NYAF - Otakon

[Amacfa 0]

What is differences and similarities between the two?

Otakon has 26,000 attendee's, how much does NYAF?

[F00LY 36]

Granted I don't have exact numbers, but I hear that the expected attendance is to be between 10,000 and 15,000 people.

[Cousinsue 0]

What is differences and similarities between the two?

Otakon has 26,000 attendee's, how much does NYAF?

My understanding is that NYAF is an anime festival, where we are a convention of Asian Culture as much as we are one of anime.

I believe it is also run differently from Otakorp, Inc.

[Aresef 113]

NYAF is a for-profit con run by Reed Exhibitions, a huge company that organizes hundreds of conventions around the world. Otakon is run by Otakorp, Inc., a 501

Edited August 18, 2008 by Aresef

[alabaster 0]

NYAF and NY Comic Con are both run by Reed, and they basically follow the Expo/Trade-Show model -- the dealer's room is the main focus, there are perhaps one or two side tracks, and there is heavy sponsorship.

[jrosario7 0]

So has anyone been to NYAF. Is it worth it. It seems like it is a smaller event with less things to do even though the flyer says otherwise. You would think there would be a bigger crowd in the big apple though.

[Kamina_Team L 0]

Yeah i was there last year... as my first con i would say AFter going to NYAF then to AnimeNEXT or even I-CON (long island sc-fi anime con)... If you like buying stuff then NYAF is your place.. there are alot of nice cosplay.. but not alot of room for many other things expect for the maid cafe... i thought it was fun The musical guests they had was good (Voltare ... Happy Fun Smile ECT) Other then that it was alot of buying.... you should come to see it your self its pretty small area compared to otakon... for they don't rent out the whole Javits Center.... Unless maybe in years to come they will.. but other then that i had fun.

[Ayasato-chan 0]

NYAF was my first con. Otakon, my second.

But I enjoyed myself at NYAF. I bought things, took pics, sat down. It's not as great as Otakon, but it's still enjoyable all the same.

[jrosario7 0]

So its probably only worth it to go one day and not the whole weekend. The flyer and site makes one think there there will be a lot going on this year, however.

[Guest Lind L. Tailor]

i went to nyaf last year and otakon is a lot better, although nyaf is getting yoshitaka amano this year which is better than anyone otakon had

[alabaster 0]

"Better than anyone Otakon had"?? Surely that's a matter of personal taste. Someone who didn't like Vampire Hunter D, or doesn't care much about Final Fantasy, might disagree. There's a dude who has sent me at least two angry emails because we didn't bring over the particular j-horror director he wanted.

Yoshitaka Amano is a great guest, there's no doubt about that. I'm certainly a fan of his work.

But I don't know that you can really rank one guest as "better" than another. There are plenty of folks who could care less about artists, and only bother to go to see US voice actors, who consistently outdraw everyone else. We've had plenty of people who only come to see a particular webcomic artist. Musical guests ....I think we consistently deliver there. Directors and producers we certainly win on. I think our seiyuu's a bigger deal than theirs. Heck, judging by panel turnout, our "biggest" guest was the Rakugo performer that nobody had heard of.

I note that about half their guests are actually industry guests, by NY-based publishers such as Dark Horse. Their musical guests are there via an affiliated music festival. Many others are New York based, or have business interests in NYC. Not all of their concerts are included free with your fee.

But I can pretty much guarantee you will have a very different guest experience there than you will here.

[Kirarakim 21]

It's definitely a matter of opinion because I think Jam Project and Kappei Yamaguchi are definitely better then anyone NYAF has announced yet but that is only based on my own personal interests.

In fact I am thinking of going to NYAF but only because it is really easy and cheap to get to NY from where I live and I don't even have to pay for hotel costs. Actually I am mainly planning on going to shop in the dealer room and maybe go to some of the industry panels. Guest wise I think NYAF has nothing really special. At least for me.

Edited August 23, 2008 by Kirarakim

[tstidm1 0]

I love Amano's work as an animator and artist. One guest does not make a convention. NYAF is a trade show like NY Comic Con is. I personally prefer the Otakon experience over the NY Comic Con experience. You can't get autographs unless you are willing to be there super early at NYCC or NYAF. They have no fan panels at NYAF like Otakon. I am not willing to spend $600 for a convention with one guest I am interested in.

If you are a Metro New yorker or someone who really wants to meet Yoshitaka Amano, then it is worth it for you. I believe Otakon will get Amano one of these years soon. Amano lives in NYC part of the year.

Edited August 23, 2008 by tstidm1

[gotenks794 0]

I'm thinking of entering an AMV in their contest (would be my first contest). I want to start out small but not too small. NYAF seems nice and in the middle.

Edited August 23, 2008 by gotenks794

[Guest Lind L. Tailor]

oh otakon as a whole is a million times better than nyaf, but getting the character designer for the game series i pretty much grew up playing is pretty hard to beat in my opinion

[ota_retired 6]

oh otakon as a whole is a million times better than nyaf, but getting the character designer for the game series i pretty much grew up playing is pretty hard to beat in my opinion

Edited September 3, 2008 by Otaku Ru