Pop Culture App NTWRK Brings “Anime NYC” Japanese Entertainment Festival Online

New York, NY (October 22, 2020) - Leading livestream shopping platform NTWRK (thentwrk.com) and Japanese pop culture festival Anime NYC Powered By Crunchyroll (animenyc.com) today announced they will partner to present an online edition of Anime NYC. Earlier this year, Anime NYC’s live event - originally anticipated to draw 50,000 unique attendees - was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Now, in place of a physical gathering in New York City, Anime NYC will be open to attendees around the world and headquartered online inside the NTWRK app.

Anime NYC Powered By Crunchyroll is the second largest Japanese pop culture convention in the US, and in previous years it has welcomed major brands including Crunchyroll, Aniplex of America Inc., Bandai Namco Arts, Bluefin, Funimation, GKIDS, Kodansha, Sentai Filmworks, VIZ Media, and Yen Press, and it has played host to guests such as directors Yoshiyuki Tomino and Fumihiko Sori, voice actors Aoi Yuki and Rie Kugimiya, and musical guests Aimer and Luna Haruna.

Now for the first time, Anime NYC will bring this excitement online through NTWRK. Since its inception in 2018, NTWRK has built an unprecedented overlap of content creation, episodic programming, virtual shopping festivals, and exclusive product launches to drive e-commerce sales. Its unique platform has provided brands including Nike, Medicom Toy, and Adidas the ability to tell stories and create compelling products in new and exciting ways, and it does all this across an audience of over 10 million each month. 

Anime NYC Online will be held across four nights - November 17-20 - on the NTWRK app. Each night will include exclusive interviews and presentations with the creators and companies at the forefront of Japanese pop culture together with opportunities to take home exclusive, pre-release, and original goods. And as part of this announcement, Anime NYC and NTWRK are equally excited to announce Crunchyroll (crunchyroll.com) will serve as title sponsor for Anime NYC’s online edition. Crunchyroll is the world’s largest anime streaming destination with over 70 million users, and the event’s full title will be NTWRK Presents Anime NYC Online Powered By Crunchyroll.

“NTWRK is dedicated to bringing Gen Z and Millennial audiences and brands together, and there’s no argument around the importance Japanese entertainment plays in this trend-setting culture,” said NTWRK CEO Aaron Levant. “We’re deeply excited to partner with Anime NYC to bring anime to the center of NTWRK for the first time in a major way, and we look forward to creating something new that’s celebrated from here to Tokyo.”

“At Anime NYC’s heart is community, and while we can’t physically connect this year, we deeply want to make an online space to gather Anime NYC’s community,” said Anime NYC Show Director Peter Tatara. “NTWRK has built something unique that’s beloved by fans across the pop culture world, and we’re now very eager for Japanese pop culture fans and brands to enter this world.” 

For more information, please visit animenyc.com/online, and look for additional news around NTWRK Presents Anime NYC Online Powered By Crunchyroll in the coming weeks. Beyond exclusive entertainment and merchandise, expect offerings focused on cosplay, music, artists, and more to be announced as the teams from NTWRK, Anime NYC, and Crunchyroll celebrate anime and manga together online. Fans wanting to take part can download the NTWRK app for free on the Apple and Google Play Stores.