Events
The manga and anime event calendar is a global phenomenon — from Tokyo's massive biannual Comiket drawing 750,000 visitors to fan conventions on every continent. Events are where the community physically assembles: creators sign books, studios reveal trailers, cosplayers compete, and rare merchandise sells out within minutes.
Full Guide →Key Milestones
- 1975
Comiket (Comic Market) holds its inaugural event in Tokyo with just 700 attendees. Today it is the world's largest fan convention.
- 1992
Anime Expo is founded in Los Angeles, becoming the largest anime convention in North America with 100,000+ annual attendees.
- 1999
Japan Expo launches in Paris, France — it grows to become the largest anime/manga event outside Japan, drawing 250,000 visitors per year.
- 2004
Jump Festa expands to a two-day format in Tokyo; it becomes the premier venue for Shueisha to announce new anime adaptations and game tie-ins.
- 2008
AnimeJapan (formerly Tokyo International Anime Fair) becomes the industry's primary B2B and fan-facing trade show with 140,000+ visitors.
- 2020
COVID-19 cancels virtually all physical events; Comiket goes hybrid with online markets, accelerating the digital event format.
- 2023
Physical events fully return; AnimeNYC sets new records with 55,000+ attendees, reflecting post-pandemic surge in fandom activity.
Did You Know?
Comiket's summer and winter events combined distribute over 700,000 self-published doujinshi (fan comics) across 35,000+ circle booths in a single weekend.
World Cosplay Summit, held annually in Nagoya, Japan, is the official "cosplay Olympics" — 40+ countries send national teams to compete in craftsmanship and performance.
A limited-edition figure or print revealed at Jump Festa can sell out its entire run on the convention floor within 30 minutes of doors opening.
The Anime Music Video (AMV) competition at Anime Expo has been running since 1994 and remains one of the oldest continuous fan video competitions in the world.
Panel rooms at major conventions routinely feature hour-long queues for popular voice actors — English dub VA Johnny Yong Bosch once had a line lasting over five hours.
Crunchyroll Expo and Anime NYC have pioneered "industry panels with simulcast announcements" — viewers worldwide watch live streams simultaneously with convention audiences.
