The time has come once again to attend possibly the most expansive, and prestigious conventions in the tri-state area, New York Comic Con/New York Anime Fest. For those for you who don’t know, I grew up mostly on Long Island, and while I have had my fair share of experience at a local convention, I knew there were bigger and better conventions just out of my reach.

Last year I visited my first NYCC/NYAF and I was blown away. The sheer variety of the booths in the dealer’s room and the panels was astonishing, as well as the huge amount of people. The convention, I have come to find, is one of the most important events of the year, not just for spectators like me, but for videogame companies, local artists and craftsmen, local businesses, growing websites, and many more organizations.

I attended several panels, including the panel about the American release of Durarara! and the Gaia Online panel with admin DJ Helsing. I was also lucky enough to attend the Q&A panel hosted by Ishikawa Rika, Morning Musume alum and part of J-Rock duo Hangry&Angry, and have her autograph an album.

This year’s convention is especially important to me as a film buff. Kevin Smith, director of such classic films as Chasing Amy, Clerks, and my personal favorite Dogma, will be making an appearance with his close associate and fellow actor Jason Mewes. Felicia Day, actress from the hit web-series’ The Guild and Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, will also be making an appearance, who happens to also be an avid gamer. But of course, who I am most excited to see would be Mark Hamil, best known as Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars Trilogy, an icon of the early days of blockbuster sci-fi films, an incredibly talented voice actor, and show-business veteran.

I’m hoping there will be some sneak peeks at coming releases, possibly of the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica which is said to be appearing soon here in the States. I would love to play some more demos; hopefully many videogames companies will be in attendance once more. Overall, I am looking forward to repeating all of the wonderful experiences of last year with the new and exciting guests and booths of this year!