Anime Conventions Globally: Comiket, Anime Expo, AnimeJapan, and the Rest

Anime conventions are not interchangeable. Each major event in the global calendar plays a specific role — fan engagement, industry deal-making, amateur publishing, or regional market expansion — and the franchises that succeed in the modern anime economy plan their reveals, merchandise launches, and license announcements around the calendar’s structure. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a useful reference point: nearly every major franchise update across its run was timed to coincide with one of the events covered here.

This is a structural overview of the major anime conventions globally as of the mid-2020s.

Comic Market (Comiket)

Comic Market, universally abbreviated Comiket or just CM, is the foundational anime-adjacent convention. Held twice yearly at Tokyo Big Sight — once in mid-August (Summer Comiket) and once in late December (Winter Comiket) — it is the world’s largest doujinshi convention and one of the largest gatherings of any kind in Japan. Attendance per session reaches several hundred thousand, with peak years exceeding 500,000 across the three- or four-day event.

Comiket’s function is not announcement-driven. It is amateur-publishing-driven. Tens of thousands of doujinshi circles exhibit work — fan comics, original manga, illustration books, music, and games — sold directly by creators to attendees. Major Japanese publishers and anime studios maintain a quiet presence, scouting talent, but the event’s center of gravity is the independent creator economy.

The convention’s role in the broader anime ecosystem is structural. Many professional mangaka — including CLAMP, Kaoru Mori, and Yoshihiro Togashi — started their careers at Comiket. The event remains a primary feeder for new manga talent.

Anime Expo

Anime Expo (AX) is North America’s largest anime convention. Held in Los Angeles each July, operated by the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), AX has grown from a small regional convention in the early 1990s into the most important Western anime event. Attendance in recent years has been in the 350,000-plus range across the four-day event (counting per-day attendance).

AX is announcement-driven. Japanese studios and publishers use the event to announce licenses, premiere films, and reveal upcoming productions for Western audiences. Crunchyroll, Aniplex of America, Funimation (before its integration into Crunchyroll), and Sentai Filmworks have all used AX as a primary platform for U.S. announcements. The convention’s industry track includes panels with directors, producers, and voice actors who are flown in specifically for the event.

AnimeJapan

AnimeJapan is the industry trade event. Held at Tokyo Big Sight each March, AnimeJapan is the successor to two earlier industry events (Tokyo International Anime Fair and the Anime Contents Expo) that merged in 2014. The convention combines public-facing fan programming with a closed industry-only business day.

AnimeJapan’s reveals are major. Production studios announce new series here. Licensing deals are signed. The convention’s exhibition hall hosts every major Japanese animation studio, plus international distributors, voice acting agencies, and merchandise companies. For franchises that want to break out internationally, an AnimeJapan announcement is the standard launchpad.

Annecy and MIFA

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival, held in Annecy, France each June, is the world’s most prestigious animation festival. Founded in 1960, Annecy covers animation broadly — not just anime — but Japanese productions are a consistent presence in its competition sections. The Marché International du Film d’Animation (MIFA), the festival’s industry market, is the central B2B venue for international animation licensing.

For anime, Annecy’s significance is access to European and Latin American distribution. Deals signed at MIFA shape which anime gets to which European broadcasters, which streaming services pick up which titles, and which films get theatrical distribution outside Japan and North America.

Crunchyroll Expo

Crunchyroll Expo, formerly held in San Jose and later Anaheim, is the company-branded anime convention operated directly by Crunchyroll (and previously by Funimation under its own brands before consolidation). The event functions as a Crunchyroll lineup announcement venue and a community engagement platform for the streaming service’s subscriber base.

The convention’s structural role has shifted as Crunchyroll has consolidated its market position post-Sony acquisition. Increasingly, Crunchyroll Expo is the seasonal lineup reveal event for North America, with major announcements about new licenses, dub schedules, and original productions.

Otakon

Otakon, held in Washington DC each summer, is the East Coast counterpart to Anime Expo. Founded in 1994 and originally held in Baltimore, Otakon is among the oldest anime conventions in North America and remains a major fan event. Attendance is in the 30,000-40,000 range per year — smaller than AX but with a dedicated multi-generational fan base. Otakon’s program includes industry guests but skews more fan-driven than trade-driven.

Saudi Anime Expo and regional expansion

Saudi Anime Expo, launched in Riyadh in 2019, is the largest anime convention in the Middle East. The event reflects the structural expansion of anime fandom in the Gulf region, which has become a meaningful market for anime distribution and merchandise. Attendance has grown rapidly, and the convention’s organizational backing has attracted major Japanese guests, including studio directors and voice actors flown in for premieres.

The convention’s existence reflects a broader pattern: anime conventions have proliferated outside Japan and North America, with major events in Brazil (Anime Friends), France (Japan Expo Paris), Germany (DoKomi), and Southeast Asia (C3 Anime Festival Asia). The global convention map is no longer Japan-and-America centered.

How conventions shape franchise economics

For franchise owners — publishers, studios, production committees — the convention calendar is a strategic asset. Major announcements are timed to coincide with one of the events above. Comiket and AnimeJapan dominate Japanese announcements. AX and Crunchyroll Expo dominate North American announcements. Annecy dominates European licensing. The cumulative effect is that a major anime release will typically be announced and re-announced at three or four events across a single year, with each event targeting a different audience or market.

Convention attendance also correlates with franchise sales. Major franchises that maintain strong convention presences — booth space, panel announcements, exclusive merchandise — tend to sustain stronger merchandise revenue. The relationship is not causal in a simple sense, but the conventions function as a marketing amplifier for the underlying franchise economics.

The structural outlook

The anime convention calendar is mature. The major events are established and unlikely to be displaced. The growth frontier is regional — additional conventions in emerging markets (Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Gulf) and the gradual professionalization of mid-tier conventions in Europe and Australia. The global anime industry’s center of gravity remains Japan, but the convention map is now genuinely global, and the franchises that work the calendar across multiple regions are the ones positioned to maximize international reach.