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NEWS: Crunchyroll Announces Its Own Convention After Surpassing 1 Million Paid Subscribers

Me too! The only con I attend year round is NYCC so if the New York anime con was to take place earlier in the summer I'd be all for it!

I've been meaning to ask another native New Yorker if you think because they are giving anime it's own con again in New York, that there will still be anime represented at NYCC? This'll determine whether or not I attend this year.

Crunchyroll is the title sponsor of AnimeNYC this November in New York City's Javits Center, so I don't understand everyone complaining about Crunchyroll only hosting cons on the west coast. One in California, one in New York, they've got the coasts covered. They need to schedule one in Chicago now!

...But the timing sucks. I can't think of a worse time to host a con in New York than November, right before Thanksgiving. If they wanted to avoid the summer con crunch, I would have preferred that they schedule it somewhere between early spring and early summer, I.e., between a month before Anime Boston (March 31-April 2) and Otakon (August 11-13). It would have fit in nicely, had decent weather, and been better overall for commuting New Yorkers.

godchun wrote:

if they are the "largest online home for anime", then why not make an online anime convention instead of a real life one

While this comment initially made me roll my eyes, that does bring up the very real possibility that Crunchyroll could record and post a ton of video from their Expo on their website. If they deliver on their promises awesome never-done-before content, there could be a lot of interesting panel and event videos that would be nice to watch online for those of us who won't be attending in person. I'd say it'd be silly for them to not use it as a platform for promoting future years of this Expo.

You mean a financial conflict? Because assuming one is commuting to both cons, one week apart isn't that bad, although taking off two Fridays in a row would be difficult.

I like the concept of an online con! Get exclusive premieres and live-stream interviews with cool guests over a weekend.

For those complaining that it's in California... You do know that Crunchyroll's HQ is in San Francisco so it would make sense for their first con to be in the SF Bay Area. Also, yes there's Anime Expo but LA is like a 5-6 hours drive south of the South Bay area of SF.. Even longer up north with CA traffic.

I can't support these guys after they made and owe so much of their success to fa subs. That said I'm a dub person, so I wouldn't really be paying for crunchy roll anyway.

While I am sincerely happy for you, I'd like to note that many people have to drive 5-6 hours or more to get to ANY decent Con. Now we are looking at most likely having two of the biggest and probably best cons in the Country within that distance from each other. I think it's fair to be a little bit annoyed.

That's a really good question. I'm also kind of limited to NYCC as my hometown con
(it's the only major one that easily allows non-drivers in New York to commute). It's really hard to know what they're planning before the tickets go on sale--the schedules and even the major guests are announced after most of the tickets are sold out. Will they cut their already paltry anime programming altogether? I'm not sure, but I doubt anyone will go out of their way to get the big guests like manga-ka.
There is a fairly new con called Liberty City Anime Con planned in the Time Square Marriot Marquis August 18-20 this year. I don't know anything about it personally, but it seems like more of a fan-run con (akin to Otakon and the like) than a professionally run expo like NYCC, and it's guaranteed to have anime programing
(they already have American voice actors and ADR directors on their guest list). It looks exciting!
I don't think New Yorkers should complain that west coasters get all the good guests. Even if we have fewer cons than California and less industry guests (and I'm not even sure if that's true), we do have basically guaranteed screenings of limited run anime films in NYC theaters, and all year round we have access to a huge selection of manga in our libraries (the Mid-Manhattan branch of the New York City library on 5th Ave & 40th has a room dedicated to graphic novels and manga, including manga in Japanese) and a local Kunokuniya and Book-Off. It's not that bad.

I mean great they feel confident their brand can draw the fans in, but what are their plans to stand out? New announcements for PR? They've been doing fine without the extravagance. I'm not convinced organizing their own convention is as useful as investing in their main service. I can't see this increasing their profit margin, maybe sustain their user base.

We can only wonder how a convention will operate if a single licensor were to run it in its entirety. While direct rivals will presumably be absent for the sake of protecting Crunchyroll's commercial interests, will independent dealers be invited? I cannot envisage an anime convention without a plethora of stallholders.

Gamer Goku wrote:

Tfw you're on the east coast.

THIS. Cali already has Expo..FML

Thank you, CrunchyCon (because that is what I and others will call you), for setting up in my stomping grounds. It sounds to me that you'll be filling the void left by the French when they took their Japan Expo USA away in 2015.

Honestly not sure what you could do that other cons have not tried before.

HeeroTX are you nuts do you think people are going to pay over $200 dollars for a Anime Con? Even Anime Expo the largest Con in the U.S. doesn't cost that much. Now maybe they could sell some premium tickets at that price with extra perks and so forth but for general admission ain't going to happen.

I've been meaning to ask another native New Yorker if you think because they are giving anime it's own con again in New York, that there will still be anime represented at NYCC? This'll determine whether or not I attend this year.

Message to Crunchyroll: Quit while you're ahead.

I get that your numbers are big right now, but some moderation would be good at this point. Anime is a niche market, and any little problem can send this whole thing crashing down. Just ask ADV what happens when an anime company expands beyond it means. Tread lightly.

This is going to be an interesting scenario because this falls right on the same weekend as MAGFest's westward expansion, MAGWest, which will host at the Hyatt Regency in... Santa Clara, CA. Whether or not, if they will do joint events not having to fully pay two admissions.