Comic Con, Day 2, pt.1: The Glorious Return

That’s right, I’m back in full swing. There will be many more posts to come. I’ll finally finish up my Comic Con post. I’ll also fill you in on some of the happenings from the J-Pop Summit Festival. I’ll also review my experiene of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn so far.

But back to the Comic Con posts!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ha ha!”, says Robin in giant inflatable form outside the Hilton.

Friday morning was another early start. This wasn’t so much a concern of needing to be there early to wait in line this year. We had parking and since we knew that this would be another long day of walking, we wanted to keep the car closer to the ground floor and get there early enough to have a brunch.

Friday was still a super-busy day, but nothing was as epically busy as Thursday.

After getting breakfast, we walked to the convention center. We got to see some pretty neat things that were around the convention center. The grass area right next to the center always has something neat. Last year they had all the Batmobiles. This year was more understated. There were giant Teen Titans inflatable characters and some really awesome Lego pieces.

The Lego pieces were amazing. Someone created life size versions of Batman, the Joker and Bag

It really was

End complete with dwarves. It was really awesome.

We then walked along the dockside. There was a tall ship docked there. I noticed it when we were waiting in line fore badges the previous day and got excited. I’m a sucker for tall ships. I love maritime history, so it was awesome seeing it. It was a ship on loan from the San Diego Maritime Museum and was done up like a pirate’s ship from Assassins’ Creed 4. There were people already in line to get on the ship and explore, including people dressed as various Assassins’ Creed characters… as well as some

Assassin’s Creed tall ship for Assassin’s Creed IV makes me happy

pirates.

We walked around the convention center and walked inside. We had a little time to kill before the first panel, but decided to wait in line for it instead. It’s probably for the best we did. Neither of us realized how insanely popular that panel was. There was quite the lien when we got there.

Once the panel started, I understood why the panel was so popular. It’s a great panel. It was an enlightening panel as well as thoughtful. They were talking about the black perspective in media… and it was funny. There was a lot of humor in the panel and absolutely worth going to. They also had some pretty big names in the panel, like Orlando Jones and Wayne Brady. The panel wasn’t held in one of the major rooms (Hall H, Ballroom 20 or Indigo Ballroom), but it wasn’t a small room either. I must say, I think I might need to fit in this panel every year now.

After the Black panel, I had some time until the Neon Alley panel, so I decided to see the panel just

Wayne Brady and Orlando Jones at the Black Panel

before it, which was a panel for the launch of a company called Titan Comics.

Titan has been around for about 30 years in the UK. It’s actually quite a big name there. Some of the titles under Titan are: Titan Magazine, Books… they also sell a lot of merchandise as well. They also hold Big Planet (also in the UK). They decided to branch out and create Titan Comics.

Some of their launch titles are “Razorjack” (which is written by John Higgins, the colorist for Watchmen), a fully remastered and relettered edition of “First Kingdom” by John Katz. It includes some extra material. Some of the other titles that will be available through Titan is “Lenore” (a personal favorite of mine)… which I was surprised to see that they’re no

Free face hugs, you know you want them.

longer going to be publishing through Slave Labor Graphics. They also released the graphic novel for “Devil May Cry”.

There was a lot of information they tried to get through. The more interesting part was John Katz. He’s been in the comic industry for some time. He had a lot of interesting anecdotes to share, including some things about the comic industry.

The panel was more interesting than I would have thought it would be.

Comic Con, Day 1, pt. 1: the Dawnening

We hadn’t intended on getting the convention center too early in the morning. We didn’t have any panels until noon, so we were trying to pick up our badges the night before. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out too well for us. There was the huge traffic line just to get to the area badges were being distributed… and our vehicle was almost out of gas. So, that meant us waking up early and making a beeline to the convention center to wait in line to pick up our badges at 6 in the morning.

I must say, it might be the sleep that I actually managed to get, because the wait didn’t bother me as much this year. We were a bit further back in line… but I think I had more fun this time around. It also seemed like the badges were given out earlier than last year.

There are two lines in this picture. Thankfully only one of them is for Registration. The other was for Hasbro.

Thankfully, the line, when registration was finally open, was very quick. I think we maybe stopped moving for a whole five minutes before the line started up again. I still marvel at the efficiency of the Comic Con registration line. Especially after being stuck in Lineagedeon at Fanime this year.

