Could we be looking at the end of an era?

Last week, the San Diego City Council unanimously voted to end their work on the proposed expansion to the San Diego Convention Center.  After legal challenges and the money used in designing and initiating (but not breaking ground) on the expansion, the city has spent $10,000,000.00 that it cannot recoup. 

The crux of the current argument is the expansion was to cost $520,000,000.00 and it was to be funded by an extra tax added to hotel stays.  The money was not to come out of the city coffers.  The legal challenge to this tax stated that any tax increases in the city was to be put to a 2/3 vote of the citizens.  This challenge is, in fact, correct in that the proposed tax wasn’t put up to a vote, and the people of San Diego have voted down similar tax measures in the past.  Due to the high likelihood that the people would not vote for a new tax, the City Council decided that the expansion would not be able to go forward as is, so they voted to end the project.

The question people are asking now is, what is going to happen to Comic-Con, the convention that is the chief reason behind San Diego seeking to expand its convention center and the generator of over $18,000,000.00 in revenue?  

In a statement, Comic-Con International's David Glanzer said that "any decision to remain in San Diego has always been based on a variety of issues, including hotel room rates, available meeting space and other concerns, none of which necessarily override the other."

Furgher, Glanzer stated "[Comic-Con International is] grateful that the mayor, city officials, hoteliers and convention center staff have worked to help mitigate our space concerns and are happy that we have a continuous dialogue with those entities. We hope there will be a solution that allows Comic-Con to stay in San Diego for years to come."

On the surface, that sounds like Comic-Con isn’t making any fast moves to get out of their contract with San Diego as it currently stands, but I would think that Comic-Con has received several phone calls already with offers for their 2017 convention going forward.

Do you think Comic-Con should move, or do you think San Diego’s government and citizens should do more to keep it?  If it does move, what city do you think can house it?  Leave your comments below, and we’ll discuss this matter in an upcoming episode of the Rolling 20’s podcast.

For those of you that have never heard of this don't worry, that's because this is the first year that it has been around. The convention is a gaming convention put on by fans for fans with a major focus on the League of Legends community.  Located in the Burbank Marriott Airport Convention Center on November 1st the events that are planned are sure to keep fans busy and entertained for the entire duration. Professional players from the eSports world such as; Team Curse, Team Dignitas, Counter Logic Gaming and Cloud 9. In addition fans will be able to see some of their favorite cosplayers such as Vensy, Jynx Art & Cosplay, and Junkers Cosplay Inc. who have work so hard to bring champions to life for us all. There will also be an artist alley for those looking to purchase fan art or maybe meet some of their favorite fan artists.

Some of the events that are  going on are dictated by the level of badge that you purchase suck as meetups with professional players, an exclusive Summoners Con T-shirt, being able to get tips directly from your favorite, and special sessions run by professionals designed to help give you tips and tricks to improve in your lane. Recently the Summoners Maid Cafe was announced to be attending Summoners Con as well as their first official convention.

For more information as well as where to buy your tickets (hurry the early bird tickets will not last forever!) follow the link to their home page.

North American publisher Yen Press announced via Twitter on Friday that it will also publish the manga adaptations ofMamare Touno and Kazuhiro Hara's Log Horizon and Satoshi Wagahara and Oniku's The Devil is a Part-Timer! (Hataraku Maou-sama!) light novel series. The company did not state which manga adaptations of the series it has licensed.

The company is releasing the original light novels in April and March 2015.

The original Log Horizon novels begin when 30,000 Japanese gamers are trapped in the fantasy online game world Elder Tale. What was once a "sword-and-sorcery world" is now the "real world." Shiroe, Naotsugu, and Akasuki join together to survive.

The books inspired several manga spin-offs including Log Horizon by Kazuhiro Hara on Enterbrain's Famitsu Comic Clear website, Log Horizon - Nishikaze no Ryodan by Koyuki on Fujimi Shobo's Age Premium website, and Log Horizon Gaiden Honey Moon Logs by Motoya Matsu which ran in ASCII Media Works'Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh magazine before it ended in June.

A second anime television season based on the novels will premiere this fall. In Wagahara's original The Devil is a Part-Timer! novels' story, a demon king named Satan is one step away from conquering his alternate world when he is transported to Tokyo of our world. He ends up having to work part-time at a fast food restaurant to make ends meet. In order to conquer Japan, he has to first move up from a freelancer to an actual employee. Meanwhile, the heroine Emilia has arrived in Japan also, in pursuit of Satan.Akio launched the main manga adaptation in ASCII Dengeki Works' Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh magazine in December 2011. Kurone Mishima draws another manga spinoff calledHataraku Maou-sama! High School! in ASCII Dengeki Works'Dengeki Maoh magazine.

Sources: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-08-31/yen-press-also-adds-log-horizon-the-devil-is-a-part-timer-manga-series/.78221

-Davius Reid