Friday the tenth, a day that came oh so quickly this year, and yet lasted what felt like an entire weekend. Check in this year was smooth, and badge pickup was mostly painless and much better than last year. I am happy that NDK is now going all digital with its registration system, saves trees and time. I also like that they setup tables for Press & Panels for check in and badge pickup, this year was well organized. I still feel that parking continues to be a thorn in the side of any convention NDK included, but at least for now most people know where they can park and avoid getting towed. And back is the free water to be found everywhere, this a luxury rarely found at any convention and certainly never found at mega cons.
Opening ceremony was good overall, it has been one long year since the NDK energy and spirit was set free to roam the convention center once more. I’m really happy with the guest line up and the events on the schedule this year. I’m hoping for a smooth and clean convention, Nan Desu Kan has yet to disappoint me in the 10+ years I’ve been attending so my hopes are high. I’m digging the musical talent this year I’m some what surprised with the selections but at the same time I’m pleased with it; but I will have to see them live on Saturday to really have something to say.
Yasuhiro Imagawa The man behind the Giant Robo animation lineage was an amazing guest and a very fun entertaining speaker. I’m very happy that NDK was able to add him to the all 
ready amazing line up of guests. This man is incredibly talented and his resume defines what it is to be a giant robot show, that is and very important to anime. I would like to see this guest return to NDK in the future.
During the day I stopped by the video game room and the DDR room to check out the scene, lots of competitive players this year and many a good brawls were in progress. Some of my buddies will be competing this year in BlazBlue and Street Fighter 4 looking forward to the results. The game selection and quality is fairly impressive and the variety of titles is amazing, I just wish I had more time to play a round or two. The Charity arcade classics are returning from last year and I hope they rack in plenty of quarters this year. If your nearby go throw down a few and support the locals.
No Convention crawl is complete without stopping by the dealers room. This years dealer room was almost exactly the same as last years, with only a few things changing position and new inventory. Plenty of good stuff to buy, lots of DVD’s and Blu-rays and a massive selection of Wall scrolls and collectibles. For this Friday the line was literally out the door and down the street, nearly a block buster, and that was just Pre-registered folks. I’m happy people are coming out to buy anime and related to anime stuff, with so many good shops closing up in Denver over the past year the only real option left is to buy anime at a Best Buy or Online. Overall the dealers room this year was solid, my one wish though is to see some new vendors in the coming years.
Cosplay has been wonderful this year and the variety of costumes on display this year has been refreshing. I am impressed that so many cosplayers came out full force on Friday, many in the past would only wear their costume on Saturday night for comfort reasons. Every time I visit a convention I always tilt my head when I see people in costume at local restaurants and roaming the various parking lots that surround the convention, It brings a smile to my face.
I made it to a few group photo shoots on Friday, I want to point out that the Vocaloid Photo shoot was very enjoyable, simply crazy but a blast to work with. I am looking forward to shooting that group again next year. Props to the NDK forums for organizing the shoot schedule and the Individuals who take control of the groups because without them it would be chaos.
The number of people who gather for these shoots ranged from 10 to 20 on average, and all the groups were mostly organized in one way or another. If anyone needs a friendly photographer who likes to shoot cosplay and portraits I’m a Colorado local – email me at chris-samaripa@animeroot.com
The Cosplay gallery for this year will be quite large judging by the amount of costumes I’ve seen so far, and the C&C should be interesting this year.
We the AnimeRoot people put on two panels this year, both hosted Friday night.
They are as follows:
2010: The Year We Save Anime : A look inside the anime industry. The anime industry here and abroad has had its fair share of problems in the last few years. Gain insight into what’s caused the recent trouble and learn what you can do to help turn things around. This panel is the Follow up to last years panel.
High Definition Anime: An insightful look at current trends in broadcasting and prevailing trends in higher than standard definition in the home and at the cinema. Anime of the Past present and future presented in amazing detail and depth. The technology driving High definition main stream and it what it means to the anime industry here and abroad examined and explained. 3D anime when will it happen or will it happen at all?! This panel is about the amazing process from film to hard drives and a glimpse of the future of Anime in the High Definition format. The intention of the panel is to educate and expose attendees to High definition anime in an engaging and fun way. This panel also aims to generate some questions and discussion about new and emerging trends and how they affect us all and our anime collections.
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