Nan Desu Kan (NDK) in Denver, Colorado: My First Experience

Walking into the Marriott on September 13^th was like walking into an animated wonderland. Cosplay characters young and old filled the lobby of this Denver Tech Center hotel. Two five foot tall Narutos ran by me and gave a jumping hug to a young Sakura, with an older Sasuke hiding in the corner. Immediately a group of young fan girls swarmed them, loudly pronouncing "Awe, their so cute! Can we hug you and take your picture?" The quartet instantly perked up, shining huge grins and posing in their characters jutsu stance. I watched one particular fan girl with neon cat ears and head-to-toe glitter, that couldn't have been older than sixteen, hug Naruto and announce "27" loudly. She then turned to Sakura, gave her a hug and said "28", second Naruto "29" and Sasuke with a huge grim on her face "30". She then giggled as loudly as she had declared her numbers and turned to run towards the direction she came from. I was completely blown away. After receiving incorrect directions to the Marriott and taking a 45 minute detour, I knew I was finally in the right place - Nan Desu Kan 2008!

What is Nan Desu Kan?

Excellent question! Twelve years ago a group of Otaku fans decided Denver needed an anime convention of their own. With that idea, Nan Desu Kan was born. Since then the convention has grown to become the largest in the Rocky Mountain region. With their love for anime being the foremost reason people flock to this event, Japanese culture and the Otaku community keep the crowds returning each year. The three main elements that fuse to make NDK what it is are the event, the visuals and the community. This article will cover the events.

The Events

NDK is a jammed packed weekend, starting at 4:00pm on Friday and not ending until 7:00pm on Sunday. The convention can seem overwhelming at first, so I highly recommend scouring the lobby for a Program and Video Schedule. You can find these nifty items at the registration tables. The main events this year included famous guest speakers like Steve Bennett, Steve Yun, Tommy Yune, Kara Edwards, Vic Mignogna, and more. For the full list you can go to this AC article.

Art plays a large role at NDK and includes a mix of mangas, animes, video game design, costumes and much more. This year NDK was offering a large variety of art classes. The classes included airbrushing demos, AMV editing, cosplay makeup, keyblading and prop making, BJD (ball jointed doll) fashion trends, 2D and 3D art, J-Fashion, cel painting, comic creating, and an art auction. I was lucky to walk into the Artist Alley before the auction ended and left the convention with one of a kind origami earrings and original artwork, all for under $50.

My favorite part of NDK was the 52-hours of anime non-stop! Woo hoo! This year Vic Mignogna spoke to a crowded room about his new voice acting role as Tamaki in Ouran Host Club. He told of his obsession with the series, and his passion to perfect the role. As a NDK special, the first dubbed episode was shown to an eager group of Tamaki and Haruhi fans. Now, up until this event, I have always hated dubbed animes. Once you get use to a characters original Japanese voice, it is hard to convert happily over to an American accent. I was a skeptic of Vic's raw talent, but I must say, he actually pulled it off. The dubbed first episode of Ouran Host Club was a success! The first episode should be release to the public this October 2008.

One of the most popular events in NDK is the costume contest and cosplay competition on Saturday night. We arrived in line at 6:00pm, a full hour before the competition began. A Staff member walked by us and clicked 416!

"Wait, there are 415 people in front of me?"

"Oh, don't worry. The Rocky Mountain Event Center holds over 1,200 people" the clicker kindly announced to me before yelling in an authoritative way "Don't save seats! No seating room should be between you and the two people next to you. We need to squeeze everyone in."

Once inside, people past the time by making shadow puppets with their hands. One puppet was a bird, one was a monster who ate the bird, one put a heart over the bird, one was a hand grabbing a water bottle on stage and twisting off the cap - it was amusing to the masses trying to pass the time, including me. I was laughing hysterically.

When the costume contest started, it was apparent within the fist couple minutes what the rules were. First year people, the beginners, started the show, followed by intermediate (second year) and ending with the masters (three or more years). It was interesting to watch the levels of costumes change in each division, from basic cloth costumes to in-depth intricate works of art. The final costumes (masters) completely blew my mind. One person dressed like a giant robot from Gundam. Another dressed as the dragon from Final Fantasy X and actually looked like she has stepped out of the video game. When the show was over, audience members got to vote for their favorite costume.

While the votes were being tallied up, the cosplay show began. For all of you that don't know, cosplay is short for costume play. Cosplayers are people who dress up in often elaborate costumes, dressing like a specific anime character. One or more people will dress in full costume, act like their characters and perform a full skit for an audience. The cosplays at NDK this year were all very funny. Even the ones based off of animes or video games that I had never seen were still very amusing.

Unfortunately my nephew, Honey from Ouran Host Club, was tired from our exciting day at NDK and was falling asleep in his chair. So, without further ado, we retired for the night and dreamed of what was to come on the last day of NDK, Sunday September 14^th.

Information

Nan Desu Kan http://www.ndkdenver.org/

Marriott DTC
4900 S Syracuse St
Denver, CO 80237

Next Year: September 11th, 12th and 13th, 2009

Check out these Nan Desu Kan 2008 pictures on Associated Content.