Once we finally had our badges, we made our way to brunch. We weren’t concerned about our panels Thursday morning as we didn’t have anything until noon. We made the trek (albeit, a brief one) to a restaurant called The Mission. It was highly recommended by people who are gluten-intolerant/Celiac and people who love gluten alike.

They have a pretty decent sized gluten-free menu. It wasn’t just an item or two, there was quite a bit available if you can’t eat gluten. The food was good, and more importantly healthy. It’s hard to eat healthy when you’re at a con and most of the stuff on-hand is highly processed and… frankly, not that good.

One of the gluten-free breakfasts at the Mission

We got to relax and enjoy a flavorful breakfast. That was something that was missing from last year. We also had the time to pick up some toiletries that we needed as there were some things that we had forgotten to pack.

After all of that, we headed back to the convention center.

I still had about an hour before my first panel, so we sat in on the panel that was before. The panel was titled “Witty Women of Steampunk”.

Now, I’m not going to lie, I’ve been burned out on Steampunk since before it became a big thing. It’s an interesting aesthetic, but it’s not really my cup of tea. A more scientifically advanced Victorian era is quite interesting, but I think I like to think more about Dieselpunk or something like that.

A pedicab outside of the Mission. They are everywhere at Comic Con.

The panel itself was actually quite interesting. It was put on by women who are creators of Steampunk art, comics, video games and books. The women were funny and it was interesting to see some of the Steampunk things out there. One that appealed to me as a comic called “High Society”. It’s a Filipino speculative comic. They also talked about Steampunk erotica. Given that the Victorian era did give us the vibrator, it’s not a huge stretch have Steampunk fiction include erotica.

After that panel was the panel I was interested in. I went to the Pitching Hour last year to try to get some interesting information about how to forward a career in the film/television/comic industry. It didn’t let me down this year. This year also was rife with information that they didn’t mention the previous year. There was more information on video game pitching and what is needed to pitch a video game to a game company.

There was more discussion of what actually works for protecting your copyright and your intellectual

Because this was totally a thing.

property, especially in this era of everything being so attainable online. This year a greater importance was placed on networking. After all, it’s the best way us creative folks have to meeting each other.

July Anime Time! Two New Titles Starting This Month

Every season there’s a list that gets circulated around the web. OK, so there are multiple lists that circulate around the internet, but there’s one that is generally of particular interest to me. It’s the list of that seasons’ new anime titles. There have been titles that I’ve been interested in the past (Eureka Seven AO for instance). However, there are a couple that stand-out among the rest. They are “Silver Spoon” and “Free”.

“Silver Spoon” is probably the least unlikely to be interesting title. After all it’s a slice of life

Silver Spoon promo image

comedy that centers around an agricultural high school in Hokkaido. That’s what I thought when I started reading the series (which is still currently running in Japan). As I continued to read it, I started to enjoy the story more and more. The story vacillates between both funny and serious. It certainly gives one an appreciation for what it’s like going to an aggie school.

It is the story of a boy named Hachiken Yugo who decides to go to a small agricultural high school after being on the academic track in Sapporo. Why would one decide to learn how to do farm work when you don’t stand to inherit a farm or have never worked on one? That’s what you discover as the story continues. You also see Hachiken grow as he makes friends amongst his classmates. You also see him gain a better appreciation for all the work that goes into farming.

Another interesting bit of information about “Silver Spoon” is that it is written/drawn by Hiromu Arakawa. She is best known for another favorite of mine, “Fullmetal Alchemist”. I started reading it without looking into the manga-ka’s information, but it became quickly apparent that it was the same artist. There are characters that seem awfully reminiscent of characters in “Fullmetal Alchemist”. “Silver Spoon” will be streamed in the US by Aniplex.

Free! group

“Free!” is the story of 4 childhood friends that parted ways after elementary school and come together again with a swimming competition. Unfortunately, I can’t find much better information on what the overall plot will be. From the advertising that I’ve seen of the series, it looks to be fairly yaoi-esque.

After watching the PV (promotional video) for “Free!”, it looks like it could be somewhere between “Prince of Tennis” and yaoi. It’s interesting that there isn’t a lot of information available on this series as it appears that the idea has been around for about 2 years. However, it could be this tight-lipped approach that may be generating a lot of buzz for the series.

