This year, for the first time ever, Anime Diet is going to go to San Diego Comic Con–the biggest convention of any pop culture kind in America! From all the bombardments of email that I and the other press members of our humble site are receiving, it is definitely on a totally different scale than even Anime Expo. For one, the vast majority of the events going on don’t have much or anything to do with anime, and plus, there are many, many more tons of events than any one organization can cover. So we have to be selective about what we attend.
But with that in mind, here are the list of things that Anime Diet officially intends to cover. The three of us who are going (Jeremy, Matt, and myself) also plan to go to other events for various sci-fi things that we are interested in as individuals. But this is what the website will officially be doing and will appear as liveblogs, posts, and (of course) videos.
Thursday (July 24)
- Afro Samurai Resurrection Panel (Room 6B, 4:15PM-5:15PM): I’m not really a fan of Afro Samurai. I gave it a rather mediocre review, for one. The only reason I’m even considering coming to this one is because Samuel L. Muthaf%!#@$% Jackson is actually going to be present! I suspect, however, we may not be able to get in the door, and probably not going to be taking any video. Which, if that’s the case, I’ll just head on over to the
- Bandai Panel (Room 4, 5PM-6PM): this year’s AX Bandai Panel had only one licensing announcement for Hayate no Gotoku. Will they announce anything else this time? After all, Funimation isn’t here to spoil the party like at AX…
Friday (July 25)
- Viz Panel (Room 2, 3PM-4PM): this is the main Viz panel, where licensing announcements and such happen. This, of course, is going to be overshadowed by
Saturday (July 26)
- Tite Kubo Panel (Room 7AB, 1PM-2PM): We are at Comic Con mainly because of this man, the creator of Bleach. Unfortunately, we are not going to be able to get a private interview as the slots filled up extremely quickly. However, we can at least try to get a question and signing in sometime during the week of the con. But we will definitely be liveblogging this at least, if not posting videos and pictures (depends on policy).
- Masquerade (Ballroom 20, 8:30PM-11:30PM): Let’s see how this masquerade is run compared to anime cons. Especially since this year’s AX one was so short.
I will be trying to get signing tickets early for the Tite Kubo signings as well, which are taking place twice during the con, in which only 100 people get a signature. It will help make up for a lack of an interview.
I will also be trying my best to put out the video diaries on the same day, if at all possible. My extreme weariness prevented me from doing the same at AX, and it cost us a lot of viewers as a result. I’ll try not to make the same mistake again. I will also try not just to interview anime/manga cosplayers, but some of the other nerds dressed up in other franchises too. We are all united, in the end, by our geek culture!
Anyways, I will be heading to San Diego on Wednesday to pick up my press badge and get a nose in for Preview Night–and then the festivities begin on Thursday. Stay tuned!
