Lots of Anime stuff at NYCC

The largest conventions in the US are SDCC & NYCC, but they are not as focused on games and anime as other conventions. You might check out this website for anime conventions: https://animecons.com/events/

Dragoncon in Atlanta is awesome. Though not strictly anime.

What size conventions do you like? I'm biased as hell, but Otakon and Katsucon (Washington DC and National Harbor, MD, respectively) are really fun cons. Ota just broke 40k attendees last year, so it's getting pretty big. Katsu is an absolute must if you cosplay!

Anime Boston was pretty nice the few times I've gone to it.

Sakura Con in Seattle

Out of those towns you listed -- Chicago!

Anime expo in CA and LVL Up in Vegas are good but very different.

Otakon and Katsucon for the east coast. Anime Expo for the west coast.

Also consider the Pacific Northwest.....SakuraCon (Seattle) and Kumoricon (Portland, OR)....both cities have great light rail connections from the airport to the downtown area near the convention venue/hotels. Very tourist friendly in that respect.

Anime NYC, Katsu Con, Otakon, NYCC, Sakura Con are good ones my friends an I go to.

Anime Expo or Anime NYC are the 2 big ones here in the USA. But we also have Anime Matsuri and Anime Boston.

It depends on what you are looking for.

I’ve personally never been to Anime Expo but I’ve heard it’s insane - like absolutely amazing.

I have been to Anime NYC twice and it was a dream come true. It’s massive. The show floor has SO many vendors and there a huge list of sessions to attend. There’s also cosplay meet ups and after parties at some of the local NYC bars.

Highly recommend.

Anime Weekend Atlanta is the first con that comes to mind (especially if you're into AMV's).

Ive had a lot of fun at Momocon in Atlanta. It’s the only one I’ve ever been to, so I don’t have much frame of reference, but it was really big and had tons of cool booths and cosplayers. Plus I ordered my tickets really early and got a great deal on those downtown Atlanta hotels that are usually pretty expensive. Would also recommend if you’re into video games

Hello! If you ever find yourself needing anime related help, here are a few resources to save you a LOT of time.

• Have any anime related question? Try our weekly Miscellaneous Anime Questions thread
• Need something new to watch? Check the Recommendation wiki or try our Recommendation Tuesdays thread!
• For where to watch anime, see our list of streaming sites or search on Livechart.me for specific shows.
• For source of fanarts, try SauceNAO
• For source of anime screenshots, try trace.moe or other image search tools
• For watch orders, try our Watch Order wiki
• For other questions, check if they are answered in the FAAQ Do none of these answer your question? If that's the case, you can resubmit your question as a text post instead of an image to ask help from the /r/anime community.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

Otakon is nice and you have the opportunity to do touristy stuff along with lots of industry guests and events that make it worth traveling to. Hotel rooms sell out quickly, but there are plenty of hotels within walking distance.

Anime Central in Rosemont, IL is right by the big international airport and also has a lot of cosplay, late night raves, and panels along with japanese industry guests. You might pick this if you are interested in a particular Japanese guest - hotel rooms sell out quickly too. If you want to do touristy things, the convention is a bit away from downtown Chicago (40 min drive or 1 hr train).

If you're going by yourself, Anime NYC is probably the easiest to do by yourself since you just need to get a cheap hotel room & decide if you would want to commute or not. The hotel rooms are the smallest here and there is a lot of walking depending on your hotel situation and just walking around the event. The biggest anime, manga, and video game industry show up for this event. I would stay an extra day before & after so you can have time to be a tourist too. It usually has a lot of good cosplay and usually third-party anime raves offsite at a club.

Otakon (Washington DC) is a great one and I always go to every year.

Momocon (Atlanta, Georgia) is fun too!

MAGfest, New York Comic Con, Anime NYC, and Otakon are cons I recommend. They've got something for everyone!

Anime Frontier in Fort Worth, Texas is later in the year and could be fun. DFW has good public transportation infrastructure so you wouldn't need to rent a car or hail an uber/lyft. You can get from DFW International airport to downtown Fort Worth by DART and intercity rail. Use Google Maps beforehand to plan your route.

