Countless fandoms of fun collided at the NYCC this past February weekend. This convention was our trip to Mecca—a heaven of pop culture tranquility. Brotherhood surrounds all who attend: jedi knights, ninjas, goths, vampires, anime and video game characters walk the aisles in peace and harmony.

NYCC09 Friday: Yatterman

My first day was dedicated to gathering news on Yatterman the movie by Miike Takashi. The first panel was a press conference organized by NY’s Subway Cinema. The exciting part was that not only did Miike attend, but he also answered questions, along with lead actor Sho Sakurai (of Arashi fame). And I got to ask them both a question! After that, I checked out the main fanfare: aisles and aisles of everything anyone can think of. I stopped by the Marvel booth where they were giving out Dragon Ball Z light up balls, and I then spoke with Amelia Cantlay from Square Enix about their latest collectibles.

With that, I squeezed through the crowd back to the IGN Theater where the line for the second Yatterman panel was already wrapped around twice; this was all one hour before the panel even started. Those who could get in got a sneak peek at the movie, including us Ningin’ers. I got to ask Sho Sakurai another question during the Q&A session… I’ll dish out more on that in a bit.

NYCC09 Saturday: graphic novel galore

For me, there was really only one reason to attend the con: get the skinny on the upcoming graphic novel by the guys of www.secretidentities.org. The new novel by Perry Shen, Keith Chow, Jeff Yang, Jerry Ma and Jef Castro had the NYCC all a’buzz. The room for their panel was so crowded that it leaked into the hallway. This graphic novel will be released in April, and I promise to give you all the upcoming news on it. Seriously, this was a true highlight of the comic con.

I then rushed to meet Ningin’s FAM girls, where Jessica proceeded to win a dance contest at one of the booths. We all boogied down to the electric slide and then got free t-shirts at the After Dark Horrorfest booth, then we walked the artists’ alley and looked at all the pretty pictures. The rest of our evening was spent in Chinatown checking out lively Mott St.

Weekend Highlights: Yatterman, Sho Sakurai, The Asian American Superhero Anthology, panels on TMNT and a screening of Kamen Rider Dragon Knight.