(In story from July 24, corrects example of anime music and

Crunchyroll subscriber numbers in paragraph 7)

By Rollo Ross and Danielle Broadway

SAN DIEGO, July 24 (Reuters) - This year's Comic-Con may

not be featuring as much star power as usual, but attendees

dressed up for opening day on Thursday were just as pumped as

ever to be there.

Richard Cao, 38, from San Diego, said he has been preparing

for a long time, getting into shape so he can go as bare-chested

Inosuke Hashibira, a character from the anime series "Demon

Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba".

"I lost about 30 pounds over six months, that's just the

physical, I guess, investment I made," Cao said.

This year's festivities at the San Diego Convention Center

will not have the usual Hall H major A-list celebrity panels,

which typically discuss popular movie franchises from the likes

of Marvel and DC Studios.

But highlights will include "Star Wars" creator George Lucas

making his San Diego Comic-Con debut and Disney's ( DIS ) "Tron: Ares"

and "Predator: Badlands" panels. There will also be a panel for

the upcoming film "Project Hail Mary" starring Ryan Gosling, and

the world premiere of the "King of the Hill" revival and a panel

with show co-creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels.

It is also the first year to include a two-day music

festival called Crunchyroll Anime FanFest, hosted by

Crunchyroll, an American subscription-based anime streaming

service owned by Sony Group Corporation ( SONY ).

The festival will feature anime music from popular titles

like "Jujutsu Kaisen." Crunchyroll has over 17 million

subscribers globally.

Although hotel and overall travel prices continue to rise

for those out of town, fans say they weren't deterred.

"It's totally worth it," said Sophia Blanco, 39, from New

York City who paid "a couple of thousands" for her entire trip.

"You go on vacation, you do anything, you're spending money.

So, just spend money on what you enjoy, no matter what you do,"

she added.