As much as there is still a certain sentiment of there being “no anime and manga content at New York Comic Con,” there are still a good deal of anime and manga companies in attendance and plenty of casual fans who show up to the convention looking to see what is being presented. The companies at the convention have an opportunity to connect with a part of the fandom that might otherwise not know what is going on outside of the most popular titles.

Therefore, while New York Comic Con might not get the announcement blitz of a convention like Anime Expo, the anime and manga companies tend to save some of their bigger cards for the convention to play to a larger audience.

 Anime and manga is just part of the larger pie of New York Comic Con, much like the big West Coast show in San Diego. It is the biggest thing going on on the East Coast so you better believe anime and manga companies are turning out and playing up their new announcements as much as anyone else. There were the usually licenses of new and recent anime and manga but also some big surprises during the con as well.

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To continue my analogy from the post about the heart, mind, and soul of a convention it is time to look at the brain of NYCC: The panels.

Panels are the part of the convention most likely to stimulate your mind and maybe teach you something. Unlike your average anime convention all the panels at NYCC are done by professionals. The upside is the overall quality is higher as you have people who theoretically should be experts on what they are talking about. Some panels still end up being real stinkers for one reason or another but overall if you step into a room you can bet that you are going to be entertained.

The downside is everyone is shilling something on any panel you’re at. There are very few panels that are pure theory or uncut fandom. Even when they are they plugging something then are working on that they want you to buy. I don’t really have a problem with that. I mean I plug the blog whenever I do work on another site so I can’t fault anyone talking a bit about what puts food on their plate. I only saw one panel last year that was just an unapologetic commercial for an hour but that was an unfortunate exception to the rule.

I only mention that because some people have a real problem with the commercialism as opposed to the “purer” fan experience of a fan run convention. But if you have that attitude you are in the wrong place.

At most conventions I spend a majority of my time in panel rooms, and I still spend plenty of time in them at NYCC, but it feels more like a piece of the convention as opposed to most of the convention for me.

The thing I enjoy most at NYCC is that I can go from webcomics to video games to classic cartoons all in a weekend. The panels most reflect the eclectic quality of the convention. I do however lament the lack of anime content that wasn’t simply screenings or industry panels. As such most of my attention was elsewhere.

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