If you're willing to consider Canada as a destination, the newly launched Anime Revolution Toronto kicks off in late November 2025 at the Metro Convention Centre Downtown Toronto. Catch the Union Pearson Express train at YYZ and ride it to Union Station downtown; the Metro Convention Centre is just a few blocks down from Union Station, in the direction of the CN Tower. If you can spring for it, the Royal York Hotel across from Union Station is one of Canada's finest historic luxury railway hotels. If not, I recommend the IHG Holiday Inn near the "College" subway stop several blocks north, also within walking distance of Younge/Dundas Square which is basically Toronto's answer to NYC's Times Square.

NGL, Canada is safer for you as a destination than anywhere in the USA right now.

As much as I love DragonCon (I try to go every year), I actually wouldn’t recommend it if anime is your main interest. It’s mostly geared towards fans of sci fi/fantasy and live action. There really aren’t many anime/video game events or panels. Not to say it isn’t fun—if your main priorities are cosplay and artist’s alley and partying, and if you want to go to a con with good vibes and fun people, you won’t find a better con. Just be aware that more anime-focused cons (like MomoCon, also in Atlanta) will have more anime events and art available than DragonCon does.

I personally really like Anime Los Angeles. It happens in Janurary (winter month) at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California. I'd place them on the medium-large sized cons. But honestly, the main thing I like is their artist alley and the time of year. It's winter, yes, but it's in Southern California, so it's not really that cold.

Anime NYC and Otakon are worth doing at least once.

Don’t do AX as your first con here. It’s hard to move around, hard to get anything to eat, the lines are insane, it’s just awful. But there are a lot of guests that will only go to AX, so for some people it’s worth it.

Two I’d suggest are Otakon (Washington DC) and Anime Central (Chicago), because they’re big enough to have top-tier guests, but not horrifying big like AX. Also, both are easily accessible by public transit from the airport (ACen is the next stop from the airport; with Otakon you need to fly into Reagan and not Dulles to take the train) and have lots of adjacent hotels, so you won’t need a car or Uber/Lyft.

It really depends on what you're looking for and what you want out of a convention.

Im on the East coast of the US, so I recommend Anime Boston in Massachusetts and Katsucon in Maryland. These are 2 well known cons, but I particularly enjoy Katsucon. The venue and area its in is beautiful, and expect to see alot of A game cosplay at Katsucon. Plus, Katsu is considered a "party con" if you're looking for a convention with some frat party vibes.

Anime wise Smash Con.

Supernova and Oz Comic Con can be good depending on the celebrities attached to each tour. Outside of that they tend to be massive cosplay meetups.

And then there's all the city specific ones etc

Honestly, I say this every time, but it depends what you're into. What kind of programming do you like? Are you there to shop? Cosplay? Play games? See voice actors and industry professionals? Every con has its own vibe and it's own strengths.

Zenkaikon in Lancaster is always fun! They’ve recently had to branch to two buildings for their stuff now.

IMO. Don’t go to katsucon until you’re an adult. It’s first and foremost a party con

Don't forget to factor travel costs money and time. You may be able to do AX for under $1500, but with airfare you're looking over $2k. If you're flying from back east; you will want to come in a day head because it is a full day lost to travel and may even necessitate an extra night if you want to see all 4 days and there isn't a red-eye available or they aren't appealing to do.

Set a budget; set your location; set your expectations then ask for advice - you'll get much better responses that way.

Depends on your budget.

Unlimited budget? Go to Anime Expo (happening right now this weekend) or Anime NYC. They're the two supercons in North America with huge industry support, and there's nothing like them. It's possible to enjoy either con with a budget below $1500 but I recommend at least that much if you're attending paid events and are sightseeing the city.

A tier below those are the large fan cons with over 30K attendance, and regularly invite Japanese guests and bands. Largest one in Canada is Otakuthon in Montréal with 35K. Otakon (Washington DC), Anime Central (Chicago), and Anime Weekend Atlanta are about that size, too.

Anime Weekend Atlanta and Momo Con (May) are the biggest ones in Atlanta.

Awa just ended. So. I doubt there is anything big.

momocon is very fun! i go every year