All about Denver's Amine Convention, Nan Desu Kan. (Sept 12th-14th 2008) I copied over my blog since I've been posting my cosplay from it. You can see the blog with pictures here.
[link] So the plan was to load my mom's van up and then have her drop off our stuff with Amanda & Kyle at four. We wanted to get there at noon to hangout early. Dawn, Shaun, & I didn't actually get there til 3 though. We learned from Wasabi to be as prepared as possible. We did get allot done mind you, but Shaun and I both had procrastinated. Dawn was on top of things. I will make sure Friday morning for Wasabi I won't have anything to do. I am glad I got everything I needed to be done though, including the splicer for Amanda to be a little sister. Damon, Shaun's roommate, decided last minute to come up with us for Friday. Damon and Dawn got along pretty nicely it seemed.
We really didn't miss out on much. Part of the reason why I wanted to go up early is to make sure we got twin beds instead of one king size. Originally we were going to split our Hotel room four ways with Dawn, Shaun, Amanda and myself. Kyle, Keith, & Carter all joined in though, which turned out great. Everyone in my room got along pretty nicely. I wouldn't have any problem sharing a room at Wasabi with the same friends. Though I know if I don't get Kyle into more anime I think he may only go one day. When I reserved the room it said it was going to be able $180 for both nights but it came out to like $220 so the extra people splitting the cost was also a good thing.
I almost panicked when I was told there was a $50 deposit for each night. The website didn't mention that and I knew I didn't have that much on my card. The hotel clerk was nice enough to waive it though. We were also lucky enough to get the last twin bed room. We got our badges and checked out the hotel room. By that time it was already four. I headed down to the Smash Bros Photoshoot and took pictures. It was the only photo shoot I felt like just taking pictures of.
We walked around and waited for Amanda & Kyle to arrive. When they did it sure was a bitch getting that stuff up to the room. I knew with the extra cost of the hotel room I didn't have any extra cash to blow in the dealer's room so I did a pretty good job avoiding it all weekend. Amanda had started the weekend off in a pretty bad mood,, because though I asked my mom ahead of time to drop our luggage off she decided to give my brothers rides too though I bet they didn't give her gas money. I was glad Amanda was satisfied with the Splicer I made and how I made her dress look stained with "blood" so she could be a Little Sister.
After finally straightening my messed up hair I got impatient waiting for Amanda to get ready. I walked around with just Shaun for a little while. Then I remember him leaving for some reason and just looking at my phone thinking who to call. I called Alex she was up in her hotel. I called Lyn to meet up with her but she wasn't where she said she was. I thought to myself damn this sure in the hell won't be like last year where I was alone allot. I knew so many people there and that made me so much happier then last.
I wanted to give Dawn, Kyle & Amanda a tour of the hotel like where the different rooms were. It sure in the hell would have helped me last year if I knew where things were. I met up with Kyle & Amanda. I called Dawn a few times to try to get her back for my tour but she was busy with a panel. We walked around and I gave them a tour. We hit up some Halo in the video game room. It made me realize I'd suck at the tournaments since I couldn't be as close to the screen as I wanted to. So I didn't actually participate in any of the tournaments. I was glad to see a bunch of people were able to identify Amanda as a Little Sister in the video game room.
We met up with Shaun. He was trying to get people to identify him as a Reaper from The World Ends With You. We went to a panel called Game Turkey. It was supposed to about the worst video games. Shaun & Amanda wanted to go to see if they would get recognized. It ended up being fat geeks talking about bad retro games no one heard of. We left quickly and took pictures instead. I've learned if you absolutely want pictures of yourself it's best to take them yourself. I got a few of me posing against other gun wielders. I only liked this one against Irvine from Final Fantasy 8. It was kind of funny how we were both crossplaying.
We checked out The Slants and J-Pop and just as I thought they sucked. Dawn & I started a Caramell Dansen dance line. It got so big we left it and the end touched the start to form a circle. The rest of the night we walked around until we crashed for the night. I woke up the earliest so I could be ready for the Katekyo Hitman REBORN! Photo shoot. I had decided last minute to dress up as one of the characters from it just for the photo shoot. I looked pretty good. The other cosplayers from the series seemed like fun. It was nice event though I had only dressed up as Reborn for two hours a few people called me Reborn for the rest of the weekend.
