My SDCC 2014 Experience

After an exciting first day, the rest of our SDCC 2014 weekend was pretty much exciting and fun all the way through. We already knew that getting into the panels for our favorite movies and TV shows was going to be difficult to get into, we decided to bypass all that and walk the exhibition hall this year. There was more than enough happening in the hall to keep us occupied. From stunning exhibits, fun activities, open signings to giveaways, there was plenty of action for all to enjoy!

Not only was the convention center filled with fun activities for fans to enjoy, from entering the world of Outlander, creating a Yu-Gi-Oh card with yourself as the character, experiencing Cerebro from the X-men franchise, to experiencing the Jaeger Pilot simulation at the Legendary booth; there was also plenty to experience outside of the convention center! We didn't get to experience it all, but we got to some...hahaha!!

*SDCC 2014 Day 2*

The Walking Dead

The ABC booth

Groot & Rocket made of LEGOs
Guardians of the Galaxy

While walking the hall, we came upon an open signing with the cast and director of Sharknado 2 and Mercenaries! No matter where we turn, there were cosplayers, be it fans or for the exhibit, they were everywhere! We even caught up with our favorite authors!

Cast of Sharknado 2

Ian Ziering

Star Wars cosplayers

Mariah and Mary Pearson

Jasmine and Mary Pearson

Marissa Meyer signing Cress audiobooks

Mortal Kombat cosplayers

Cast of Mercenaries

Pacman!

View the full album of SDCC Day 2, here!

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*SDCC 2014 Day 3*

We got to meet comic book artists, a couple of celebrities, and a couple of authors! We even sat in the DC Entertainment: Batman 75th Anniverary Panel (I think).

Greg Smallwood & Jai Nitz signing at the Dark Horse booth

Francesco Francavilla signing at the Dark Horse booth

Mariah with Eric Millegan (Bones)

Mariah loves the TV show Bones! So...when we saw that Eric Millegan, she definitely had to meet him! Plus, we also met Keahu Kahuanui from one of our favorite shows...Teen Wolf!

Jasmine and Keahu Kahuanui

Mariah and Keahu Kahuanui 

Jasmine and author, Gregg Hurwitz

Mariah and author, Gregg Hurwitz

author, Josephine Angelini

DC Entertainment: Batman 75th Anniversary panel

View the full album of SDCC 2014 Day 3, here!

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SDCC 2014 Day 4!
It's the final day... and it was as fun and exciting as the first three days...haha! It seems so bittersweet! The Comic-Con weekend must come to an end, and the waiting begins for the next SDCC 2015! But, here's how we closed out our Comic-Con weekend!

BBC America booth

One panel that I was excited to sit in was the What's Hot in Young Adult Fiction panel! A few of my favorite authors were part of the panel, so, yah, it was exciting to listen. The authors on the panel were: Kresley Cole, Kami Garcia, Tessa Gratton, Tahereh Mafi, Natalie Parker, C.J. Redwine, Brendan Reichs, Margaret Stohl, and Scott Westerfield. Moderating the panel was author Nathan Bransford.

What's Hot in Young Adult Fiction panel

Jasmine and Manu Bennett

View the full album of SDCC Day 4, here!

That concludes our exciting SDCC 2014 weekend! Despite the exhaustion and lack of sleep during these four days, it was all worth it...hahaha! Each year it is a different and new experience that is always filled with fun activities where fans can meet their favorite artist, authors, and celebrities! Until next year SDCC....and the waiting begins!

My SDCC 2014 Experience: Day 1, July 24

Well, it was that time of year again! Thousands of pop culture fans from all around the globe gather in San Diego, California for the annual Comic Convention! Four (five, if you got preview night) fun-filled days of panels, exhibits, trailers, and more, Comic-Con is a massive celebration of today's pop culture! Fans have an opportunity to meet their favorite celebrities, artists/illustrators, and authors of a variety of medias. This is one convention in which badges are sold out within minutes it goes on sale! Wow!

This year, my daughter, Mariah, and I were lucky to get badges for all four days. We were pretty excited that we did...not many people were able to get all four days...let alone preview night. But, if ever, I would be happy to just get one day, if it came down to it. Even one day is already exciting enough. This year, our focus was the exhibit hall, and the select few panels for anime, authors, and other television shows (that's if we can get in the room...haha!). We decided that we weren't going to camp out for those limited signings this year. We were already exhausted from our trip up to Davis for Mariah's orientation at the University of California, Davis! Yup! We did all that in one week...Davis then San Diego! Whoa! A lot to do, but all well worth it!

