there is still more that can be done, in my honest opinion.
In 2024, the RPD was held at the same location it was held this year, but the space for dancing was too small, so in 2025 there was a panel room designated for movement and the RPD was there, but it was quite dangerous because too many people were in one small cramped space, and it was hot.
In 2026, the RPD was moved back to the performance stage, and there was a lot more room for dancing, but crowd management was poor.
I think there should have been tape on the ground to designate where to stand so people do not try to get closer and closer to the dance floor. My partner and I were in the front, but by 30 minutes into the panel we were halfway to the back because people were pushing themselves in front of us.
We ultimately spent the last 15 minutes of the panel in the back, unable to see the dance floor but dancing to the music in our own little space.
Food
This year the food was delicious. Everything in the Japanese Food Court was fresh and filling and didn't upset my stomach. I am lactose intolerant and have several food sensitivities, and honestly, I was fine after eating all of the foods I ate.
YAYA TEA
Bulgogi Onigiri $10
Second Chance in special tumbler $25
YAYA Tea surprised me. I expected a mid onigiri and tea, but it was really good, and I would definitely get it again. This was my first time ever having an onigiri, and it was delicious, and the tea tasted super fresh. We got it with the strawberry boba, and even though we don’t like boba, we really enjoyed it. It was very sweet but refreshing.
Happy L Foods
Chicken Udon $20
I have never had udon noodles before, and now I am obsessed with them. I originally wanted the spicy garlic noodles, but the udon looked soooo good, and I am so glad I got it. I wish they gave more chicken as the chicken was well seasoned, but it is what it is. I really enjoyed this dish, and it was very filling as the noodles were quite heavy. I honestly think you can share this with someone. If I went to all four days of the convention, I would have gotten this every day. And the cilantro on top was *chef’s kiss*.
GOLDEN TAIYAKI
Red Bean, Chocolate, and Strawbery Taiyaki $24
I am a simple human; I see a Taiyaki, I buy it. I got my girlfriend into Taiyaki, so naturally she went to get one, and then that turned into her buying three. We both thought $24 for 3 was steep, but it was actually worth it. These things were THICK. We got red bean, chocolate, and strawberry. The red bean was good, the chocolate was VERY decadent, and the strawberry was very sweet, but really good.
My Biggest Con Of The Con
If you read my Anime NYC 2025 Experience post, this section will sound awfully familiar. There is still an issue with security checking badges.
I do not blame Anime NYC for this, as their staff is well trained, friendly, informative, and did their jobs exceptionally well.
Last year I took issue with how the security at the ANYC+, Pro, Press, Exhibitor, Artist Alley, Panelist, and Content Creator entrance checked badges. This year I am taking issue with how it was done at the main entrance.
I was shocked by the lack of urgency in checking badges. Anime NYC staff said to have your badge ready to be checked, but it seemed like a faulty system to me. I saw some people not get their badges checked because the flow of people was too much for someone to manually check badges.
I wish Anime NYC would implement some way to scan badges so they wouldn’t have to rely on a third-party company to manually scan badges for thousands of people with just their eyes.
This is also the same gripe I had with Fanatics Fest 2025 at the Javitis Center.
Final Thoughts
With my badge-checking issues aside. I really did enjoy Anime NYC this year. The vibes were great, and a wide array of fandoms were represented in Artist Alley, the exhibit hall, merch, panels, and cosplayers, and the food was delicious,
I am a bit sad to not have seen a Crunchyroll announcement panel on the schedule, as that was one of the highlights of the con for me last year, but that’s ok.
As this convention enters its tenth year of operations next year, I hope that it is finally the year the con takes over the entire Javitis Center. The convention has grown from sharing space with a dog convention for the first couple of years to slowly taking over more and more of the Javitis. I think next year it is time to take the new part as well.
This convention has exposed me to more cultures as a K-Pop fan, and that’s why it holds a special place in my heart. I wasn't really an anime fan before this convention started in 2017, and Anime NYC was my first anime convention; it really changed my life in some ways.
I hope this con continues to grow and expose people to new cultures and fandoms.
Hi! I’m Andrea, the creator of Cinematic Excursions.
I am a video editor, photographer, travel and events vlogger, and blogger who likes to write movie analyses and yap about fandom. I also have a useless film degree.
I have been creating videos since 2018. In 2023, I started Cinematic Excursions to share my unfiltered experiences traveling, cruising, going on excursions, and using city cards that are supposed to save money.
I also use my platform to document my experience attending events like New York Comic-Con, MCM Comic-Con London, and the Food Network New York City Wine and Food Festival, advising others and covering news from these events.