It’s finally time. I waited more than 360 days for this event. Scheduled my vacations, scheduled my classes, and saved a lot of money. Moved contacts, asked favors, and even pulled some strings; Did things unimaginable. . .all to spend six hours inside the best nerd haven in existence, where everyone treats others with equality; everyone is polite and helps the ones in situations more dire than their own. A human mass of ample understanding, in which race, gender, and (most importantly) weight are tossed aside and everyone becomes one breathing organism, growing and gaining impulse by the means of our own common hobbies and imagination.

There are some yearly rituals I never miss unless I get to be in an inevitable situation. Such include my family’s Christmas party, celebrating my own birthday and, of course, attending Comic-Con. This is, if I recall correctly, my 10th attendance to comic-con. Sadly they have not been in a row since my friends and I were taken by surprise when the tickets *poof* disappeared back in 2007, the first time Comic-con tickets got sold out via internet. That’s a thing of the past, though. I learned my lesson well and it is very unlikely for me to let go of such opportunity in that way again.

Printing my registration code in advance and keeping it safe inside one of my pockets, I put my Koopa shell on and go all “Haters Gonna Hate” through the streets of San Diego, taking the trolley, and walking through downtown with otherworldly fashion and style. *Ahhh*, it’s good to be back.

On my way to the Convention Center.

 

I’m not exaggerating when I say that the place was packed. Not puny 8pc. set of Hot-dog-bread packed, I’m saying stacked to the top like some German top-model or pin-up beauty. Of course you can’t compare it directly with TNT’s ratio of mobility but making some size conversions, the business-making section of comic-con, a.k.a. the first floor was filled to burst at all times since the moment I got there, which was around 10:30 a.m.. Of course Saturday is the most active day and, as I predicted, there even were a dozen shows and presentations outside of comic-con. Add to that the fact that I was carrying a huge bag filled with merchandise and also doing bulky cosplay. . .I’ll just say I had it pretty rough.

 

I just love these kind of ads.

Comic-Con has become such an important event that I would’ve started to worry if I hadn’t seen any news reporters nearby.

Up to the registration area!

This will be a very small report since I was very short on time to enjoy the guest appearances or attend the conferences which I might say weren’t as interesting as the ones years before (or at least their titles made them look that way). It also happened for most of them to be comic-oriented, something I would’ve liked some years ago, since I long left that hobby and transformed it to manga reading.

Still, I got a hint of some cool surprises for the attendees, like the chance to play the upcoming Rock Band 3, and the now-traditional CAPCOM tournament. Last time it was SFIV, this time it was Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. The waiting lines for both of them were very slow-moving so I decided to wait for the final release to enjoy them in the comfort  of my room. It was hard, I know, but I didn’t like my “wait 1 hour to play 2 minutes” experience, thank you very much.

As for the anime screening, the quantity of series shown increased almost two-fold with a wider variety of series, going from Magic Night Rayearth to Haruhi, with both old and new shows of almost al genres.

People, people and. . .fairies.

Argh, It’s ridiculous that in all these years I never remember to write down the names and positions of the booths I’d like to return to. I lost a great opportunity on some games just for leaving them until the end and saying “Sure, I won’t forget”. Has it happened to any of you? It sure hurts.

The only Wii title Nintendo had was Metroid: Other M, aside from that, 2 DS games on show.

I decided to throw the towel at 5:00p.m.; I had already run through all the massive convention center three times on all floors, had already filled my bag with merchandise and was very, very tired of walking. Add to that the fact that this time I went alone so it felt so lonely now that I had been accompanied by my friends since 2 years ago. I tell ya, it’s a great con, maybe the greatest in all of America, but it’s still a COMIC-con, and even when I still like comics, I don’t collect them anymore nor am interested in getting into one or two series at the moment. I have been corrupted with the yellow fever, creating a fool’s adventure inside my head, looking for the girl with the shiniest and biggest eyes in the world. Such existential problems one has to trifle with. . .

5:00 p.m. and still filled with fans.

All in all, I got to find some great cosplays, one of my escusesforstaying passions as well as I had remembered that aura of acceptance within us dying breed of sub-culture-appreciating dudes and dudettes, enjoying the day.

I didn’t have time to make up a song so here are the pictures old-school style!

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