Prologue ✍🏾

As an avid Con-Goer, I attended my first New York Auto Show as a Senior in High School in 2003. Then:

• Digital Life Conventions 2004 - 2007
• New York Comic Con in 2006 - 2024
• New York Anime Festival (RIP) 2007 - 2010 @ xNYCC
• Anime Expo in 2009 (Morning Musume in LA)
• Sakura Con Seattle in 2011 (Berryz Kobo)
• AnimeNEXT New Jersey in 2012 (Berryz Kobo)
• Anime Matsuri Houston in 2016 (Morning Musume)
• Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con 2016
• Anime NYC 2017 - 2025 (Morning Musume, Kageyama Hironobu, Hiroshi Kitadani, Nakagawa Shoko for AniSong World Matsuri - 2018)
• Anime Expo 2019 & 2025

2026 will mark 20 years (19 Because Covid broke the streak technically) of attending New York Comic Con, but 23 Years of attending Conventions. And all I can say is, My legs are tired.

I’m tired of a few things:

• Walking the Show Floor
• Waiting in lines for entrance, free merch, early access exclusives, panels, lines.
• Paying for Parking (This is 100% a choice, I live in NYC I can definitely take the train)
• Con Crud....every damn year.
• The expensive yet delicious food carts and trucks.

As a matter of remembrance, in 2010 I told myself I would stop going to conventions because there was nothing left for me. Then came a curve ball: The Walking Dead Comic was getting a TV adaptation and announced a panel at NYCC. My then friend, now wife, Jen, was ecstatic (A favorite series of hers). We bought tickets on the spot. Since then I’ve found a renewed sense of purpose. Being a guide, people shield, and merch holder for my very significant other. However we’ve reached a crossroad… again.

While there are things that tire me about conventions, there are more that still excite me:

• Completing personal figure collections and photographing soon to come releases.
• Seeing upcoming Anime, Gaming Franchises, and people who work painstakingly to provide platform others can enjoy. Game Developers, Voice Actors, Animation Studios, etc.
• The joy of Cosplayers getting to show off their hard work.
• Artist Alley; more so in recent years, the amount of creatives showcasing their personal style.
• Panels in the spirit of the talent being able to chat with their fanbase.
• The expensive yet delicious food carts and trucks.
• The endless supply of canvas bags.
• The tearing of new leg muscles and seeing the step counter at the end of those 4 long days.

But essentially moving around the Convention space with a different “lens” so to speak.

Thanks to my very close amazing friends, I’ve had the ability to sit in on a Q&A Session with one of our favorite Idol Groups, Berryz Kobo (Berryz工房) in 2012. I got to participate in multiple successful Hello!Party events to see and enjoy others excitement from the flip side of setup through execution. I’ve hung out with exhibitors, become friends with merch vendors, and crossed paths with industry veterans. And I’ve slowly come to the realization that my focus and enjoyment has shifted. In whatever capacity I’m able, I want to bring the fun to people. I want to spread the joy that kept me attending conventions for 20 years. The spark isn’t dying. It just needs new fuel.

I made a hard decision this year after obtaining 4 day passes to Anime Expo and Anime NYC, to not buy passes to New York Comic Con. Ending what would have been my 18th (thanks Covid) year of consecutive attendance. And instead, applying for press passes. To view the Con from that different “Lens”. To see what it has to offer me, and what I have to offer. This year isn’t just a shift. It’s a reframing. A different lens. The same passion. And through that lens, Anime Expo came into sharp focus. Check out our Anime Expo 25 Experience Here!