What also has been generating a lot of buzz is some of the more sexy advertising that the series has been doing. Mostly using images of the main characters clad in swimming gear, it certainly seems to have gathered a large female following. It also could be that “Free!” has had its own image Tumblr for some time.

Nanase Haruka from “Free!”. An example of some of the more sexy advertising.

And I must admit, I’m also interested. With a lack of information and the sexy advertising, I’m curious what the series is really like… and in 1 day, we’ll know. It airs on 3.July in Japan.

Both are interesting series, and ones that I’m entirely excited to watch. I hope to be able to comment more on “Free!” once I know more about it.

I’ll leave you with the P.V.s for “Free!” and “Silver Spoon”.

Fanime Round-up Addendum: More Cosplay Than You Can Shake a Stick at

This is going to be a largely picture post… hope you enjoy. And this time there will be no pictures of you’re writer.

Another look from the h.naoto panel.

It’s Vash the Stampede

A cute loli outfit.

Yay! Mega Man

A character from Sword Art Online… a series I still need to watch.

Yaoi, because Yaoi.

I love that people are still cosplaying from the Alice game.

Midna, in all her normal glory

Love this Yuna cosplay

You can never go wrong with Ryu… Except for when you do.

It’s a wonderful Princess Mononoke cosplay.

Super Saiyan Goku, Bills (I think, if I’m remembering right) and Bulma

Vincent Valentine

Ruby Rhod with one of the 5,6,7’s and O-Ren Ishii

Sora and heartless Sora crossbreed

Skullbot

Goku (I think) and Vegeta, just hanging out.

Vincent and a wandering Moogle (I’ve forgotten the name of the wandering moogle from FFIX).

Louise from Bob’s Burgers. The one cosplay I wish I had a picture of, Consuelo from Family Guy.

Bilbo Baggins (*insert Leonard Nimoy song here*)

Pretty sweet and accurate Sazh cosplay

Epic Tiger and Bunny suit cosplay.

The amount of detail in these is amazing.

Rilakuma cosplay

Sword Art Online

Beautiful TARDIS dress

This massive group for the Avatar/Korra cosplay gathering

Love this lonely lolita picture

Sesshoumaru from Inu Yasha

Yaya Han in Evangelion cosplay

I have no idea who this is, but does it look awesome.

Asuka from Evangelion

Shinji from Evangelion

Wonderfully friendly woman and he equally friendly pup.

Tiger and Bunny (Barnaby Brooks, Jr.) gathering.

Wild Tiger and Baranaby

More of the gathering

Final Fantasy (I believe 4) character

“Lana! Lana! Lana! Lana!”
“What Archer?!?”

Cute lolita characters (not sure where from)

Sweet Psy cosplay

I seriously love the sparkliness of that jacket

I believe this is Angela and Ash from Kuroshitsuji. Please comment and let me know who they are from Kuroshitsuji.

Random bunny girl cosplay (not sure where it’s from)

A couple of Ronald Knoxs… also from Kuroshitsuji

Meirin

Pluto

Meirin and another Pluto

Lao and Ran Mao

Drossel Keinz

Minor characters (well, more minor) from Kuroshitsuji

Lao, Ran Mao, Drossel, Snake and Undertaker

Really intricate Ciel cosplay

Girl Ciel

Another Ciel

Ciel and Sebastian

Ceil and Sebastian, again

Blue Rose from Tiger and Bunny

I was quite impressed with this costume

Sweet giant knight costume

Navi… and we all should know the response to Navi

Another Wild Tiger suit cosplay

Card Captor Sakura cosplay.

Not sure where this is from, but it’s awesome

It’s moments like these that make Fanime awesome

This kid was awesome and so was their conveyance

Probably the most awesome Iron Man cosplay I’ve seen

The Ocarina Band

Skull Kid playing guitar

Midna

Once again, I wish I knew.

Next verse, same as the first

Red tunic Link

Link and Shiek

Quail Man (I miss Doug)

More Hard Gay

Sailor Scouts a roaming

Awesome Indy cosplay

Ganondorf

Attack on Titan cosplay

Rogue talking about philosophy in the morning

Awesome Mad Hatter cosplay

A pretty decent Undertaker cosplayano