Becky’s in the Back Seat, pt. 6: Day the Second, pt. 1: Being Sleepy Sucks, pt. 1

The view from my hotel toom every morning… life didn’t suck

Woke up bright and early Friday morning. I had a lovely breakfast of Italian cold cuts, cheese and some of a wonderful gluten-free baguette from Mariposa bakery. Not exactly what anyone would consider breakfast, but it was worth it. I had to make sure that I was going to be ready to have another day fairly packed with panels… not even enough time to really get lunch.

After finishing breakfast it was time to herd back in to the expansive convention center. It feels both huge and crowded when you’re looking at about 120,000 people in one place.

I quickly made my way to the Neon Alley panel.
Thankfully I made it in time to get a decent seat for the Neon Alley panel. I’m not a huge fan of sitting way in the back for anything… well except for when I was in high school, but that was for entirely different reasons… and I digress.

So, the Neon Alley panel was largely similar to Viz Media panel as Neon Alley is run by Viz. Like their specialized panels, they tend to focus on what the panel is about.

In this case they’re focusing on Neon Alley. So, they start by talking about what Neon Alley is about.

Hercules and Megara

Before last year, Neon Alley was a subscription-based online channel. They wound run shows on a timetable. They dropped that model in favor of just having a Hulu channel where they stream anime on demand. This is a huge change, and makes it easier to both see what you want, when you want and to be able to binge-watch series.

They then told us what they are currently showing on the Neon Alley Hulu channel. So, what are they showing on Neon Alley?

Here’s a list: Sailor Moon (subbed, dubbed coming soon), Naruto Shippunden (dubbed), Ranma ½, Bleach (up to episode 205 both dubbed and subbed), Death Note (dubbed and subbed), Vampire Knight (dubbed and subbed), Inuyasha (entire series, dubbed and subbed), Blood Lad, Gargantia (dubbed). Starting in fall they will be showing Naruto: Rock Lee and Ninja Pals.

Last month they said they were going to have Bleach up to episode 229. They also were going to have

Love that I found Link with the Postman. Looks like the Bunny Hood really works.

12 new episodes of Naruto. They also put up 13 more Nura episodes (for you Nura fans out there).

Other then that, it was largely a lot like the Viz Media panel. There wasn’t any news that was specially held specifically for this panel. They did, however, talk a bit about what they were planning for their Sailor Moon panel on Saturday.

After that, I made my way to my next panel. For the first time in 3 years I finally made it to the Comics Art Conference. They always seem to have interesting topics, but I’ve always had other panels the same time. I finally made it this year.

I made it to the panel on sexism, gender and comics. It sounds like an interesting enough topic. Something that seemed to largely been discussed this year.
The topic itself was interesting. The Comic Arts Conference is a place for scholars to present their papers on to comic fans. That means that not everyone is going to be as equally engaging. That was the problem that I ran in to. The topic itself and the papers on their own were interesting. The people presenting them were not as engaging. So, I found myself less interested as the panel went on.

The papers being presented were on the following: A Methodology for the Analyzing of Sexism in

Child Deadpool is ready to fight some crime… or make witty remarks.

Comics: Birds of Prey, Love Slaves and Wonder Woman, Golden Age of Wonder Woman (this one had an interesting discussion of psychology) and Abjection and Objectification of Motherhood in Jack Kirby’s Fourth World.

All interesting titles, but the presenters lacked the charisma to keep me truly engaged. In many ways that made me sad. Since they’re dealing with more scholarly subjects, you have to find a way to make this more engaging.

Becky’s in the Back Seat, pt.3: Day the First, pt. 3: More Viz Media Then You Can Shake a Stick At

Of course they talked about new volumes of both Bleach and Naruto Shippunden. This year, Viz had brought Junko Takeuchi, a voice actor from Naruto, who signed autographs and took gifts at 10:45 on Friday morning.

Swamp Thing

They’re going to be releasing the complete Vampire Knight (which breaks down to Vampire Knight and Vampire Knight Guilty) in to one complete and very nice looking box set. The set looks amazing and comes with some pretty nifty extras. That was released on July 29.

They’re also re-releasing the complete set of Moribito, this time on Blu-Ray DVD. This will be available on August 26.

They have decided to release Ranma ½ in glorious HD. This is something that any fan of classic anime would love. Ranma is being released in very lovely box sets. Sets 1 and 2 are currently available,

set 3 will be out in September.

They’re also going to be releasing all of Blood Lad (the anime). The series is short (10 episodes), but it doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be worth having… especially considering that it’s a satire series. The series will be available on September 2.

They’re Also releasing a box set for Gargantia. It looks like an interesting series. If you’re already a fan of it, it would certainly be worth picking it up on DVD. The set will be available in October.

Viz Media panelists

Viz is also releasing a new Naruto movie for the general populace. The movie is Naruto: Road to Ninja. It will have a limited release in movie theaters. It will be in theaters for a limited release on August 29. Keep an eye out to see if it will be in a theater near you. If you live in San Francisco, it will be playing at the New People theater from 7-9 PM.

And finally, they’re going to be releasing all the Sailor Moon catalog. It will be released in an amazing looking, sparkly box set. It will be a combopak release (so a season at a time instead of individual DVDs for 3 or 4 episodes). Set 1 will be released November 11. Something to look forward to for all you Sailor Moon fans out there.

After all of that information, they also did questions and answers. This gave birth to one of the most awkward and uncomfortable pick-ups I’ve ever seen anyone attempt. A guy went up to the mic to ask if Viz was ever going to release any hentai because he really liked hentai. They told him they weren’t sure, but Viz does release Yaoi. He then used this point to state that he was also single and looking for a special woman.

Comic Con accessories

After he said that, I looked at the girl next to me and we both said no. There was no way that would happen. I have to say, that has to be one of the most awkward pick-up attempts I’ve seen. Who knows, he might have found a girl who shares his passion for hentai. If he was successful, more power to him. To me, it was awkward and uncomfortable.

Of course, this was a lot to have packed in to 1 hour. It’s a lot of information. However, it wasn’t the only informational panel that I went to on Thursday. After hitting the Viz Media panel, I made my way to the other end of the convention center to make it in time to see the Funimation Industry Panel.