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.

 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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 Ever since they stopped holding the New York Anime Festival there had been two repeated complaints at the feedback panels at New York Comic Con. The first is people recounting their Walking Dead horror stories and the second is people wondering was why is there was not more anime and manga content. I admit most of the time when pressed people wanted American voice actors and ignored the few Japanese productions guests that attended the convention but at least it was an interest in seeing more anime and manga. The general anime blogging community might have written off the event but the fans still felt like they might get their slice of the pie at New York Comic Con. This year New York Comic Con came with a far better selection. Enough to make most fans take notice.

Having Takeshi Obata, the US premiere of the 25th episode of Kill La Kill, and The Kakehashi Project would be a slightly underwhelming if it were the only guests at Otakon but an amazing lineup for any medium-sized convention. In the case of New York Comic Con it shows a solid commitment to getting fans of Japanese popular culture the material they have been asking for. I for one was very happy with the lineup. It let me get a solid about of anime and manga content each day while still letting me indulge my other geeky hobbies as well. Exactly what I wanted.

 Last year, at the NYCC feedback panel there was a resounding plea for better anime and manga content beyond basic industry panels. I’m happy to say that NYCC listened, or maybe the anime and manga companies realized the potential again, either way us fans were reaping the benefits this year.

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