NDK 2012: Day 2

Saturday, the day I wanted to be everywhere and meet everyone but sadly I could not have my wish granted. It was so busy, in fact it was so busy the the convention sold out! NDK hit it’s cap of 7,500 attendees before noon! And speaking of packed the schedule for us was super loaded this year and we had many unexpected speed bumps along the way. We still had a great time overall, but we were unable to make many photo shoots this year. We visited with some big name guests, and went to some amazing events. I still can’t believe how busy it was.

So just how does press start day 2, well early we woke up around 6:30 and got ready for the press meeting at 8:00, which in the past was our breakfast sadly this year there were some mistakes made and we went hungry, which is especially bad for me. So we left the press briefing and headed back to our room for some food, then we rushed to our first interview. And it was a big one, with a guest from Japan.

Interview with Masao Maruyama

This interview went well, we learned a lot about the man the myth the legend, and his history with anime. This interview was a shared interview, and we were juked at the start of the interview. Masao mentioned during opening ceremony that he loves Colorado for it’s beautiful landscape, it’s air, and it’s food. He went as far to say that visiting Colorado is like visiting a meat Festival. Needless to say we asked him about it, and he answered with a big smile. He also talked about music and anime and his new studio.  Overall this interview was fun, and very interesting and we will be posting a joint effort video of the interview with our brother site Gaijin Sun. This of course will come on a later date. Hopefully Soon

Train Wreck in Motion

Our next Interview sadly had to be canceled  the guest had gone rogue and could not be located in time. (Update – Guest was roaming Denver and forgot about his interviews.)  This tied us up for an hour, again we waited and yet again another no show, this being the third of the weekend so far, it grand totals to about 4 whom either changed or moved and or no showed; And it continues to get worse in terms of scheduling. We had scheduled another guest 30 minutes later after Masao and it got moved to Sunday, and we were never updated. Again we spent time waiting and again another no show. We’ve wasted the entire morning on just 1 interview 🙁 ya that’s a not so happy face. At least is was a good one, and we might have a shot with an optional interview if it works out.

Wendy’s Yo!

We headed back to our room and some of the staff went to Wendy’s for lunch, where it was crazy busy. I had to spend my time figuring out what we were heading to next and getting caught up with writing and photo processing. A staff member linked me this after he went to Wendy’s, said “The place was ballen yo!” This slowly became our theme for the weekend.

Well Moving on to the next event, the AMV contest, a good chance to see the crowd, meet the editors, and take in some amazing anime music videos.

AMV contest

AMVs are a great thing for current fans of anime and newly converted fans alike and it is one of the most anticipated events at any convention we attend. Its a phenomenon that seems to grow and get bigger every year — expanding to include a whopping 17 different countries! – Yudothat

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Honestly one of the best AMV contests in the country, I’m not kidding or boding about that statement. I’ve been to tons of cons all over the States and I’ve talked with other convention coordinators and many of them are envious of NDK! A great variety of shows, songs and selections, felt fresh, and with the exception of 1 tech bug everything went down smoothly.Check out the winning videos at our post HERE we also listed all the entries featured and tossed in the overflows as well.

C&C Contest

As always, we shot and covered the entire contest, and yes we did spend a good amount of time working the photos for everyone to enjoy. Covering this event eats about 5 hours worth of time, six battery cells, 2 memory cards and a huge amount of energy. I shot around 500 photos total, edited down to around 200 photos. Don’t forget about the hours of sorting, processing, editing, tagging and uploading. The costume and cosplay contest is always a ton of fun and is always challenging to cover, even for press, we don’t have front row access, or a very good angle so we get by with what we get. It was a good contest, with plenty of amazing costumes and some really entertaining skits. What else can I say, check out the photos and list below.

SEE OUR GALLERY HERE

Specialty Awards

• Video Game Award: Madaline R. as Nephtis from Zone of Enders: The Second Runner
• George Robbert’s Traditional Award: Frederick M. III as Sakata no Kintoki a historical Japanese figure

Craftsmanship Judge Awards

• Christina: Kimberly L. as Yuuko Ichihara from xxxHolic and Ruben F. III as Watanuki Kimihiro from xxxHolic
• Kimu: Drew M. as Seth Nightroad from Trinity Blood
• Storm: Madaline R. as Nephtis from Zone of Enders: The Second Runner

Area Head & Director Awards

• Katie (Cosplay Area Head): Samantha C. as Princess Shoukei from Twelve Kingdoms
• Jeremy (Director): Emma O. as Princess Kraehe from Princess Tutu
• Audience Favorite: Brad B. as Guru-guru or Song of Storms guy from Zelda Ocarina of Time

Beginner Category

• 1st place Craftsmanship: Michael A. as Riku from Kingdom Hearts 2 & Samantha S. as Kairi from Kingdom Hearts 2
• 1st place Performance: Brad B. as Guru-guru or Song of Storms guy from Zelda Ocarina of Time
• 1st place Beginner: Arielle S as Eruruu from Utawarerumono

Intermediate Category

• 1st place Craftsmanship: Barbara D. as Articuno from Pokemon
• 1st place Performance: Melissa D. as Diva from Blood+
• 1st place Intermediate: Emma O. as Princess Kraehe from Princess Tutu

Master Category

• 1st place Craftsmanship: Cheri A. as Kitsune from Japanese Mythology
• 1st place Performance: Melissa S. as Nia Teppelin from Gurren Lagann & Christian L. as Simon from Gurren Lagann
• 1st place Master: Maya L. as Clow Reed from Card Captor Sakura

Cosplay Category

• 1st place Craftsmanship: Paopu Guardians – Julie L. as Alyssa Zaidelle from FFXIII-2 & Kayla P. as Hope Estheim from FFXIII-2
• 1st place Performance: Ever Free Cosplay – Shareece T. as Autumn Kitsune from Japanese Mythology and Tyna R as Winter Kitsune from Japanese Mythology
• 1st place Cosplay: East Blue Cosplay – Lauren S. as Rasiel from Dantalin no Shoka, Emma O. as Flamberge from Dantalin no Shoka, Madison W. as Lady of the Library from Dantalin no Shoka & Steve M. as Huey Anthony from Dantalin no Shoka

Best of Show: Felix as Mello from Death Note

Panel: How to Lose the Otaku Stereotype

This panel was put on by our brother site http://www.gaijinsun.com

Late Night Panel: Hentai Rules!

I did not visit this panel, but from my expert ground report it sounded like a hoot. The line wrapped the upper balcony, and the room filled very quickly. Sadly the panel did not go off without a hitch, the laptop that had the presentation had gone south, and so the presenter had to act out and describe things hard to describe with words. My resident hentai expert said that the panel went over the history of hentai, it’s rumored origins and it’s growth and fan base over the years. They talked about trends, industry, big smut vs little smut, censorship laws, and boundaries. From what I was told it turned out to be a fun little panel.

Day 2 Concluding Thoughts

Day 2 was a fun day overall I had fun but I was so exhausted that I had to pack it in early this year. No rave or late night party for me this year. Reflecting back over the day, I had fun, man it busy as hell, and I wish our schedule had run smoothly. Had I not been sick I think things would have gone better. You can’t always predict what guests and events do, and I think next year we will plan on less interviews or bigger crew because I feel like I could have covered more convention but was stuck in interview limbo. Day 3 and check out will come shorty.