While Wednesday night was when fans got their first glimpse at the many wonders of the Exhibit Hall, Thursday is when San Diego Comic-Con International 2009 really kicks into gear as the panels, movie showings and celebrity appearances begin. There's also lots of fun in store for manga fans, including sneak peeks at the new Astro Boy movie and two manga-centric panels in the afternoon.
The Exhibit Hall opens at 9:30 am and stays open until 7:00 for your shopping and schwag-grabbing pleasure. The panels start at 10:00 am and keep going until midnight.
It's definitely overwhelming (and physically impossible) to attempt to see everything at Comic-Con, so here's today's manga-centric guide to some notable events worth checking out:
- 10:15 am -11:15 am: Summit Entertainment: Astro Boy - Room 6BCF
See Osamu Tezuka's iconic robot boy re-imagined for a new generation as Imagi Films and Summit Entertainment present Astro Boy to the Comic-Con crowds. Director David Bowers, producer Maryanne Grager, and stars Freddie Highmore (Astro) and Kristen Bell (Cora) debut footage exclusive to Comic-Con 2009 and will answer questions from the fans. - 11:00 am - 12 noon: Autograph session with Yoshinori Natsume - CMX Manga Booth 1915
Meet the artist of Togari and Batman: Death Mask and get an autograph from him while you're at it. - 11:00 - 12:00 noon: Sho Murase Autograph Session at Papercutz Booth 2046
Here's your first of two chances to chat with Sho Murase, the artist behind Papercutz's Nancy Drew graphic novels and the creator of Me2 from TokyoPop. Murase also has a table at Artists Alley at GG-01. - 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm: Spotlight on Bryan Lee O'Malley - Room 5AB
Comic-Con special guest Bryan Lee O'Malley talks with legendary comics scholar Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics, Zot!) about Bryan's groundbreaking slice-of-life graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim. From its genesis to the production of the upcoming film version, O'Malley speaks frankly about where Scott Pilgrim came from and where the series is going from here. Come for the panel, stick around for the fan Q&A, which should be fun. - 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Tetsuo for the 21st Century at Room 32AB
"Maverick filmmaker" Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo) will reveal his plans for a movie project tentatively titled Tetsuo Project, and includes new info about this first English language installment of Tetsuo, the third legendary cyberpunk action thriller from Tokyo. Comic-Con fans will be their first, exclusive look at clips from this project. - 1:45 pm -2:45 pm Summit Entertainment Movie Sneak Peeks: Astro Boy, The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Sorority Row - Hall H
They call it call "Hall H" for Humungous - and they'll need a pretty big room to hold the fans who are here to see exclusive clips from these three upcoming films from Summit Entertainment. Bring earplugs if you have a hard time with high-pitched squeals of delight as the Twilight clips hit the screen. - 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm: Spotlight on Gene Yang at Room 4
Mini-comics veteran Gene Yang has moved on from his photocopied comics beginnings to creating some memorable (and award-winning) graphic novels, including American Born Chinese, and his most recent release from First Second, The Eternal Smile, a collection of three short stories with Derek Kirk Kim. Kim and Yang will be chatting about this project and more at this event. - 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm: 20th Century Fox and James Cameron present Avatar in- Hall H
It's not quite manga, but the animated version of Avatar was very much the product of Asian comics influences. Now director James Cameron, producter Jon Landau and cast members from this live-action flick will show clips from this film IN 3-D! - 3:15 pm - 4:15 pm: Capcom 2009 Lineup at Room 6BCF
Attention gamers! Check out some of the Capcom's coming attractions presented by some of the creators of these games. Jun Takeuchi (Lost Planet 2), Morgan Gray (Dark Void), Daryl Allison (Spyborgs), Motohide Eshiro (Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth), and Masachika Kawata (Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles) are joined by Capcom-Unity.com's Seth Killian. See exclusive gameplay footage and behind-the-scenes making-of features, followed by a Q&A session. - 4:30 pm -5:30 pm: The Best and Worst Manga of 2008–2009 at Room 3
