Comic Con and New York Anime Festival 2010

Another weekend has come and gone. However, there's no way to to enjoy a weekend than to go to a convention. For the first time ever, New York Comic Con and New York Anime Festival combined to create a convention for the ages during October 8th to 10th at the Jacob Javits Center. NY Comic Con was conspicuously missing last year and made a huge splash with its return alongside its anime counterpart featuring cosplayers aplenty, intriguing panels, and booths with tempting wares. With my weekend pass in tow, lets see what I did during my time there.

Day One


The moment I stepped outside of Penn Station, I knew exactly where to go as groups of cosplayers would pass by me in one direction as if it were the most normal thing to do. Yes, the pilgrimage to New York's anime and comic mecca has begun. After meeting up with my friend, we walked three blocks down to venue and once inside, we were immediately overwhelmed by the scene around us. After grabbing lanyards for our passes, we started to take pictures of cosplayers for a bit then attempted to make heads or tails of how to get into the actual showroom.

With your powers combined.

It required shuffling through and waiting in ludicrously long and winding lines but we finally made it into the bustling showroom. For some reason, though, I never picked up a program which had me in a panic as I searched for the first panel I wanted to see: a K-ON! concert featuring the English dub voice actors. Now, I am not a fan of English dubs for anime whatsoever but I was far too curious to not check it out since it IS K-ON! after all. It was indeed surprising to hear them sing the show's songs in the original Japanese but, as expected, I was not impressed and left the stage early before the elitist in me decided to say anything rash out loud.

There is no ocean too wide or mountain too high for the otaku.

The next panel was something I was looking forward to for a long time as it featured voice actress/singer Minori Chihara (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Ga-Rei Zero, Minami-ke).  To no one's surprise, she barely knew any English though circumvented that by speaking in the cutesy voice that she is known for. Despite the many inane questions and sad attempts at conveying messages in Japanese from the many fans, it's always a pleasure to see the person behind the characters which I come to love and know. This would certainly not be the last time I see her during the con fortunately.

To keep things brief, I'll just say I've been in panel rooms for the three or four hours. After Chihara left, VAMPS, a visual kei duo featuring Hyde of L'Arc en Ciel fame and K.A.Z. from Oblivion Dust, took the stage in front of waves of screaming fan girls. With their translator in tow, it was interesting to hear various stories from him about working in the business. I then sat through an informative VOCALOID panel which featured the makers of the voice synthesizer product that spawned a character which captured the hearts of musical and visual artists. It truly is amazing how the popularity of the likes of Hatsune Miku and friends have touched down in the states. After that came the most anticipated screening of the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya movie which was certainly good but I can't really agree with all the raving reviews it got. It simply had too much exposition and judging from how people reacted to it in terms of emotion, I was expecting to at least get teary but I didn't even come close. Nonetheless, it was a busy first day at the con.

 A mad, mad world.

Day Two


The second round of NYAF/CC was definitely the biggest and most exciting. I actually was able to spend most of the day walking around the showroom areas and also spend the contents of my wallet. After being closed out of the virtual Hatsune Miku concert (or at least a screening of it anyways), I stopped by the Far East to East Showcase panel which invited the etheral and calming Echostream, rock/dance/electronica maestros Boom Boom Satellites (a band which I am absolutely  in love with right now), and the world famous duo Puffy Ami Yui. It was a pleasure being able to hear from them but I was sad I would be unable to attend the concert for which they gathered for.  At the very least, I did get a CD and autograph from Boom Boom Satellites which made my day.

Many hours and closed out panels later, the time to line up for the one panel I've been waiting for since I first heard of it: Yoshiki of the famed metal band, X-Japan, and Stan Lee ('Nuff said!). The two legends took the stage to a roaring crowd and announced that they will collaborate to create a motion graphic novel due sometime in 2011. Besides that news, the mere banter between the two men proved hilarious as the hearing-impaired Stan proved to be the character he always has been and Yoshiki answered back with dry humor in a raspy voice. I may have missed out on the X-Japan at the Roseland Ballroom the following night but I am more than satisfied to have seen the two legends in the flesh right in front of me.

X-celsior!

The moment I left that panel, it was a mad rush to the IGN Theater. As promised, Minori Chihara made another appearance for the awaited concert. The line to get in was troubling and when I got in, the stage seemed so far. Luckily, I was able to go upstairs to a balcony area and had an excellent view from above. Singing classics like "Paradise Lost" and "Hare Hare Yukai" had the fans riled up from beginning to end. The concert capped another awesome day at the con despite the cries for "Encore!" going unanswered.

Blue goddess.

Day Three


The final day was definitely the shortest one and least eventful. After two rather busy days anyways, I didn't mind so much. The only panel I ended up going to was another informative one headed by the ambassador of anime, manga, and Harajuku fashion, an eccentric and excitable fellow. Next to him sat Kanon, the bassist for the renowned visual kei band An Cafe. A slideshow was put on with pictures of cons around the world and the speaker explained his wishes to see the interest Japanese pop culture continue to grow around the world. I immediately went to stand in line for the room across from me as the screening for the new Gundam 00 movie would be shown there. Perhaps what I would consider the most torturous moment of the con, I had to stand by the loudest and inconsiderate bunch of geeks who were not only able to shut up in the line but during the screening as well. It didn't help that the movie failed to impress me much in terms of the story but when people are cheering and yelling every five minutes, I could only sit there aggravated. With the credits done rolling, I was ready to say good bye to the venue. All in all though, I was pleased with Comic Con/New York Anime Festival and I will be looking forward to the next time it comes around.

Excelsior!