So, last weekend I decided to go to MCM in the London for the first time ever (hence why there was no article last week – sorry) for all three days (Friday – Sunday). So here’s a little look on my adventure there.

What is Comic Con?

Most people think that Comic Con is a huge convention were people dress up as comic book characters and do geeky stuff together. This is partially true. In the more recent years, Comic Con has appealed to manga & anime fans, video game fans and event host events and celebrities. With each passing year, the events increases and appeals to more people – even ‘none-geeky’ people.

Anime & Manga

Wow, there was a lot of anime and manga there – pretty much everywhere I turned, there were piles of manga waiting to be bought or anime being displayed on HD screens. And naturally there were cosplay stalls so people could dress up as their favourite characters, along with stalls selling anime and manga trinkets, such as figurines, towels and even body pillows (yes, really!). There was a main stage set up by the Manga Company which showed trailers of anime and held a few events during the day.

Comic Books

Man, there was equally the same amount – if not more – for comic books (how I restrained myself, I do not know). They even had Comic Village – a section of the hall dedicated to artists selling their own originally scripts to old-school stalls with categories of Batman, Superman, X-Men, Deadpool – you name it. Bob Laynton – artist and author of Iron Man, was present too and there was even a little section in the Kids Area for them to get their photos taken with Iron Man and Captain America.

TV & Film

This section was much smaller in comparison to anime & comics. There was a section for a TV show called Outcast which is due to be released later this month, as well as a ‘advertisement’ section for Star Trek when the old episodes are released on a HD channel (or something). Films included a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stand where you could take your pictures with the heroes (well, all but one) and a Universal Studios corner that was showing trailers of upcoming films, such as Pets and Sing (both of which look really good).

My favourite had to be the War Craft booth – with the film being recently released, there was a stall with a green screen which allowed you to be a part of the trailer. I heard a lot of blood-curling screams and high-pitched laughs coming from there.

Games

Rising Star (an indie company) had a small stall to frontline games most people have never heard of and CEX had there own section too (including a floating red shark with a top hat and dancing staff). Namco had their own small section which included merch and two arcade machines to show off Tekken 7. I was fortunate enough to play it first thing on Friday, and really enjoyed it. It runs smoothly, looks great in the Unreal 4 Engine and the small features are pretty cool – such as the ability for both players to play on the left side of the screen and the slow down when both of you attack to see which attack connects first (I went up against a guy who was dressed as Hugo from Street Fighter and sadly lost to him, but managed to win at least one round from the slow-mo cam).

I was also lucky enough to get a chance to play the demo for the new Attack on Titan game Wings of Freedom (as well as a free poster) due in August for the PS4 & Xbox One. My first few minutes of gameplay was figuring out the controls (even though it had them on the loading screen as well as on a sheet of paper next to the console) and ziplining everywhere with the Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear, but once I got the hang of it, it was pretty cool to use. This game is nowhere near as boring as the 3DS game, with a variety of missions as well as tutorials and characters you can play. The little things, like recruiting team members to help you take down a titan and even getting super bloody after taking one down is satisfying as hell. The only down side of my game was that it was a bit glitchy (a titan managed to walk through a house without destroying it…once), but apart from that, I think it’s needless to say I’m pretty hyped for it.

Other games that were showcased where the new Naruto and One Piece games, as well as Overwatch and Battleborn.

Celebrities

The line-up was fairly decent this year, with a few minor characters from Game of Thrones (including the nun lady who paraded Cersei naked through King’s Landing while ringing a bell and chanting ‘shame’); Peter Davison (the 5th incarnation of The Doctor in Doctor Who), as well as Sean Kelly from Storage Hunters (despite the series ending in 2013 for the US, but having 5 seasons in the UK currently).

At MCM, you have the opportunity to have your photo taken with celebrities which lasts all of 5 minutes. I was fortunate enough to meet Camilla Luddington (the voice and motion actress for Lara Croft in the new Tomb Raider games as well as being in Grey’s Anatomy); Eric Christian Olsen and Daniela Ruah (Deeks and Kenzie from NCIS: Los Angeles) and Jeremy Shada (the voice of Finn from Adventure Time). They were in super lovely in the few minutes I had with them (even though me and Eric did that awkward handshake-hug thing) and despite the queues to collect your photo, I will definitely do it again.

I was also lucky enough to meet the majority of the YOGSCAST (sadly Sjin was absent and I didn’t get to meet Hannah, Caff or Martyn due to the timing schedule) but they were as equally as lovely (I even freaked out on Kim as she was the first one I met but she was really sweet about it).

Events

A lot of events went on – both initialized by MCM themselves and fellow people attending the vent – such as cosplay competitions, photo shoots and prize give aways. Comic Con also held the ESL Hearthstone Championship final, which I stuck around for (congratulations again Boarcontrol!).

All in all, while it mind-blogging to be there and very busy on Saturday (almost suffocatingly busy), I had a whale of a time. I met great people, bought a ton of awesome geeky stuff and had an absolute blast. I will definitely be going again in October!

Other photos: