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As someone born and raised in America’s Finest City, it never fails to amaze me how big San Diego Comic-Con has become. Starting out as a modest convention in the 1970’s, it’s grown to be one of the world’s most premier and attended conventions. With its location along the San Diego harbor, good weather in the hot July summers (compared to most of the nation), and a 2-3 hour driving distance from Hollywood depending on the traffic, among other things, it’s perhaps no surprise that San Diego Comic-Con has become what it is today.
Comic-Con isn’t just any comic convention; it’s THE Comic Convention that everyone first thinks of when events like this are in the public eye. And the convention itself has grown to be much more than just about American comics. It’s a toy extravaganza, a Hollywood fair, a mini-Anime Expo, a mini-E3, and much more wrapped into one festival. Exclusive toys and merchandising you can get nowhere else (and you bet those exclusives rack up in price on the resale market), panels featuring some of the most prestigious celebrities show up, exclusive autograph sessions, new game demos, the hottest new trailers, and so forth. Indeed, one of Comic-Con’s slogans is “Celebrating the Popular Arts.”
Unlike most conventions, Comic-Con isn’t restricted to the confines of the convention center. Because of how big the event is, the festivities spill out into the streets of Downtown San Diego. Companies and groups turn parking lots, hotel lobbies and conference rooms, bars, restaurants and even the Padres’ ballpark, Petco Park, into off-site booths and attractions. Hotel walls and windows, buses and trolleys turn into advertising canvases, with some ads so large and elaborate, they are actually subjected to fines and banned by the city every other time of the year. But since Comic-Con is once a year and adds to the overall atmosphere, residents don’t really mind. It’s almost as if all of Downtown is taking part in the festivities. Plus, for many of these outside events, you don’t even need an SDCC pass to partake in the action.
Whenever I head up to Los Angeles for large events like Anime Expo, even experiencing a 100k+ attendee event felt like it was a bubble mostly confined to a few blocks. But for Comic-Con on the other hand, it’s as if the entire city plays along. Perhaps it’s because San Diego isn’t as big as LA, and events like this don’t come as often to a smaller city. In return, Comic Con brings an economic boom to the San Diego economy during the week, generating a regional economic impact of more than $160 million with businesses near the convention center often seeing a boost of over 400% increase in sales. And the City of San Diego itself receives an estimated $3.2 million in direct taxes from Comic-Con, giving a much needed boost to the city’s essential infrastructure and services. So, it’s no surprise the city pulls out the red carpet for this occasion every year.
Comic-Con has something for all kinds of fandom, but it’s not a convention for everyone. Comic-Con may be a celebration of fandom, but it can also be a grueling test of dedication. All the horror stories you hear about “Line Con” can quickly become true if you don’t plan accordingly. While some events can be relatively easy to see and enter, the lines to enter more prominent and popular attractions can feel downright demoralizing due to the long waiting times, some of which are outside in the hot summer heat.
Even getting in the door since the 2010’s requires all potential attendees to take part in a lottery system to get the opportunity to purchase a badge. According to the SDCC Unofficial blog, an estimated million prospective patrons roll the dice for just 110,000 regular attendee spots. And half of those spots are reserved for Returning Registration; aka those who got tickets the year before. The rest are given to Industry Professionals, Press, Exhibitors, Volunteers, Panelists, Children under 13, and Staff to make up the estimated 130,000 attendee limit set by the city’s fire marshals.
And that’s only the beginning. From the long lines, to line caps, and the occasional lottery to have the privilege to even get in for something big can become a huge hassle, especially for those with a phobia or fear of crowds. If you don’t think you are up for the challenge, I won’t blame you if you decide to sit this one out and just opt to go for a smaller con. But if you aren’t intimidated by lines, and you have persistence, patience, and some luck, you’ll have memories that can last a lifetime. Just choose your battles wisely, have a plan B if plan A doesn’t work out, and don’t expect to see everything. If you do try, you can run the risk of seeing nothing.
Rooster Fighter and the Adult Swim on the Green
Unlike in previous years, there wasn’t a panel for Toonami or any of its upcoming original productions during Comic-Con, though there was a presence mainly in the form of Rooster Fighter, Toonami’s newest original series based on the manga by Shū Sakuratani. Last year at SDCC, Viz Media and Adult Swim announced that a Rooster Fighter anime was indeed in the works, to premiere on Toonami upon its release. And during this year’s SDCC, attendees got to experience a taste of the progress made during the “Night of New Screening.”
The panel took place on the Saturday afternoon of SDCC weekend, and was located on the “Adult Swim Pirate Purrrty on the Green” offsite event at the bayfront/rear side of the Convention Center. The event was free and open to the public (including non-SDCC badge holders), though nobody under 18 was allowed to enter.
The “Adult Swim on the Green” can best be described as an Adult Swim-themed carnival, where fans could enjoy some fun and games themed around the popular programming block. Some of the attractions included a kitty themed joust, a slide, a Common Side Effects themed attraction, where attendees had the chance to win some prizes trying to find the “Blue Angel Mushrooms” within a pit, a Smiling Friends themed photo op, slides and a bounce house themed on actual butts, a face painting zone, and more.
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The lineup featured during the Night of New Screening included:
- A new episode of Smiling Friends, “Silly Samuel.”
- The premiere of Ha Ha, You Clowns.
- A new full episode of Women Wearing Shoulder Pads, a Spanish language stop-motion animated series
- An all-new Smalls short.
- The first 15 minutes of the first episode of Rooster Fighter, the newest Toonami original series set to premiere in Spring 2026.
- The season 8 finale of Rick and Morty, a day before it would premiere on Adult Swim airwaves. (This was also showcased during the Rick and Morty panel the day before.)
This preview of Rooster Fighter was also showcased at Anime Expo 2025 two weeks earlier for those who attended the Viz Media panel earlier in the month. During that panel, Viz released a brand-new trailer for Rooster Fighter, with the announcement that the series will make its premiere both in Japan and stateside on Toonami come Spring 2026.
Viz also released a pair of key visuals, the one on the left accompanying the trailer during Anime Expo, and the one on the right during the run-up to Comic-Con.
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There wasn’t much additional news regarding Rooster Fighter, given that the news from Anime Expo was still only a few weeks old, and the production crew probably didn’t have much else ready for presentation at the time. Nonetheless, judging by the positive crowd reception in the Green, Rooster Fighter’s concept does seem intriguing for the Adult Swim and Toonami audience, and I’m personally excited to see how this show performs in the Spring.
The Night of New Screening concluded with a Laser Dance Party, where Adult Swim brought out a DJ and showcased a light show featuring various Adult Swim characters as attendees partied out the night away before the green closed for the night. Attendees also received some cool swag including a Rick and Morty OST Vinyl. A special thanks to the Adult Swim PR crew for giving us access to cover the Pirate Purrrty and the Night of New Screening.
One Piece
On the Thursday of SDCC week, Crunchyroll and Toei Animation hosted a panel in Ballroom 20 where attendees got to see the premiere of Episodes 1123 and 1124 dubbed. These episodes would eventually be available for streaming on Crunchyroll on August 12, 2025. There wasn’t much of a “panel discussion” besides the episode premieres to the audience. Colleen Clinkenbeard, the voice of Luffy, mainly came out to greet the crowd and asked everyone not to record the episodes being presented. Nonetheless, judging from the attendance and crowd reaction, fans enjoyed what they saw.
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The Hunt for the One Piece continues at San Diego.
Gundam
2025 marked the 30th anniversary that Mobile Suit Gundam Wing first aired in Japan back on April 7, 1995. And while it would be another five years until the show first premiered stateside on March 6, 2000 on Toonami, Wing’s status as a gateway to the Gundam franchise still endears to millions of fans worldwide.
Gundam fans both young and old packed room 6BCF to the brim on the Thursday night of Comic-Con, so much so that even I personally barely made it in the room. The panelists featured Gundam executive producer Naohiro Ogata and several of the English cast of Gundam Wing, including Mark Hildreth (voice of Heero Yuy), Brad Swaile (voice of Quatre Raberba Winner), and Scott McNeil (voice of Duo Maxwell).
The Gundam Channel has the panel on their YouTube page, which you can see below:
To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Gundam Wing, Sunrise announced some treats for fans during the panel. Endless Waltz, which saw a 4K remaster released on Blu-ray earlier in the year, will see a theatrical run scheduled for later in the fall. And that Gundam Wing is available for streaming on the Gundam.info YouTube channel.
But the big reveal during the Gundam panel would be a special video commissioned by Sunrise titled “Operation 30th”. Produced by Naohiro Ogata and directed by Toru Iwazawa, the video featured some new animated scenes that stunned the audience.
Ogata was among the panelists discussing the making-of the video, including showcasing some of the mecha and character designs.
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2025 also marked the 10th anniversary of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans, and to commemorate the occasion, Sunrise would be releasing a side story film titled Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Urdr-Hunt. Based off a mobile game that’s only presently available in Japan and set canonically between the first and second seasons of Iron Blooded Orphans, the story follows a new protagonist Wistario Afam.
Following SDCC, Bandai Namco announced that Urdr-Hunt alongside the 10th anniversary short film “Wedge of Interposition” and the 4k remaster of Endless Waltz would be screened in theaters as a theatrical double-feature called “Gundam Premiere Night.” With the dates scheduled for January 12-13 to 15. While Urdr-Hunt will only be screened subbed on all dates, Endless Waltz will have screenings of the English dub on January 12-13 and English subtitles on January 15.
Demon Slayer
Following the theatrical success of Mugen Train, Sony has opted to make the show’s final arc, the Infinty Castle arc, into a movie trilogy. With the first of these films released in theaters in Japan on July 18, 2025, and the United States on September 12, 2025. So, to no surprise, Sony pulled out all the stops in promoting the newest Demon Slayer film, including hosting a panel in Hall H. This would be the first time since the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero panel in 2022 that anime would be featured in Comic-Con’s largest and most prestigious panel room.
Last year, Crunchyroll brought in famed J-Pop and anime artist LiSA for a concert at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, where she performed some of her hit songs, including “Gurenge” (the first opening of Demon Slayer), “Homura” (the theme of Demon Slayer: Mugen Train arc), and “Crossing Field” (the first opening of Sword Art Online).
(Film footage by @WeeabooOtakune on YouTube)
She didn’t perform at Crunchyroll’s concert series this year, though she did appear at the Demon Slayer panel to perform a pair of songs from the series. These include “Gurenge“, the first theme song for Demon Slayer, and her new single “Zankoku na yoru ni kagayake” or “Shine in the Cruel Night“, the theme song for Infinity Castle.
Toonami Squad on X (formerly Twitter): “. @LiSA_OLiVE is on stage to perform her new song for Infinity Castle: Shine in the Cruel Night. #DemonSlayer #SDCC #SDCC2025 pic.twitter.com/7DOEX3eLwX / X”
@LiSA_OLiVE is on stage to perform her new song for Infinity Castle: Shine in the Cruel Night. #DemonSlayer #SDCC #SDCC2025 pic.twitter.com/7DOEX3eLwX
@literaryhype on YouTube has a recording of the panelist portion of the panel, which you can see below.
The panelists include Director Haruko Sotozaki, Director of Photography Yuichi Terao, Tanjiro’s Japanese voice actor Natsuki Hanae, and Zenitsu’s English voice actor Aleks Le.
Among some of the news revealed included a new Key visual for Demon Slayer Infinity Castle. And those lucky enough to get in Hall H got to see a sneak peak of the first few minutes of the Infinity Castle film.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’s theatrical run has been a success, grossing over $70 million in the U.S. box office, a record for an international film and is now the highest grossing anime film worldwide, surpassing even Pokemon: The First Movie. And has even received nominations for Best Animated film in the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs.
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Mitsuki and Shinobu spreading their love (and strength) at Comic-Con.
Cosplay
Cosplaying is a popular tradition during conventions, and Comic-Con was no exception as fans came out to represent cosplaying their favorite characters and media franchises. I made sure to take plenty of pictures of the amazing costumes going through the halls of the Convention Center and around Downtown San Diego, and some of the cosplay we saw can be seen below as well as on our social media pages. A special thanks to all those who allowed us to take their photographs.
Due to the amount of images in this section, click here to see the cosplay images.
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Interviews
As the representative of Toonami Squad at SDCC, I managed to get several interviews from the festivities. We just released a pair of interviews including one with Michelle Ruff, the voice of Rukia in Bleach, and another featuring Deneen Melody and Kimberly Woods, the voices of Ronye and Tiese in Sword Art Online.
We also have previous interviews in the works, including those from Veronica Taylor, Evan Michael Lee, Greg Baldwin, Kayleigh McGee, another with Deneen Melody, Sandy Fox, and Lex Lang. All of these will be audio interviews. Look forward to them posting sometime soon. On behalf of my colleagues at Toonami Squad, I would like to thank all of the guests who took the time to talk with me. And we want to say thanks as well to those who also wanted to talk with us, but couldn’t due to other commitments.
Due to Comic-Con’s success and perhaps due to SDCC reaching the hard limits of its growth, many other conventions have been following suit in an attempt to get some of San Diego’s thunder. Disney most notably has been shifting its focus to the biennial D-23 Expo to cater more to their audience, although Marvel and to a lesser extent Star Wars still has a decent presence at SDCC. New York Comic Con has become the East Coast equivalent of this festival, as with FanX (formerly Salt Lake Comic Con, until SDCC forced them to change their name in a lawsuit) in the Rocky Mountains, and many more like it. And of course, the anime industry has Anime Expo, which is becoming “Comic-Con, but just for anime” in its own right.
