What good times were had...

NDK 2011 has come and gone but, when trying to recollect what happened this year, the memories are still pretty fresh on the mind.

One thing I will have you know about this year's edition of NDK was that it was the 15th anniversary of our con. Very impressive! And we (NDKers, as well as the con itself) have come a long way...

I remember when I first heard about this anime convention, it was 1999 and I was living in Westminster, Colorado at the time. Back then, you had to send payment for pre-reg away to California as registration was being handled there. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make the con that year and I didn't actually make my NDK debut until 2002. As it was the first NDK after 9/11, it had a pretty large crowd as the 2001 NDK was deeply affected by the tragedies on the east-coast. Quite a few guests weren't able to make it that year but, in 2002, we had a gang of guests...As it was my first anime convention, I pretty much surveyed the situation to see the sights and to get my footing.

Flash forward 10 years to Nan Desu Kan 2011 the 15th anniversary...what a fun trip it has been, overall. Sure, there are some things about this con that are pretty frustrating to me but, all in all, I still enjoy it.

For this year, we (the OtaKrew) didn't spend as much time at the bar as we did last year. Saved a lot of money that way so that we could actually pick up some neat items in the dealer's room.

With Harmony Gold (Robotech peeps) back in the house for their 4th straight year, you just know that I went to any and all panels Robotech-related. We even got Zormaster to come on down for dinner with the Robotech crew on Saturday night right after their panel. (He missed last year's NDK due to a scheduling conflict) After finding him a pass (shhhh), ZM was able to enjoy the con with us for Saturday night and for Sunday. Saturday night saw my return as a judge on the "Robot Rumble" panel(from my view on the panel)
...it was also cool because one of the other judges on the panel actually reads this blog! How cool is that?

Below is just a sampling of the cosplay that I was able to snag pics of. I have a lot more that I may post throughout the rest of the year.

Below is an OtaKrewer who cosplayed as Bonta-kun from "Full Metal Panic" on Saturday night...

He was VERY popular...

Good times Bonta-kun, good times...

Below is an OtaKrewer with one of this year's Japanese guests...

This is Ryusei Nakao who is known as the voice actor for Frieza and Cooler from Dragonball Z. He has also done voice acting for Bleach (Mayuri Kurotsuchi), Armitage III (Rene) and Weiss Kreuz (Farfarello) among others...

As I said above, this was a very fun con. While there were some panels that I really wanted to see, I went to several that I was pleased with. "Olde Tyme Anime" (brought to us by the good folks at "Gimme Anime") was a blast like usual. Too bad I missed the other panels that they produced "Nan Desu Video" and "Mystery Anime Theater" which featured Tekken: The Movie...I heard it was craptacular (which is actually good in this case). I also missed the panel that I suggested a few years ago "NDK Late Night". Bummer...It was at the same time as "Robot Rumble"...

With the amount of fun that I had this year, I look forward to what the future brings for Nan Desu Kan.

Does it really have to end???

So, with NDK09 having come and gone, I am reminded of two MAJOR rules that I have concerning my con.

1. ALWAYS get a room at the con hotel. For whatever reason this year, I didn't keep my hotel reservation and I deeply regret the decision. Having the ability to come and go as I please is the main reason to have a room in the first place. Me going home between 2am and 6am only to come back for a 10am panel is ridiculous. Never again.
and...
2. ALWAYS take the week post-NDK as a vacation. I always tend to find myself feeling down (the post-con blues) following the convention. It usually starts immediately following closing ceremonies while I am walking to my car as my mind will go over the events of the weekend and I will get sad. That's why I like to have the week after NDK off so that I don't have to worry about...work.

As has become the custom for OtaKrew over the past three years, we rolled up to the Denver Tech Center (DTC) Marriott on Thursday. We do this so that we can let our hair downand kick it with the con guests before the craziness starts. Think of it as the calm before the storm. The bar happens to be our meeting place so, it was pretty neat when they asked us to come up with some names for some con-specific drinks. There was a red drink (Asuka Meltdown), blue (Perfect Blue), Pink (Honey Flash), Green (Jupiter Thunderclap) and orange (Orange Road). My personal favs were the Jupiter Thunderclap and the Honey Flash.

On Friday, the Dealer's Room was the place to be and it was PACKED!!! I did find the Revoltech Yoko from Gurren Lagann that I was looking for. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything from Queen's Blade that I liked. Later on that evening, we went to a panel presented by Roger from Gimme Anime (buffalostyle's official anime store) called "Old Time Anime". It was excellent as usual since Roger always shows something that I have never seen before. The only bad thing was that I missed two other panels that I was interested in going to,"The Death of the Anime Industry" and "Anime Girl Fight" presented by Steve Yun from Robotech.com/Harmony Gold. As we were poised to see the "Mystery Anime Theater" coming up next, we were asked to leave the room and get in line with the masses that had gathered while we were inside watching Roger's panel. I can see where they were going with this but it was kind of unfair since many of the people in the room left. I guess that I could have stayed if I really wanted to (I'm sure Roger would have let us stay) but, we decided to go to the bar for some more late-night...celebrating.Saturday started out pretty early for me as the plan was the see the "30 Years of Gundam" panel. It was a hard choice for me as we also had an NDK premiere of the "Case Closed 3" movie. In the end, I guess I was meant to see the movie as the panel was at standing room capacity in no time. No prob. Case Closed, here I come....and it was VERY good!!! Next up came the "Robotech: Past, Present and Future" panel presented by Tommy Yune (with an assist from Steve Yun). It was a blast!!! Got my first look at the Masterpiece Collection (MPC) Beta Fighter. Let me just say that I...AM...IN...LOVE!!! (I seem to fall in love with mecha alot, eh?)
Looks like I am going to have to pick up more of the MPC's afterall (from Robotech.com, of course). We were set to go to the Robot Rumble (Steve's awesome panel/gameshow)
again but, karaoke (and our good friend, Chris) came calling. It was a blast as I got to be a judge this year. Didn't leave until 5:30am. (Again, I will definately have a room from now on)

The last day of con started with me nursing a slight....hangover.. as I made it to the "Robotech Free for all". A couple of people were wondering where we were the previous evening as we said we would make the "Rumble". Once they saw how I looked and when I said the words "karaoke" and "judging", they understood. Both Tommy Yune and Steve Yun were a joy to be around and it was good to see the local Robotech-ites again.

Honestly, we need to do a better job of keeping in touch. Seeing Zormaster's toys (and Collector's panel) was a lot of fun for me. While I do own quite a bit of Robotech merchandise, my collection is nowhere NEAR Zormaster's level.

So, seeing how much fun that I packed into a four day convention, can you understand how I experience post-con sadness? While some of the Krew have written off the con due to it's size and the overabundance of younger fans, I still enjoy my time there. In fact, I look forward to being a part of NDK for years to come.


DECULTURE!!!