What was the best, worst and weirdest manga published in the last year? Manga pundits Jason Thompson (Manga: The Complete Guide), Kai-Ming Cha (Publishers Weekly), Ed Chavez (marketing director, Vertical Inc.), Eva Volin (chair, Great Graphic Novels for Teens) and myself(!) will give the thumbs up and thumbs down to the latest, greatest and the most infamous releases of the past year in this "Manga State of the Union Address." Gia Manry (Anime Vice) will try to keep things from getting' out of hand. - 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Manga: Lost in Translation - Room 3
Stick around after the Best n' Worst Manga panel to see what should be a lively discussion amongst the unsung heroes of the manga world, the translators. If you've ever put a Japanese webpage through Google Translator, you know that Japanese isn't exactly an easy language to turn into conversational dialogue for English readers. And oy, those puns that require extensive knowledge of kanji characters or Japanese pop culture! William Flanagan (xxxHOLiC), Jonathan Tarbox (Black Cat), Jason Thompson (Manga: The Complete Guide), Mari Morimoto (Naruto), Stephen Paul (Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad), Mark Simmons (Consultant for Bandai Entertainment) and Julie Davis (former editor-in-chief of Animerica Magazine) share some of their tales of word-wrangling with the crowd, and open it up for questions. - 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Graphic Novel Programming in Libraries at Room 30AB
Bookstores and comic shops are one way to get your graphic novel fix, but libraries have been a force to be reckoned with as a key source for getting comics into the hands of readers. Super-librarians and self-confessed comics geeks Robin Brenner, Hillary Chang, Mike Pawuk, Jill Patterson, and Nick Smith (moderated by Snow Wildsmith) talk the talk on how they get graphic novels onto the shelves and into the hands of readers. - 5:30 pm - 6:50 pm: Bryan Lee O'Malley and Antony Johnston autograph session at Oni Press Booth 1833
Meet the creator of Scott Pilgrim and the author of Wasteland and Wolverine: Prodigal Son (from Del Rey Manga) and getcher books signed. 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm: Bandai Entertainment at Room 3
Code Geass R2, Gundam 00, Akira Blu-ray, Lucky Star OVA: these are just some of the exciting anime coming from Bandai Entertainment in 2009! Bandai Entertainment's president Ken Iyadomi and director of marketing Robert Napton highlight current and upcoming releases, with news and a few giveaways! - 6:30 pm -7:30 pm: The Wonderful World of Computer Games in Japan at Room 32AB
An overview of computer gaming as seen from Japan, with a focus on Japan's amateur "doujin" games, dating-sims and games that explore themes of love, and an overview of recent trends in computer gaming in Japan, including "otome" games (games made specifically for girls) and other areas in which gaming in Japan differs from those in the West. This one's presented by Peter Payne of J-List fame, who clearly knows a thing or two about these (ahem) "relationship" games and Japanese pop culture in general. - 6:45 pm -7:45 pm: Robotech Industry Panel at Room 6A
Tommy Yune, director of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, and Steve Yun, writer of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, discuss upcoming Robotech releases in the wake of the announcement of the live-action feature film. - 9:00 pm - 2:00 am: Nerd Prom 2099 at The Bitter End, 770 5th Avenue
The fine folks at Los Angeles comics / toys / art & pop culture shop Meltdown Comics are hosting a shindig that plays off the popular nickname for Comic-Con, "Nerd Prom," but they're determined to make it way more enjoyable than those psychologically-scarring high school events by giving attendees a chance to re-live their prom days, except well, having way more fun.
DJ Franki Chan will be spinning the tunes, the Suicide Girls will be there to bring their special brand of flavor and sass, and if that doesn't work, the drinks from Asahi Beer and Tibetan Tea might help a bit. Admission is $15 and tickets can be purchased in advance via Meltdown's website, or at the Devil's Due booth #2229 at the show. No tickets will be sold at the door, so buy them in advance. And sorry kids -- this one's strictly for the folks age 21 and older.
The Bitter End is located near corner of F Street and 5th Avenue, 1 block from Horton Plaza. You can call 619-338-9310 for directions if you get lost.
Got time for a break between panels? Check out some of the anime showings in rooms 24BC, 25AB and 25C from 10 am through midnight. Here's a link to Thursday's schedule of anime showings, which include showings of Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Genshiken OVA and Code Geass.
Plus here's your guide to where to find manga and graphic novel publishers at Comic-Con 2009.
If you're eager for updates and photos fresh from the convention floor, follow me on Twitter!
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