I will definitely be cosplaying someone from that series in the future. Afterwards I went on a quest to find someone to cut my hair so I could be Kyoya. We found Christina. After a quick trip to the dealer's room, so she could see a picture of the character, she cut it. She did a better job than I thought she would have. We were lucky to find the last of the characters we needed to form the entire Host Club group.
Originally I wanted to go the Anime Music Videos Contest. I love how everyone always cheers for their favorite creators, series, songs, etc. Plus they show them on huge screens so it's easy to see them. Everyone seemed to be ready for our Host Club so instead we started walking around together. When we were together every ten steps we took we got asked for a picture. We could barely move around. After awhile of it we ran away and went for some comer coffee.
I had bought Shaun a Clannad patch for Sunday's Cosplay. Though usually smaller things I don't mind him paying me back but when I bought it only two were available. I could have given it to Amanda so I had him buy us coffee. I don't remember what I had, something with chocolate chips, but It was so good. Hanging around as Host Club was definitely a highlight of the con for me. I'm glad Moofy & Jeanette joined us and I think they felt it was worth it. We even had Catlin Glass the director of the English dub and voice of Haruhi stop us for a picture. It's on the official Funimation website right now.
We had to head up to the room though to prep for Improv. I had a meeting with Shaun & Carter and went over my notes with them. I gathered everything I needed for it and headed to the room where voice actor Vic Mignogna was doing a Q&A session. It was one of the few panels I was looking forward to. We didn't get there in time for a good seat though. I was with Amanda, Jyle, & Keith. I don't think Amanda liked it so she left. Kyle looked bored. It was nice when Vic recognized me as Kyoya and the room cheered. I left it a little early to meet my Improv team outside. There was already a crowd forming at the doors. I went over some things and tried to get ideas for scenes and games.
When we finally got in we had to kick people out and keep those wanting in out. The Q&A went a little longer then it should have. I felt a bit stressed out and hot all of a sudden. I said okay fuck this tell them we will go on at 6:20. I think Improv turned out great. The room we got kind of sucked because though it let people see easily sound carried very badly. I was really happy Dawn, Keith, & Kyle got to see it. I think they enjoyed it. The guessing games kind of fell apart. The people we pulled weren't all to great at guessing games. I didn't even hand out the good prize I was going to because no one did good. I really liked those two games and to see them get ruined mad me a bit upset. We missed a few great games trying to redo the guessing games.
I was worried about not filling the time but that was really never an issue. One big thing for next time will be crowd control. We had some great highlights and definitely some things we will work .. Improv I just wanted to relax. So I went straight for the hotel room. After relaxing and eating I told everyone they should put their stuff in a pile and clean up so tomorrow we wouldn't have too much to worry about. Amanda & I walked around as Renge & Kyoya for awhile. Keith, Kyle, & Shaun went to get our drinks for our little room party. I guess Keith didn't really want to be the buyer. I didn't want him to feel pressured too. I usually always find someone to buy. That and Kyle going into the liquor store made them not sell to Keith. So I got my usual source. We were all paranoid about them catching us and kicking us out, but that didn't even come close to happening. Kyle joined us and we walked around and took some pictures.
We checked out the Rave where we met up with Alex. We had our own little circle for awhile. It was nice to see Jenny join us for a little while. She didn't seem too upset I didn't let her be a part of Improv. Amanda & I were going to try and see Carter at Karaoke but I lost my phone so I had to go find it. Soon after talking to a few people we headed up to the room to drink. At first it didn't seem like anyone wanted to though I knew Alex & Kyle did. When they started and Shaun & Carter joined in that's when it got fun. I got drunk pretty easily. Then Amanda said something which made Alex get mad and in her face. I had Alex calm down and the night continued. Drinking with friends Saturday night was definitely another highlight. ^_^
Sunday we dressed up as Clannad characters. I had to see the reshowing of the Anime Music Videos. We were late though. We still got a front row seat. Then we went back to the room where we packed up and started moving things downstairs. It sucked because only one elevator was working. We eventually started using the stairs. I walked around a bit with just Amanda. We took our Ouran costumes to Carter's car where we would switch for the Ouran High School Host Club premiere. We were going to meet the group early to get some more attention but we ended up being late. It was good they held our spots in line. The room didn't empty going from one panel to the next.
