Shopping Guide
For 45 years, San Diego, California has been the home of Comic-Con International, an exhibition of comic books and the popular arts celebrated by visitors from every corner of the globe. An excerpt from Comic-Con’s official website sums up Comic-Con’s current scale and significance:
With attendance topping 130,000 in recent years—in a convention center facility that has maxed out in space—the event has grown to include satellite locations, including local hotels and outdoor parks. Programming events, games, anime, the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival, and the Eisner Awards all take place outside of the Convention Center, creating a campus-type feel for the convention in downtown San Diego.
Over the years, Comic-Con has become the focal point for the world of comics conventions. The event continues to offer the complete convention experience: a giant Exhibit Hall (topping over 460,000 square feet in its current incarnation); a massive programming schedule (close to 700 separate events in 2014), featuring comics and all aspects of the popular arts, including hands-on workshops and educational and academic programming such as the Comics Arts Conference; anime and film screenings (including a separate film festival); games; the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the “Oscars” of the comics industry; a Masquerade costume competition with prizes and trophies; an Autograph Area; an Art Show; and Portfolio Reviews, bringing together aspiring artists with major companies.
The event, which lasted four days from July 9 through the 12, treated otaku of every type with special debuts, trailers, and announcements. One of the biggest stories this year came from the Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens panel, attended by many of the film’s cast and crew. To celebrate the momentous occasion, a limited number of about 6,000 attendees received a surprise outdoor orchestral concert of John Williams’ epic scores from the Star Wars franchise. The event was made complete with free glowing lightsabers and a fireworks show!
And while Comic-Con’s origins are rooted in Western pop culture examples like Star Wars, several well-known companies from the Japanese anime and gaming industry also exhibited and made announcements. These companies included Kotobukiya, Viz Media, Funimation, Bandai, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Konami, Square Enix and Nintendo. Truly, this year’s Comic-Con was an adventure for all kinds of fans - from cosplay to television, figures to film. TOM is looking forward to bringing news and photos from this event again in 2016. See you next year, Comic-Con!
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article written by Sean Cardeno.
