Coming Soon: New York Anime Festival / NY Comic-Con

The Fall 2010 convention season is now upon us, and in less than a month, both anime/manga/J-pop culture and comics/sci-fi fans will be converging on Jacob Javits Center in New York City for the first ever combined New York Anime Festival and New York Comic-Con on October 8 - 10, 2010. In prior years, the two events were held at different times of the year, but this year, Reed Exhibitions is taking over most of Javits Center, making this combined show New York City's biggest comics-centric event of the year.

In past years, NYAF attracted a diverse array of anime and Japanese pop culture talent, and this year is no different.  The music line-up is particularly strong this year, as pop duo Puffy AmiYumi will be performing at Irving Plaza on October 10, visual-kei rockers VAMPS will be performing at Roseland on October 9, but will be at NYAF for a special Q&A session with fans on October 8.

Anime and manga talent from Japan are also prominently featured as special guests at NYAF 2010, with voice talent Minori Chihara (Haruhi Suzumiya, Lucky Star, Tenjho Tenge), Vocaloid producer Wataru Sasaki and pop culture ambassador Takamasu Sakurai on the list.  H. NAOTO designer and creator of Hangry and Angry characters Gashicon, along with Rika "Angry" Ishikawa will also be there for a Hangry and Angry fashion show.  There are many, many more guests -- you can see the full list of special guests at the NYAF website.

Also on tap for NYAF 2010: a world premiere showing of the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 movie,  a first-time screening of Hipira,  Katsuhiro Otomo's little vampire anime and lots more anime screenings, panels and special events.

If you want to be a part of the NYAF fun, you have until Friday to order your pre-sale tickets in time for them to be mailed to your home. After that, you can either pick up your tickets at select NYC locations or pre-register online and pick them up at the door.  Buying presale tickets will not only save you money, it'll also save you some time at the door too.  And even better? Your ticket for NYAF also gets you access to NYCC at no additional charge.

Get pumped up and ready for NYAF by downloading the official NYCC/NYAF mobile apps for iPhone or Android. You can also keep up with the latest updates by following them on Twitter or liking them on Facebook.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Javits Center, New York Comic-Con will be in full swing at the same time.  The exhibit hall will be filled with comics creators, publishers, toy and game companies and much more.

NYCC also has their share of top-notch guests on the roster, including Spiderman and Ultimo creator Stan Lee, comics creators Andy, Adam and Joe Kubert, X-Men scribe Chris Claremont, comics artists Darwyn Cooke, Geoff Darrow, Michael Golden, Jim Lee, Matt Madden, Faith Erin Hicks and Dave Roman to name just a few. See the full list of NYCC guests and prepare to be amazed.

I'll be at NYCC/NYAF this year -- will you? If you're going, what are you most looking forward to seeing? Add your comments below!