New York Comic Con 2014: Show Floor & Artist Alley

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narutaki_icon_4040 Only at a media bonanza like NYCC is the show floor a destination; a place where many attendees spend their entire convention. Each year it seems to take longer and longer to explore all of it, and to be honest I’m not sure I actually did get to every corner.

But it isn’t just the industry booths and chance to buy merchandise that has grown immense, so has the artist alley. There was an increased awareness of the real live creators just a hallway away last year and finally in 2014 it feels like everyone knows what and where they alley is.

hisui_icon_4040 My youngest brother and his significant other went to NYCC this year after hearing about my experience last year. Due to their schedules they only went on Friday. They came in when the convention started and left as it ended and they spent their whole day in two places: The show floor and artist alley. They thought about seeing one or two of the panels in Main Events but a quick look at the whiteboard told them that all the wrist bands for anything they wanted to see were long gone. Despite that they had a great time. Why? Because there is enough to do on just the show floor or artist alley that you could spend a whole day at either and not explore every part of it.

The last few years I have been using Thursday to explore as much of the show floor as I could. The crowds are smaller and there was not that much else to do so it was the best time to hit the show floor and play games or hit booths that would have lines that would eat up a large chunk of your time. This year however there were actually a full slate of panels this year as opposed to the sprinkling of panels you saw in the past. That meant that you had to decide if you were going to explore the show floor when it was only moderately crazy or see the panels on Thursday and then experience the show floor when it is in hyperdrive mode.

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All Points Bulletin: Artesia Deikun’s Newtype Cafe

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If you have any suggestions for what to highlight on an APB drop us a line via email or Twitter.

hisui_icon_4040 Alain’s picks:

 narutaki_icon_4040 Kate’s picks

 

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hisui_icon_4040 Some rare clean artwork of Sayla from Pixiv:

 

Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works #003 – Spoilers: Archer Uses a Bow

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hisui_icon_4040 People always like to bring up the fact that for someone who was summoned in the Archer class it seems like Rin’s servant sure uses swords a whole bunch. As I have stated before I think that has a lot to do with the fact that the Archer class in Fate/Stay Night is heavily based on the Ranger class in D&D. Rangers in D&D can uses swords and bows equally well and usually specialize in either being able to master their ranged combat or how to dual wield melee weapons. Clearly the Wrought Iron Hero picked two swords as this Ranger specialization of choice. Why Nasu decided to name the class Archer instead of Ranger is a question only he can answer. But we do get to see Archer use the heck out of a bow in this episode reminding everyone that he is a proper distance attacker when he is allowed to be.

This episode is also the first time we really get to see some serious nods back to Fate/Zero with some original scenes that were not in the original visual novel. They don’t really change to story but they do give some greater insight to what was happening during the battle with Berserker. The connection of Illya and Saber still goes mostly unaddressed in this version of Fate/Stay Night but the little scene here is more than we have ever gotten before. But the again Nasu has already stated that while he can make up excuses of why Saber and Illya never really acknowledge each other in the visual novel it is best not to think about it too hard and generally accept his hand waving about the issue.

Enough book keeping. There is fighting to be done.

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