Tag: pop culture

Anime San Diego debuts at convention center!

The popularity of anime has absolutely exploded in recent years. Series like One Piece, Cowboy Bebop, My Hero Academia, Dragon Ball, Pokémon, Naruto, Attack on Titan, Chainsaw Man, Demon Slayer and many others have become pop culture mainstays in America and around the world.

This growing popularity has spawned a variety of events that attract anime fans. One completely new event, debuting in 2026, is Anime San Diego. It’s being held this weekend at the San Diego Convention Center, the famous home of Comic-Con.

I was able to visit Anime San Diego on Saturday morning!

In addition to hundreds of vendors, artists and celebrity guests (many voice actors), the convention features an arcade zone, gaming tournaments, karaoke, live music, industry and fan panels, cosplay meetups, itasha cars, cool merch, giveaways, and just a whole lot of fun!

I was surprised at how many fans showed up and how awesome it all is! Not bad for their first year!

Check out some photos of the action!

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Awesome itasha cars at Anime San Diego!

There’s a brand new pop culture convention in San Diego. It’s called Anime San Diego and it’s taking place at the San Diego Convention Center today and tomorrow!

One very cool part of Anime San Diego is the presentation of awesome itasha cars. Itasha are vehicles transformed with bold artwork inspired by anime, manga, video games, and Japanese pop culture.

The creatively decorated cars are being displayed inside the San Diego Convention Center between the event’s main stage and the giant inflatable zone. The cars, I was told, have come from all over Southern California. Several are from San Diego. Visitors are encouraged to admire the itasha cars and take photos.

That’s what I did!

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Cosplay photos at Anime San Diego!

Anime San Diego is being held this weekend at the San Diego Convention Center. It’s the cool event’s inaugural year!

Anime San Diego has drawn thousands of fans from all over, and, as might be expected, there’s a whole lot of cosplay! Characters made popular in anime series can be seen everywhere. I must confess, during my Saturday morning visit I didn’t recognize some of the characters, but the cosplay is still fantastic!

An Anime San Diego 2026 LEGENDS OF COSPLAY contest would be held Saturday evening on the main stage. Unfortunately, given my hectic schedule, I couldn’t stick around to see it.

I did take these photos of the great cosplay while roaming the convention center floor right as Anime San Diego opened. Enjoy!

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San Diego to celebrate Star Trek Day!

The City of San Diego has issued an official proclamation, signed by Mayor Todd Gloria, declaring that September 8th, 2026 is Star Trek Day! On that day Star Trek will celebrate its 60th anniversary!

Star Trek first aired in the United States on September 8, 1966, on the NBC television network. Numerous television series and movies later, the Star Trek franchise continues to thrive with millions of fans!

I became aware of the Star Trek Day proclamation through comic book fanzine collector extraordinaire Larry Thomas. You might recall his very cool fanzine exhibit at the San Diego Central Library during Comic-Con this year. He’ll have another expanded exhibit in 2028.

There’s more!

From September 4 through September 10, 2026, several San Diego movie theaters will have 60th anniversary Star Trek double feature showings. Various showings will be at Regal Edwards Mira Mesa, AMC Mission Valley and AMC Fashion Valley. You want to check out their websites and get your tickets early before they sell out!

Like Star Trek itself, may you Live Long and Prosper!

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Star Wars exhibit coming to Liberty Station!

I discovered something cool today while walking through Liberty Station in Point Loma. Pisano Artistry, located in a building adjacent to the Dick Laub NTC Command Center, will soon have a Star Wars exhibit!

I learned the fun news while peeking through the window of artist Joe Pisano’s gallery.

You’ve seen Joe Pisano’s unique and patriotic drywall screw art on Cool San Diego Sights previously. Here and here and here.

I haven’t spoken to him about it, but it definitely appears that he’s a Star Wars fan.

Can’t wait to see it!

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Top Gun’s Hard Deck bar built on USS Midway!

The Hard Deck bar from the movie Top Gun: Maverick is being recreated in San Diego at the USS Midway aircraft carrier museum!

Once completed, museum visitors will be able to enjoy a bar filled with props actually used in filming the blockbuster Tom Cruise movie Top Gun: Maverick!

