WonderCon 2012

NOTE: I know this is way too overdue, but I’ve been busy and unable to write about it.

Since WonderCon 2012 was held at the Anaheim Convention Center (ACC) instead of Northern CA, I decided to check it out.  Due to it being run by the same company as Comic-Con International, I was a little anxious about attending.  Fortunately, WonderCon wasn’t as big or crowded, and the people weren’t as rude.
____________________

Day 1 – Friday, March 16

I picked up my badge and WonderCon booklet then did some exploring.  I attended the panel, TheOneRing.Net Hobbit Movie Insider’s Preview, which was interesting and informative.  They announced splitting the book into two movies to add materials from the Lord of the Rings  Appendices.  They should have made The Hobbit first since it takes place before LOTR.

I wandered the Exhibit Hall, then went to try out the free food provided at the Bandai Games trailer in  promotion of their new Naruto game.  It was then time for Famous TV Theme Music, which I left about halfway through.
____________________

Day 2 – Saturday, St. Patrick’s Day

The traffic was terrible, and I ended up having to park at a far Disneyland lot, then walk down the street in the rain.  That’s why I missed the first half of Womanthology.  I like how the women created comics for charity, but I’m not sure if the stories are interesting.  Next was the panel, Where Do Ideas Come From?. Most of what Barbara Randall Kesel said, I already knew, but she did bring up some good points.

I finally got a chance to see the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.  They changed some things from the cartoon series, but it was still cute and funny.

I met a friend on the way to Geek Slant: How the East Meets West.  The panel wasn’t what I expected, but still informative.  Afterwards, we met with a friend of my friend.  I wandered the Exhibit Hall again, then left to find that the rain had stopped.
____________________

Day 3 – Friday, March 18

I arrived late afternoon and quickly stopped by the Exhibit Hall before hurrying to the panel, Namco Bandai Games Celebrates Naruto Shippuuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations.  Urian Brown (host, Hiroshi Matsuyama (creator at CyberConnect2), and a few others talked about the game, then had the semifinalists of the game tournament play.  The runner-up received some prizes, and the winner proceeded to beat Matsuyama and earn many prizes.  Finally, we filled out a survey and received a free copy of the game as we left WonderCon.
____________________

The three days flew by fast.  Though I enjoyed it, I don’t plan to return in the future because I didn’t find it as interesting as AX or ALA.