 

On our very first day, we got there early so we decided to walk about the Gaslamp district to see all the attractions that have been set up for this epic weekend! And...wow! They are always outdoing themselves every year! After the doors of the convention center were opened, we headed up to our first panel, the Shonen Jump: Naruto panel...that's one of Mariah's favorite animes. It was pretty cool. Speaking on the panel were those who work on the anime, game, video game...even a sculptor! Yes, every aspect of Naruto was in attendance for all fans and collectors alike! We were even treated to a great treat when Junko Takeuchi attended! She is the Japanese voice actor for the character Naruto! Mariah was so thrilled about this surprise! Junko Takeuchi also did a signing at the VIZmedia both later that day! Mariah was so thrilled to have met her! You know that we had to be there! Mariah even posted about this panel! Check out her post, here!

Junko Takeuchi, voice actor

Junko Takeuchi signing a Naruto poster for Mariah!

After the panel, we walked about the exhibit hall checking out the booths and stuff. There was a lot to take in, so, of course, we didn't get to everything in one day...hahaha!!! But, the booths were amazing! Many just like last year were interactive, fans were able to enter and "experience" favorite television shows, such as: The Walking Dead, Outlander, etc. The day isn't complete without grabbing some swag from various booths...hahaha!!! Also, individual signings are also a possibility at these booths! On this first day, it was a day full of authors! First, we finally met author/actor Amber Benson! Yay! We missed her at a Mysterious Galaxy event months ago, but on this day, we were able to meet and chat with her! Now, this time, I was the one that was absolutely thrilled...hahaha!! Not only that, we also caught up with another favorite author, Ann Aguirre!  We even caught up with Leigh Bardugo! We were so bummed out that we missed her Ruin and Rising launch party, that it was important to catch up with her at SDCC! And...we did! Got my copy of Ruin and Rising signed and chatted with her briefly! It is always amazing seeing our favorite authors at various events! 

Mariah with Amber Benson

Jasmine with Amber Benson

Mariah with Ann Aguirre

While walking about the exhibition hall, after catching up with all these amazing authors, we passed by the 20th Century FOX booth, we glimpsed a signing with the Legends cast & crew! Whoa! Of course...it's a limited signing...hahaha!! But, we were able to get some photos of them, especially Morris Chestnut and Tina Majorino! Loved him from various television shows and movies, but the ones that stand out for me, that he starred in, was G.I. Jane, V, The Game Plan....and, can't forget, The Best Man movies! As for Tina Majorino, I remember her best from True Blood and Grey's Anatomy....both are my favorite shows! Didn't get the signing, but it was just-so-majorly cool to see them!

Morris Chestnut & Tina Majorino

Morris Chestnut

Legends cast & crew

The first day was amazing! Checking out the cool displays and booths! Every year, it keeps getting better and better! After all the walking and meeting cool people, we closed out the day with final signing with the illustrator of the Teen Wolf bestiary...Swann Smith! Yup! This was an SDCC 2014 exclusive! MTV was giving out a Teen Wolf bestiary to fans that participate in any of the activities that they had set up. However, Swann Smith was signing the bestiary, so it wasn't necessary to do an activity at the time. How cool was that!

Swann Smith

Wow! What a day! What a start for an amazing SDCC 2014 weekend! The exhibition hall was full of amazing and cool displays and set ups. It definitely would take more than one day to get through the entire exhibition hall and all its activities...and, boy, was it full of activity! But, for now, this was all the excitement we had on our exhausting first day at SDCC 2014!

View the full SDCC 2014: Day 1 album, here!

My SDCC 2014 Experience: Shonen Jump: Naruto Panel

Shonen Jump: Naruto Panel

July 24, 2014

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Room 8

Signed by Junko Takeushi!

