NYCC Spotlight- Crunchyroll Event Booth Highlight
By Zukku
With one of the largest exhibits at New York City Comic Con, convention attendees couldn’t help but notice the huge presence of Crunchyroll this year. While there was no overflow into the outside area of the convention, Crunchyroll did a great job about making their presence known to anime lovers and all other attendees at this year’s NYCC.
First Impressions
Walking through the massive archways that led into the booth, attendees were greeted by charming cut-outs that celebrated the 20-years of One Piece. Starting off, everyone was invited to participate in a special photobooth opportunity. (Which of course, I did!) Crunchyroll's vision of “anime for everyone” fueled the creation of the '#AnimeIsForEveryone' photobooth. Throughout the weekend Crunchyroll invited attendees to come participate in their photobooth. They gave everyone a small printed out photo-sticker to be placed on their backdrop wall. As you made your way through this massive display of anime goodness, you could also play the soon to be released One Piece video game.
We were lucky enough to also get a quick interview with Khahil White.
Khahil is an event manager who started with Crunchyroll back in early 2018. He talked more about the event design and all the large and small touches that made this year at Crunchyroll special. Starting off, Khahil shared that, “This is the largest anime booth on the show floor. There is a 50x50 space. A huge sign above the display. We filled the display with activations and a large anime presence to celebrate the One Piece anniversary. Attendees can also demo the One Piece video game."
Next, we also talked about the changes that happened this year at NYCC. Especially with Crunchyroll only being on the show floor, it was surprising as an attendee. Going into more detail, he stated, “Crunchyroll wanted to go big in a spot where everyone could see us. We wanted to be in the center of everything. We saw our chance to be able to double down on the show floor with a large presence. There have also been tons of foot traffic."
With such a large space, Khahil talked about the reception of the display and the activations. “People have been loving it! They love anime, and it is for everyone. Attendees have been loving the booth, they have been playing the games, and taking tons of photos. There have also been tons of shares, so we [Crunchyroll] have been loving it as well!”
I had to know then, what are the plans for Crunchyroll events in the future? Khahil shared, “Even in the last year and a half that I have participated in events with Crunchyroll, we just keep getting bigger. We are pushing ourselves to go bigger, get better, and continue to grow. Our plans for the future are huge!” As far as the events to close out 2019 with an anime bang, convention goes can try and catch Crunchyroll at Anime Week in Atlanta, GA, as well as Anime NYC, back in the heart of NYC. If you were not able to catch Crunchyroll this time there are always more opportunities for you to get your anime needs filled- whether at an event or in home with their streaming service!
Final Touches of the Display!
Attendees could also participate in daily giveaways. This included one of four different draw-string bags from their popular shows (such as Doctor Stone and One Piece), as well as pins, and paper hats. The first one hundred attendees that made a beeline to the Crunchyroll booth were given a limited-edition Crunchyroll Mascot coin. Now, you may be thinking, 'why is this important? The convention is over!' But for those of you who missed out at NYCC or were not able to get their hands on this fun swag, Crunchyroll gave us some awesome things to giveaway. Keep an eye on our Instagram post this weekend and see how you can get your hands on some fun NYCC swag!