The temporary Hard Deck bar movie set that was constructed on a beach was directly inspired by the real-life I Bar military officers’ club located nearby on Naval Air Station North Island. Those original props are coming to the Midway!

The Hard Deck bar is being built on the aircraft carrier’s sponson, next to elevator number 3. What, you might ask is a sponson? It’s a structural projection that extends outward from the sides of a carrier’s hull or flight deck.

I learned from a super friendly museum docent that the Hard Deck bar is being built so that it’s relatively unobtrusive when seen from outside the USS Midway, to conserve the historical appearance of the aircraft carrier.

Very cool!

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To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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X-Men, Dragon Ball, and Transformers street art!

Storm street art.

I had intended to rest a day or two after San Diego Comic-Con, but I became restless this morning. Still in the Comic-Con mood, I wanted to check out some finished street art painted during the Meeting of Styles event held the week before Comic-Con 2026.

On July 16th I walked along Commercial Street east of downtown San Diego and saw how international graffiti artists were painting several approved walls with cool pop culture images.

Three of the walls in particular contain characters from Marvel’s X-Men, Dragon Ball, and Transformers.

If you want to see more from these murals, and compare the finished art that I’m sharing today, you can find my previous photographs by clicking here.

First photos are of the X-Men wall….

Cyclops street art.
Cable and Wolverine street art.
Deadpool street art.

Next, photos from the Dragon Ball wall…

Goku and Bulma street art.
Shenron street art.
Zeno, the Omni-King street art.
King Kai street art.
Vegeta street art.

Finally, the Transformers wall…

Arcee street art.
Starscream street art.
Bumblebee street art.
Optimus Prime street art.
Megatron street art.

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If you’d like to view my full coverage of Comic-Con (and related stuff), which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

One last walk outside San Diego Comic-Con 2026!

Enjoy one final collection of photographs taken during San Diego Comic-Con 2026!

This long, final walk through the Gaslamp and around the San Diego Convention Center was simply amazing.

Lots of people were still about, checking out the offsite activations that remained open on Sunday. Lots of cosplay still.

I got the impression many fans didn’t want Comic-Con to end. But, alas, it’s Sunday late afternoon as I type this. All good things must come to an end.

It’s Dr. Peepers!

At the Nickelodeon offsite, the slime dunk tank was still active!

Well, that does it for this year’s Comic-Con coverage!

Cool San Diego Sights will now return to my more usual blog posts… after a couple of days rest!

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If you’d like to view my full coverage of Comic-Con, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

Galactus threatens to devour San Diego?

Galactus has arrived in San Diego for Comic-Con 2026, and the giant devourer of planets appears to be hungry!

The cosmic menace came striding through the city past Petco Park, bewildering curious bystanders. Was he here to sate his enormous appetite?

No!

Galactus had traveled from deep space to Earth to delight Comic-Con’s many Marvel fans!

Check out this big human-driven puppet! I tried to get the creator’s name, without success.

If you know more about this cool puppet, please leave a comment!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

Star Trek Fleet Command activation at SDCC 2026!

One of the coolest offsite activations at San Diego Comic-Con 2026, particularly if you’re a Star Trek fan, celebrates Star Trek’s 60th anniversary. The mobile game Star Trek Fleet Command has assembled original uniforms and props from every live action television series of the science fiction franchise.

On this final day of SDCC 2026, I got in line early and enjoyed a visit!

Fans would love the displays, photo ops, a Holodeck virtual reality experience, and a claw machine with Star Trek prizes. I skipped the latter attractions and focused my camera on the many uniforms and props. If you missed experiencing this offsite, you might enjoy my photographs!

Starfleet Standard Duty Uniforms from Star Trek (The Original Series).
U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-A, Constitution-class Refit.
Props from Star Trek (The Original Series).
Starfleet Standard Duty Uniforms from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Data’s prosthetic makeup bust.
Starfleet Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement worn by Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge.
Original props from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Võx (Borg).
Klingon Negh’Var-class warship.
War College Mugato Mascot costume and Starfleet Standard Duty Uniforms from Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
Bajoran Orb of the Emissary and Reliquary.
Uniforms from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Borg prosthetic makeup bust.
Uniforms from Star Trek: Discovery.
Props from Star Trek: Discovery.
Starfleet Standard Duty Uniforms from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!