New York City Comic Con

New York Comic Con Weekend: Top Five Moments of NYCC 2023 

This past weekend New York City hosted their annual Comic Con. Like other Comic Cons held around the county, there was plenty of newsworthy entertainment this weekend. With fans from around the world excited to cosplay and engage with each other at one of the biggest conventions for the media. NYCC attendees were greeted by a large display of Toei animation with giant balloons of Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece and Piccolo from Dragon Ball Z. Franchises went out of their way to bring color and excitement to the visiting fans. This year's NYCC like other conventions in the past few months have had restricted announcements due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike that's impacting a large portion of the entertainment world. Even with the ongoing strike celebrities, influencers and companies managed to put on a decent Comic Con. 

New York Comic Con managed to give a few surprises to fans this year. Here are my Top 5 New York Comic Con announcements and moments. 

5  Kaiju No. 8 - Anime announcement from Crunchyroll 

The Shonen Jump hit manga Kaiju No.8 is getting an anime that will only be streaming on Crunchyroll with both a Sub and English Dub with a weekly Simulcast. They also gave fans a sneak peek at the new show with a trailer. Kaiju NO. 8 will arrive in April 2024. That gives fans plenty of time to get familiar with the story before the anime's release. Kaiju No.8 follows a young man who has the wonderful job of cleaning up after Kaiju attacks. He is forced to learn more about the world of Kaijus after a bizarre accident. You can read Kaiju No.8 on the Shonen Jump app. 

4 Monarch: Legacy of Monsters- Apple+TV

More Kaiju with this new TV series. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters focuses on our favorite Kaiju Godzilla. During NYCC Apple released a trailer for the new series and I must say it looks decent. In the trailer we see what the world has become after the battle of Godzilla vs. MUTO that took place in Godzilla (2014). From the trailer it looks like most of the show will be centered on how humanity is coping with Kaiju attacks but also introduce some mystery and deeper storytelling. I’m excited to see how they adapt the story of Godzilla to TV. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters will be available on Apple TV on November 17 2023 which is a month away!

3 Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Casting Announcement 

Final Fantasy fans who attended the popular games panel on Saturday got huge announcements about the remake of the 90’s video game. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth the 2nd chapter in the remake of the popular video game by Square Enix is the newest addition to the long running Final Fantasy line-up. At the panel for the game they announced that Critical Roll DM and Voice actor Matt Mercer would be the English voice actor for Vincent Valentine. Fans were more than excited to hear that Mercer would be a part of this new project. Mercer also announced that not only will he be lending his voice to Vincent Valentine but also to a host of NPCs as well. As a fan of both Mercer and Final Fantasy I’m looking forward to playing this game. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will be available February 29th 2024 for Playstation 5

2 New Dragon Ball Series with a Tiny Goku?! Get ready for Dragon Ball: Daima from Toei Animation. 

Toei Animation along with some of the voice cast from previous Dragon Ball projects announced that the new series Dragon Ball: Daima will be arriving in the fall of 2024. In attendance at the panel were voice talents Monica Rial, the English dub for everyone’s favorite hot-headed scientist Bulma alongside Ian Sinclair who provides the voice of Whis. Sinclair and Rial watched the trailer for the new series for the first time alongside fans. The trailer gives us a good look at our beloved hero Goku who has been shrunken down to the size of a child. The trailer continues and shows that now only has Goku been turned pocket sized but some of his friends as well. 

The creator of Dragon Ball Akira Toriyama has been heavily involved in the project with the character design and other visuals for the new show Dragon Ball fans also received a few other announcements and surprises during their panel. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero will be available for purchase on November 11th, and there's news about a Dragon Ball card game, too. Maskao Yozawa, 86, sent a video message to the Dragon Ball panel. Gave a heartfelt greeting and the iconic Goku pose thanking fans for their continued support of Dragon Ball. I know that Dragon Ball fans, myself included, are excited to watch the new series. Dragon Ball Daima will be released in the fall of 2024 

1 Panels Impacted By Strikes Find a way to create a fantastic experience for fans. 

With the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes still going strong, celebrities and  visitors who are members of the union that are a part of Struck companies could not discuss any past or current projects they are currently working on from some of the most popular fandoms. There were a lot of delightfully mundane topics discussed by actors during their panels. Sir Ewan McGregor had to stay on topic about tea and coffee during his panel. His fans learned that he doesn't like sweet drinks and likes black coffee. He shocked his fans when he dropped in the capital of bagels that he doesn’t like bagels very much. So while fans didn’t get to hear McGregor talk about Space Adventures, we did get to learn a little more about him. Towards the end of his panel, McGregor did speak about the ongoing strikes and what he would like to see come out of them. “ It’s very important we take action. There are so many things that need to be addressed that have been left unaddressed. It's such a shame that it’s taking the studios this amount of time to come to a solution, but as a result I’m 100% behind the strike and involved with my union." 

Ewan McGregor's panel wasn’t the only panel with striking actors. Also at the strike friendly panel, the cast of "Our Flag Means Death" talked to fans about everything paranormal and fantasy. The actor Rhys Darby also expressed his feelings about the strike. “I guess one day if we get a better deal.. We can perhaps get some people together to discuss it if they get their shit together."  

These panels showed us a glimpse of what the next convention season will be like if companies refuse to meet with union leadership and make a deal that benefits all of their workers. With the strike now continuing into the fall and winter season studios and companies are going to be pressed with less new content being created for the upcoming years. This will impact how fans are going to watch, read and interact with entertainment. 

This year's NYCC, despite the strike, pulled in a large number of fans over the weekend and still managed to give fans plenty of memories and excitement for new shows, games and other media to look forward to. Let’s see how the spring convention season fairs as the SAG-AFTRA strike continues.  Let's hope the workers win