Comic-Con and the city of San Diego have reached an agreement to keep the convention going till at least 2027. But what happens in the long run is really anyone’s guess. There have been proposals of expanding the convention center among other things to increase the 130k attendance cap, and to potentially attract more conventions of Comic-Con’s capacity to San Diego. However, those proposals have been mired in political red tape as of now. There have been some significant steps forward made in the past year, in May 2025, the City of San Diego implemented a Hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), approved by voters in 2020, but was delayed due to legal challenges. This move will increase the city’s TOT from 10.5% to 11.75%, 12.75%, or 13.75%, depending on the hotel’s proximity to the Convention Center. These tax revenues will be used to improve and eventually expand the convention center, alongside addressing other issues that will benefit both residents and tourists alike including assisting the homeless population and improving street infrastructure.
Los Angeles and Anaheim convention officials, meanwhile, have not been shy in saying they want the Comic-Con crowds up the I-5 instead; as if taking the Chargers wasn’t enough for the Los Angeles area. Which might be a better commute for Hollywood stars, but potential expansions for both the LA and Anaheim convention centers also are mired in their own political red tape, not to mention said convention centers would need a significant expansion to even marginally increase the attendance cap that would even make a relocation worth it. And even then, could Comic-Con be able to replicate the magic and uniqueness of the con being San Diego, in Los Angeles?
But even as pundits have been proclaiming that Comic-Con’s appeal is fading, it hasn’t fazed the hundreds of thousands who come every year and the millions who wish they could. As long as those crowds are still interested in going to San Diego, I don’t see this festival going away anytime soon.
Comic-Con also opened a museum in Balboa Park, replacing the San Diego Hall of Champions which moved to Petco Park. The museum is open year-round and showcases the past, present, and future of the convention in San Diego among other things related to comic books and popular media. A must see for those wanting to check out some of San Diego’s famed museums. Also of note, if you sign up for the Legend Tier of their Annual Museum Membership at $1900, Comic-Con officials will even include a 4 Day + Preview badge to the next SDCC alongside other museum benefits. So, for those who have had some tough luck at getting tickets; if you’re feeling philanthropic and got $2k in spare money to blow, giving some support to the Comic-Con Museum might be a way to get yourself in the door.
Going to SDCC for over a decade now, it has become a yearly highlight for me both as a fan and a writer. I do have to admit that it’s not easy being the only one at the event when there’s a plethora of news to cover and events to attend and one person can only do so much. But with SDCC roughly two weeks after Anime Expo, and everyone focusing their efforts and budget on covering AX or another con, it becomes difficult to expect everyone to attend. That being said, if any Toonami fan or anyone from Toonami Squad, Swimpedia, ToonamiFaithful.com, or any website that covers Toonami shows wants to partner up, see if you can get a pass and let’s hang out one of these years.
Do I recommend going to San Diego Comic Con? Much like with the likes of the Super Bowl, WrestleMania, the Olympics and the World Cup, going to Comic-Con is a bucket list item for those that are fans of comics and the mediums it has influenced. However, as I mentioned before, it’s not for everyone. If you’re not a big fan of big crowds and don’t have the commitment of waiting in line to see the bigger exhibits, you might want to stay as far away from Downtown San Diego as possible during the event, or at least you’re better off going to a smaller con. Some of Comic Con’s organizers have also organized Wondercon in Anaheim as well as the San Diego Comic Fest, both of which are held in the Spring and both serve the purpose of a smaller comic convention in Southern California. And if you’re only interested in anime and manga, it’s a bit more fruitful going to the likes of Anime Expo, Otakon, or Anime NYC instead, as more members of the anime industry exhibit in those cons.
But for those that don’t mind the crowds or are even cool with people watching, having their chance at buying some rare items and getting some cool swag, are interested in seeing the big events, and seeing some celebrities and creators (even if how small the chances are of getting the opportunity to shake their hands and getting their autograph, the bigger they are), I’ve never known a better place to be to experience the popularity of comics and the mediums that it has influenced more than in San Diego in July.
Comic-Con is no doubt an experience anyone who is interested in Comic conventions has to go at least once in their life, and it’s no surprise that hundreds of thousands of people head to San Diego every year for this 4-day extravaganza, and millions more wish to go one day. To experience the very best (and the very worst) of what Comic-Con and comic conventions in general have to offer, I can say no more than to try and get a ticket and go see the experience for yourself.
