It is understandable for people to dress up as members of the military for fun at events like Halloween or comic book conventions. However, it is more questionable for actual U.S. Army and Marine Corps personnel to pose as anime fans at conventions.
This past weekend at Anime NYC, a large Japanese pop culture convention in New York City, real American soldiers and Marines attended wearing outfits styled after anime and blended in with other attendees.
Anime NYC promotes itself as an event that highlights the most popular parts of Japanese cartoons, comics, and related media in one of America’s biggest and most diverse cities.
So while the U.S. armed forces mingling discreetly at such a colorful, creative event seems harmless on the surface, it raises eyebrows in terms of the military’s intent and mission there.
Were they truly just enjoying some lighthearted entertainment? Or was there a specific purpose, perhaps related to recruitment or public relations, behind military members adopting anime fan personas?
It marks an unusually whimsical approach by traditionally rigid institutions like the Army and Marines.
Why Was The Military At Anime NYC?
It has been revealed that the U.S. military personnel at Anime NYC were actually official partners of the event, which took place on November 17-19th. Their goal in attending was, unsurprisingly, recruitment and bolstering enlistment numbers.
The Army adopted a subtle approach with an understated booth at the convention. The Marines, embracing their usual gung-ho attitude, set up an interactive “Battle Dome” challenge that let attendees test their strength on a pull-up bar.
While an anime convention filled with fantasy, animation, and colorful costumes seems an unlikely place to find representations of longstanding American military branches, these events can provide access to the exact demographic they are hoping to recruit – young people and teens.
With most arms of the U.S. military currently struggling to meet their yearly recruitment targets, popping up in spaces frequented by youth culture allows them to boost enlistment.
So by engaging with enthusiasts at Anime NYC under the guise of fans themselves, the Army and Marines aimed to bolster their numbers by tapping into American youth in a creative setting.
Their participation was a tactical recruitment strategy versus just casual entertainment.
A commenter on Reddit highlighted that Anime NYC, with its built-in audience of Japan enthusiasts, would be the ideal venue to find people open to relocating across the globe to U.S. military bases.
Strategic Recruitment at Anime NYC
The user SuperglotticMan remarked the Marines should simply display a large sign offering financial incentives to live in Japan, then ship willing attendees off to assignments on Okinawa.
In addition, those passionate about Japanese animation and media already embrace certain lifestyle aspects aligned with military service – dressing up in elaborate costumes, carrying heavy equipment all day at events, and getting exclusive access to upcoming TV and movie content not yet available to the general American public.
These parallel the experiences of troops in terms of uniforms, gear hauling, and classified access…at least loosely.
So the Marines capitalized on the pastimes and mindsets of Anime NYC goers that overlap with military activities, even in somewhat exaggerated ways.
Offering postings in a country they admire provides further incentive to sign up amongst a crowd already inclined to welcome adventure on the other side of the globe.
The Marines cunningly worked within a community loyally enthused about Japanese culture to connect enlistment with achieving their dreams of living abroad.
FBI in the Shadows
Interestingly, reports indicate that the FBI also had a presence at Anime NYC, albeit a very discreet one.
Their booth apparently lacked a formal description on the exhibitor list, and the ever-secretive federal agency representatives declined to offer any details or commentary to attendees at the event.
So beyond the Marines’ colorful recruitment exhibit and the Army’s muted informational display, domestic law enforcement was lurking in the form of the FBI – but hardly promoted and certainly not interacting.
Their participation seems to have been covert and strictly observational.
One can only speculate why the infamously cagey FBI sent agents to quietly monitor an anime convention — whether on general duty related to public safety, ensuring appropriate content given the presence of minors, or perhaps even recruiting certain technology and cyber skills that tend to correspond with fandom of Japanese media and animation.
Maybe they were simply keeping watch over an enormous center of youth culture out of an abundance of institutional caution.
Regardless, the FBI’s unadvertised, sphinxlike attendance contrasts sharply with the extroverted Marine Corps approach, as federal agents vanished into the anime crowds largely unseen, gathering intel in true Hoover-era style rather than garnering recruits.
Their mysterious vibe befits their reputation at an event defined by exotic fantasy.