We were near the front of the line yet we didn't get a seat. We ended up sitting on the floor in the front. Vic Mignogna & Caitlin Glass answered questions and talked about the show. Well they have amazing voices I don't think either was suited for the characters. It was exciting to see Ouran in English for it's first time though the fans screaming got annoying quickly. We switched back to Clannad. Amanda got mad at me. I walked around with just Shaun for awhile, found Amanda with Dawn, cheered Amanda up and then after walking around we met up with Shaun, Dawn, & Kyle. Around then we saw Keith for the last time at NDK. We got pictures together. We hung around in the main events room or awhile and then decided to go o Wendy's. We got our Nekozawa Mike and some other friendly guy to come.
I remember eating with people I hardly knew at Wendys last year. I kind of felt left out as they told their own inside stories. This year I didn't feel left out. I was surrounded by great friends. I felt as though I was creating my own con group. I've noticed even if I just barely talk to people here and there like people from Wasabi they come back and remember me and from there I can get the chance to get to know them. I had a bunch of people I knew from Wasabi come up to me. After coming back from Wendys we said goodbye to Carter and headed to the closing ceremony. It was the first time we had seen one. After haning out for a bit we had a big group hug and headed out the door. NDK 08 was over.
All My NDK Pictures -
[link]NDK Fourm Picture Links -
[link]Shout Outs
Amanda - Though you got emotionally and let yourself get upset easily. I still tried to be there as most i could for your first con. I hope we get to go to another together and do some hawt cosplay together.
Shaun - Though you left me for old friends i guess that was to be expected. I'm glad you were by my side from Improv to walking around to getting wasted. I know you'll be by my side for future cons.
Kyle - Though your anime knowledge is lacking you even surprised me by making it at all. You always seem to make things fun though. So sorry i dragged you to some things that weren't so much fun. I will try to get you into more anime so I can make at least one con day in the future more enjoyable for you.
Dawn - Originally I thought I'd have to bug you to hangout with me. Really I was too busy to even do that. I tried my best on Sunday. My best memory with you at NDK was started that dance line Friday night. I can tell your a wonderful person so it's sad to know a year from now you won't even be in the same state.So i really hope i can get you for one more con and at this smaller one it would be hard not to be near you.
Keith - So I really didn't know what to expect from you at first. You turned out to be a great person to share a room with and hangout with. I could imagine us hanging out if you didn't live so far away.
Carter - If you didn't share a room with us I would have seen allot less of you so I am glad we did. I am also glad you joined us on Saturday night. Thanks so much of being a big help with Improv.
Kat - I really appreciate you lending your talent to our group. Your an amazing actress and a very funny person.
Moofy - You helped with Imporv and joined us for Host Club. Your laid back personality is great to be around. So i hope you can cosplay with us again sometime and continue to be apart of SHOE.
Jeanette - I'm really glad i found you to be our Haruhi and join us for Improv. I can see you being around for our next con.
Lyn - I already felt bad enough for dropping out of doing Hell Girl. I tried to hangout with you when i had the chance but you ran off. I hope you weren't mad at me. You were after all the first to stick around after my first NDK.
Alex – I'm glad we hungout at the rave and Saturday night. It was fun. I always like getting pictures with friends so I was happy to get some with you.
Christina – You did an amazing job cutting my hair and I really appreciate you doing that last minute.
Raven - I got to see you at NDK and you looked great.
Jenny - I was surprise you joined our circle at the rave, made me happy though.
Emily – It was nice to randomly see you and get hugs. ^_^
Rach –Wow I didn't see you enough. Having fun at Wasabi's rave wanted me to hangout with you more. Maybe next Wasabi?
Tasha – I always like seeing you and saying hi.
Christine (Hayate) – It was awesome we found each other. I can tell you would make an awesome friend with how every time you saw me you would come up to me and talk to me. So I hope I get the chance to hangout with you a bunch at Wasabi.
Nogard – I remember having great conversation with you at Wasabi so it was nice to see you and say hi.
DJ – You had some great Cosplay. I wish I got to hangout with you some. You seem to be pretty popular at NDK.
Ryan - You've always been a pretty cool guy. Now that I know you drink we'll have to drink together.
Jo – One of my Wasabi buddies, It's good I didn't miss you at NDK.
Tasha (Kaoru), Alex (Hikaru) – Wow we were lucky to find you. Everytime someone mentioned our group they complemented our twins. So ya your going to be our twins again at Wasabi.
Andrew (Mori) – We were glad to have you apart of the group
Mike (Nekozawa) – It's great we hungout on Sunday though I wish we had more with our Ouran group. You definitely need to be at wasabi.
Feature Frenzy
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