If you hadn't already read it/viewed it/either one online or were physically there, San Diego Comic Con hosted a VIZ media panel just for Naruto! It was the first panel of my Comic-Con 2014 experience. The information we can find online makes us impassive to the new Naruto products coming out throughout the year because it's like, "Oh, I already know," but actually attending and seeing things first hand makes things more exciting. Speakers varied from the official English translators of the Naruto manga (I couldn't get their names, I was too far back), to sculptor/painter of the Naruto figurines Shin Tanabe and Katsushige Akeyama, the producer of the Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja video games Daisuke Komoto, and special guest Junko Takeuchi, the seiyuu of "Naruto Uzumaki."

The room was packed, every seat filled, so much that fans had to stand against the walls. I came in groggy and tired yet listening the whole time. In order of events, our lovely guest Junko first answered questions about being a voice actress/seiyuu, how she got the role voicing our #1 hyperactive knucklehead ninja, and on occasion played around with bits and phrases. She also did a signing for a Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution poster later the same day. Up next is Shin Tanabe and Kasushi Akeyama, who showed us the process they go through of creating collectible figurines, not the cheap knock offs you find at independent little shops or swap meets; like this one where Gaara had brown hair and was missing the kanji on his forehead or Kakashi's hair is sticking straight up, "WTF is this?" I mean legit detail that would be worth the $150 (I'm not a collector but for those of you out there who wanted to know, there you go.); their featured item was a Naruto where one can customize poses and another wearing his father's Hokage coat. Speaking of which, fans were able to win Blu-rays, DVDs,figures, or shirts by answering simple trivia questions. So simple! That even anyone new to Naruto and Naruto Shippuden would have known the answer to these trivia questions. How many can you answer? [Answers are located at the bottom of this entry.]

Trivia Questions during panel

1) What is Naruto's favorite food?

2) Who undid the seal Orochimaru place on Minato's "Eight Trigrams Sealing Style" (that seal on Naruto's stomach, in lay man's terms or just in case you didn't know) dring the Chunin exams?

3) What animal does Naruto and Jiraiya summon?

4) Is Naruto the #1 selling manga in the U.S.?

And introducing the new Naruto Deck Builder game; new to me I haven't read about it, have you? It sounded straightforward yet complicated at the same time when they were explaining it. You start off with 7-10 cards then collect/buy from a pool in the centoer of 4-6 players, and each side of the card is labeled; I thought it might be interesting to learn and the cards look way too rudimentary. Special preview card for panel attendees; Minato Namikaze!!! Collect them all? Over 200 cards.

Also, in select theaters, coming this August is the English dub version of the movie Road to Ninja: Naruto movie 6. The Naruto movie I care about the most since it hits close to the heart; seeing it as Naruto's growth over the years since the first airing of his show on Cartoon Network's Toonami as an annoying brat in 2005. Come and see your favorite Knoha ninjain English with flipped personalities, or my favorite part the Akatsuki but then again do whatever you want if you give now f**ks for the dub, and support the movie. Tickets are on sale now at www.elevenarts.net.

Now, m favorite part, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution. What don't you already know? Special samurai DLC for wen you pre-order, mech Naruto designed by Kishimoto-sensei himself, creation of the Akatsuki storyline, 100 plus playable characters, and a mecha Naruto poster from Gamestop when you pre-order? Oh, you do know? Then should I stop here? Well, the trailer was amazing: tournament battles, customizable/unlockable accessories outfit, but my favorite was learning about Itachi... and his Sunny Side Battle... For Lord Jashin's sake Itachi; if you're going to cook with an apron on, at least take off the Akatsuki cloak, geez! Don't you sweat (Amatearus aside)!? I told myself I wouldn't buy another game unless I actually had the time to play but I can't resist this one. (Someone clear my schedule!!! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻) And at the end of the video game trailer, a lucky audience member was allowed to play against producer Daiske Komoto for another wonderful prize. I left the panel more eager to be a Naruto fan than I have in 5 years.

Answers to above questions:

1) Ichiraku Ramen (and red bean soup but on one said that)

2) Jiraiya

3) Toads

4) Yes (Funny how in Japan it's One Piece; last time I checked.)

Pretty cool cosplay while we were waiting in line!

Junko Takeuchi, the voice of Naruto!

Producer of the Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja video games
Daisuke Komoto

Shin Tanabe, sculptor of the Naruto figurines!

Junko Takeuchi signs for Naruto fans at the VIZmedia booth!

View the full SDCC 2014 Day 1 album, here!