What a weekend.

Anime NYC 2023 just ended and while there were a few things I didn’t like, I really enjoyed my time there this year. And more importantly, it was a personal epiphany for me.

I started the weekend by attending the Viz Media panel. There weren’t really any significant announcements, but Yoshifumi Tozuka, the creator of Undead Unluck, stopped by and he was great. It was a teaser of his own panel the following day, but Tozuka-sensei did enlighten fans about Undead Unluck and how he wanted to present the series to fans worldwide.

After that, I went to the Autism in the Anime Fan Community panel. This was a live panel version of the “Autism in the Anime Fan Community – Solo Version” video by James Williams, an anime fan diagnosed with autism and a public speaker on autism awareness. James has been doing the panel at various conventions over the past couple of years. It was a very raw and vulnerable panel on the challenges those with autism face at conventions. James also had a special guest, Larissa Grabois, an artist who uses music and art to teach people about children living with autism. She has music videos and books pertaining to autism on her website and I will be paying very close attention. This provided much food for thought.

After that, I didn’t stick around for the night panels. Though It was nice to hear Denpa license the ODDTAXI manga as I know people who adored the anime when it came out.

So onto Saturday, I went to the Yen Press panel and was impressed with what they did. They did a fun “Know the Editors” section alongside their announcements, where each editor would promote a title they work on and provide “Useful Nihongo” (which isn’t actually useful in a regular context) to use. It was pretty funny to see. Yen Press also gave a shout out to The Summer Hikaru Died, which I yelled “YES!” to. Not many of the new titles they licensed caught my eye, but the one that did was She Likes Gays, But Not Me. I will say this – the manga isn’t a romantic comedy and that’s why I can’t wait for its release in 2024.

Afterwards, I went to the Dark Horse Manga panel. There wasn’t really anything new announced per say, but they did promote the latest Deluxe Edition of Berserk and the 1st omnibus of Innocent coming out very soon. Also, Carl Horn and Zack Davisson are truly the manzai duo of the manga industry scene. They have a very fun chemistry that really takes the best of both of their personalities and mixes them into something you really don’t see in manga publisher panels. Both also know A LOT about comics in general. If you ever get a chance to see a Dark Horse Manga panel, do it. Carl and Zack really make worth it your while.

I didn’t stick around for the later panels on Saturday night, but I know the Kodansha Manga panel that happened that night was great. There’s a LOT of fun stuff coming out from them in the future. Blue Lock has become arguably THE big mainstream manga hit of 2023. I love a lot of their titles as their stories are often ones I value highly. What I’m looking forward from them? Home Office Romance (which was REALLY popular in the manga Reddit) and Sheltering Eaves (Another Rie Aruga story? Sign me up).

On Sunday, I only attended the Star Fruit Books panel. I got to learn a lot about the company being there and it was actually a small group of people who attended. So it made for a more intimate experience compared to other industry panels. Even though the publisher started during COVID, they have made huge strides in being an strong publisher of independent manga (alongside Denpa). I actually inquired about them possibly licensing manga stories from indie creators about mental health/illness because I have heard there’s a lot of manga out there in Japan that covers those topics.

After that, I was done with everything. I did manage to get some nice items from booths and played mahjong with the Riichi Nomi club.

I think the convention was fine for the most part. It was crowded, but I didn’t feel overwhelmed. I always had space to move around. The only things that stood out to me were that some of the panel rooms were a bit too warm to my liking and that the gaming area just felt too tight. In particular, mahjong. My club’s presence last year had a good amount of space for mahjong. This year, we were relegated to the show floor and to a far end corner of the convention center. I hope this changes next year.

(Side note: NYC public transit on the weekend continues to suck ass. Why have a train stop right next to the convention center when weekend construction would prevent trains from stopping there? Sigh.)

And speaking of next year, Anime NYC 2024 will happen in the summer – August 23-25, 2024. It’s going to be the bang that ends summer convention season in the U.S. after Anime Expo, San Diego Comic-Con and Otakon. There’s definitely concerns about the timing, but they will have the FULL convention center at their disposal. I don’t mind honestly as I dislike going to a convention when it’s happening a month before winter starts.

Anyway, I’m going to finally make a reference to the headline of my post. For those of you who read my birthday post, anime and manga don’t seem to inspire me a great deal lately. Getting into mahjong was one of the best things I did for my mental health over the past 2 years. Despite being a manga blogger, I was becoming more of a mahjong addict.

However, when I arrived to the con on Friday, I was greeted by a manga journalist/colleague that I hadn’t seen in years. It was a surprise to see them and we caught up. We had a wonderful discussion about manga, comics and pop culture.

And then on Saturday, I got to meet people I followed on Twitter that I never met in person. I even reunited with a few blogger folks along the way. We talked about manga and convention trends that made me smile. I also met up with Anime for Humanity (who I volunteered in the past) and finally met its founder at the event. I even reunited with a local Japanese culture personality that I hadn’t talked to in years. It felt really cool.

To cap it off, I finally reunited with Peter Tatara, who was working the Japan Society booth. For those who don’t know, he is the founder of Anime NYC and now Director of Film at Japan Society New York. He also has a long and established history of promoting anime in New York. When I first started my foray into anime fandom in 2008, it was Peter who MCed events at the Kinokuniya NYC store that got me hyped. We worked together at those events a few times due to a mutual connection we both shared. Even though he’s a huge and very busy personality now, Peter would take the time to talk to me in years past. We both shared laughs and talked about how long we known each other.

Ever since I got so deep into mahjong, I questioned my place in the manga fan community. I wasn’t active as much on Twitter as other online manga personalities these last few years. While I do get hyped, I don’t get heavily excited covering manga license announcements. I don’t have a huge manga collection at home. I struggle to keep up with everything.

And then someone at the con told me that because of my interest in what’s happening the world regarding mental health problems that plague communities, I still bring a certain view that’s unique and refreshing to hear. After meeting and reuniting with a bunch of faces, I can’t leave the manga blogging scene. I just can’t. I love talking about manga so much still. Mahjong still has a place in my heart, but there’s nothing that gets me going like talking about the stories and characters that shape people’s lives.

What’s more important is that being around the industry/pros/press folks I was with at Anime NYC tell me that I still have a place here. I may not be attending everything manga-related, but I want to be the person from the shadows who talks about things that definitely deserve to be heard. Besides, it’s much cooler doing things in the shadows than being in the spotlight.

An old friend I saw at the convention on Sunday said that I looked the happiest I’ve been in years. Mahjong definitely played a huge part in that and I want to bring that energy back into my manga blogging.

I’ve been going to conventions for 15 years now. So many people in my life that I met via conventions have come and gone. People that I wish were still here. I have often felt lonely. Being 41 now also doesn’t help either.

And yet, I keep meeting new people at conventions like Anime NYC who inspire me and value my take on things. I may not be living the best life, but I’m definitely happy-ish with what I have now. And that’s all I ever wanted to ask for.

Also, thank you to everyone I talked to at Anime NYC. I’m now really ready for the 2nd half of my life.