I woke up bright and early to cosplay as Fluttershy from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Like Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy was totally last minute and part of Closet Cosplay Challenge 2012. Fluttershy had a better reception than my last minute Pinkie Pie. I actually did like how it turned out. Saturday was my huge panel hopping day. To preface, I was very surprised to find that there were more relevant industry announcements at New York Comic Con than at Anime Expo.

 

Rose of Versailles: Screening and Discussion
A few weeks before New York Comic Con, Rose of Versailles, the shoujo anime that follows adventure and intrigue during the French Revolution, received great news that it will finally have a domestic license. Viki will be handling the online streaming in December. Right Stuf’s Nozomi Entertainment will handle the translation and DVD release in 2013.
The panel screened the first episode of Rose of Versailles. Unfortunately, because it was one of the smaller panel rooms, it was very difficult to see the screen and read the subtitles. The Stocking cosplayer next to me asked me what was going on. For those of us who sat in the middle of the audience, it was often hard to follow at times.

However, there were a lot of laughs at some of the old school shoujo anime tropes. Dramatic freeze frames, sparkle eyes, and over the top action made the audience laugh at times. However, despite the 1970s cheese factor, people were still enthralled. It was really interesting seeing who was in the audience and how they reacted. From what I can observe, it was mostly people who grew up watching anime in the 90s and a new generation of anime fans who were curious about this title.


The panel was followed by a discussion by Susan J. Napier (Tufts University). Napier wrote From Impressionism To Anime: Japan As Fantasy And Fan Cult In The Western Imagination. Viki moderated the discussion by talking about shoujo anime then and now as well as shoujo-ai subtext. It was very refreshing to have a an academic discussion about shoujo-ai when at most cons, the most I would get out of same sex relationships are screamer yaoi fangirls. Napier discussed the subtext behind Lady Oscar and Marie Antoinette and related it to recent examples of shojou-ai found in the more popular shoujo series.
A discussion on Madoka Magica came up. Because Madoka Magica is one of the very few magical girl anime that is out, Napier also discussed the lack of female manga artists in the shoujo genre. The discussion about the history of shoujo anime and manga was very interesting and I wished it went on for another hour. Academic discussions on my favorite anime – what a true nerd event this is!

 

Kodansha USA

It was no surprise that you would see the same crowd from the Rose of Versailles panel flock to the Kodansha USA panel. Kodansha USA is responsible for bring the Sailor Moon manga back to life here in the United States. There were rows and rows of Sailor Moon fans wearing t-shirts and cosplays. You really felt the love here for Sailor Moon, even right before the panel started.

Likewise, the panel started off with Sailor Moon announcements. The crowd was getting really pumped. There were even a few fans asking if Terri Hawkes was going to show up or if Naoko Takeuchi will make it to an anime convention anytime soon. The crowd had to be silenced right away once they were chanting “Terri Hawkes, Terri Hawkes…”

Kodansha USA displayed the Sailor Moon manga box set to be released later this year. The new box set is going to have a sticker set and the first six volumes. Fans asked if they could just purchase the box and the stickers without the books. The Kodansha rep mentioned that the books would need to be reprinted and when they are, the books tend to be slightly larger or smaller (by a centimeter) when they get reprinted. Fans also asked if typos and errors would be fixed up in the reprint.

We also got a special message from Naoko Takeuchi:
It makes me very happy to hear that so many people are caring for my precious baby, sailor Moon, after she has crossed the sea to America. I've seen pictures of American fans cosplaying as Sailor Moon characters and heard that all of you are collecting lots of manga and merchindise and it makes me happy and moves me deeply that Sailor Moon and I recieved so much love even in another country.


Kodansha USA also announced that they would be releasing the artbooks. The artbooks would get a release sometime in 2013. It is unsure if the Infinity artbook will also be released. They also mentioned that Naoko will be doing exclusive new art for the artbook re-release. Fans were super excited and gleefully accepted free Sailor Moon posters and pins from Kodansha USA.

Kodansha USA also made a few release announcements such as Genshiken, Tokyo Mew Mew, Negima, Love Hina, etc. Though I have been out of the loop in manga, they did mention a few titles that looked noteworthy such as Attack on Titan and Number 6, both post-apocalyptic dystopian mystery and suspense manga that I may have to pick up.

 

Autograph Madness and Fan Displays

I did not have a chance to get a ticket for the autograph sessions, but from what I heard, they were really insane. Our hotelmates wanted to get Tom Felton’s autograph, but tickets were sold out by 7AM, hours before the convention officially opened. Additionally, you would also have to pay $40 for an autograph. New York Comic Con had many celebrities present – Carrie Fisher, Tom Felton, Christopher Lloyd, and more. You really had to be hardcore to camp out for tickets to get the special signing.

The hall also had a couple of fan displays. I was really amazed at the Lego dioramas. Someone did a full on display of Star Wars versus Star Trek ships. While the dioramas did not draw a huge crowd, one could spend hours studying the finite details of how everything was made and put together. There was also a Quidditch How To workshop and a wand training session for kids and kids at heart. It was just really fun watching the New York Harry Potter cosplayers really get into it and teach new generations of nerds the art of summoning patroni.


Sailor Moon Gathering

Like the My Little Pony gathering, I accidentally stumbled upon this after an impromptu photo shoot with Otaku Haven. Several Sailor Moon cosplayers actually asked me to come to their photo shoot down the hall. While the shoot did have your standard senshi, I was happy to find someone dressed in Mamoru’s jogging threads. Anyone who has been a fan of Sailor Moon can attest to Mamoru’s bad fashion sense.

The gathering of moonies brought a lot of photographers and fans to check it out. I wished my cosplay things arrived before the convention so I could have joined them as Mistress Nine or human Luna. However, it was also nice meeting fellow East Coast moonies. The highlight of this gathering? AniJam session bringing Pop Tarts for snackages. Only hardcore (American) Sailor Moon fans can get that reference!


Fables

I got into Fables almost a year ago, so I may not be as versed as a lot of the fans are. I was surprised this drew a huge 20 to 30 something male audience. I have never met anyone else who was interested in Fables (though I have got several of my cosplay friends curious), so it was really interesting to get a glimpse of the Fables fandom for the first time. The panel consisted of Bill Willingham and a few of his Vertigo staff members on the renowned fairy tale series. The panel consisted of a semi-spoiler free discussion of the latest issue and what is to come for the Fables universe.

Willingham also introduced a new writer aboard the team. The new writer expressed that Fables did not have a strong female character. The fangirl next to me agreed. I was quite surprised and annoyed at the same time. In short, a female does not have to wield a weapon to be admirable and role model material. I was surprised no one brought up Snow White (aka Mayor of Fabletown) and Cinderella and Dorothy.

Annoyances aside, this was a really fun panel. Bill Willingham announced that Bigby would get his own story called Werewolves of the Heartland. He did not have much to say about it other than Nazi werewolves and that it takes place in the Heartland. He was giving away a copy of this new trade to a fan who can make up the theme song to Werewolves of the Heartland.
Saturday was winding down. New York Comic Con did not have much to offer in terms of nightlife. Yet, we were in the city that never sleeps, so I decided to do more touristy things in Times Square – like watch a classic Broadway show.

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