The Last NDK 2012 Post

I know it isn't Halloween related. Though, there are costumes involved, so, maybe it's not too bad.

I promise that this will be my absolute LAST post for NDK 2012!

Here is one more video my friend made-an uncut video of our wonderful Katamari train around NDK. I wanted to share it because it is fun and entertaining.

Uncut NDK Footage

Thought: how do you think trick-or-treaters would respond if I opened the door to them in my Katamari costume? Hmm...

Short NDK Follow-up

My friend with the video blog finished his last NDK video, and it is cool so I wanted to share it. For those of my readers who are curious, this is a small taste of what NDK is like. He got some great shots.

RAW: NDK (Nan Desu Kan)

Something that I don't think I shared was the meaning of the name of the convention, Nan Desu Kan. So Nan Desu Kan (Pronounced like Nan Des Con) is sort of a play on the Japanese phrase "Nan desu ka?" meaning roughly "What is it?" Kan is the Japanese-ified word for Con (short for "convention"). So basically, "What is Con?" I always think it is funny, anyways...

And one more video that I wanted to share because it is my all time favorite AMV. I believe it won an award at NDK many, many years ago. I am not sure what for or if the categories were the same then as they are now (I am pretty sure they are not). Please forgive the quality: it is an older video and I downloaded it many years ago. Plus, I am not sure the video application agrees well with Blogger. So here it is:

My absolute favorite part is the fight scene with Saito. Saito is a favorite of mine, both in the series as well as the real Saito Hajime in history that he is loosely based on. This video always makes me happy :)

And I could not find it on YouTube or even on the editors page without downloading it, so here is their page and their page for this particular video:
Main Page: Laser Chicken
Information Page for Rurouni Kenshin - Butterfly

Final Cosplay Results for NDK 2012

While my Jareth costume did not happen even remotely, here are the results for both Kurama costumes and our Katamari cosplay.

Costume number one: Shuiichi Kurama:

The girl standing next to me is cosplaying as Botan from the same anime.

Compared to this:

(Side note, those twisty-things around his ankles and wrists are not part of the outfit, they are part of a power his opponent was using in the scene, which I would not have used if I could find a better full body picture of this outfit. It is also hard to tell that the cuffs and collar are dark blue.)

Thoughts: I love this outfit of Shuiichi Kurama's. Almost no one knew who I was because Shuiichi Kurama has two, arguably three, more popular outfits. I have never seen anyone else wear this particular outfit. Even doing a Google search turned up no others like this Also, the wig was awful! I couldn't get it right, so I just did the best with what I had. If I ever bring back this outfit I will commission a new wig. The one I made (sadly) belongs in the trash. I had to hot glue parts of it, which means it cannot be taken out and re-done better. The hot glue happened because I was running out of time and options. I don't really recommend hot gluing your wigs.

Costume number two: Yoko Kurama:

(Also, forgive my weak poses and half-smiles. I am a cosplayer, not an actress... And I am sad that my tail cannot be seen in this photo.)
Compared to this:

Thoughts: This one was much more of a hit. My one main problem was the ears slipped if I looked down. Otherwise I liked it very much.

Costume number three: June from Katamari (plus my friends as the King, Prince, and other various cousins):

Notes on making our costumes: We made the cardboard frames and wrapped those in quilt batting. I believe that we all used some interfacing (I did because mine is white and I didn't want everyone to see through the cloth and such) and sewed the cloth like a pillow case which could be slipped on. Due to the irregular shape, they had to be hand sewn shut. I left a hole for my head to go through, but my friends, being wiser, did not and cut it afterwards (which made the case fit better). The linings around faces and edges are hemmed and hot glued on. The cones and balls for the antennae are foam. The cones are covered in yellow cloth and the balls are painted and we hot glued them on last. The faces were made with a cross-stitch mesh covered with two layers of a chiffon dyed a flesh color. The eyes, noses, and mouths are felt that we did together for consistency and are hot glued on. For my dress I used a pattern made for me by Cat and the gloves I winged and did not do a good job on. Tights were purchased and I painted old white shoes to match the rest.

Compared to:

Thoughts: I LOVED this cosplay! It was fun and we were a big hit! Unfortunately it is hard to see much unless there is a lot of light (which there usually wasn't) so we didn't always know when people were taking pictures or finished taking pictures unless someone told us. It was a little hard to hear. We had the King and other friends herd us around the hotel in a big linked chain, stopping occasionally for pictures. Also, it gets very hot inside those heads! But totally worth it! Even after spending about 10-11 hours painting all those circles (yes, 10-11 hours for the whole head and dress-just for circle painting, though I worked 12 hours total including putting the lining on the head and making the gloves) was worth it.

Ending Notes: Wearing so much white at NDK was sort of rough. It is not the cleanest of places and it is hard to keep them white. I got some makeup on my Shuiichi costume and a little drop of chocolate on Yoko's tail (not sure how, but that's OK). Something to keep in mind for the future and for those thinking about white costumes.

For next year we are talking about doing a large Ghibli cosplay! I hope this one pans out because I would love to be Nausicaa! Have to plan these things in advance you know!

Nausicaa

Nan Desu Kan 2012

I have been going to Nan Desu Kan (aka NDK) for about 10 years now (wow, crazy) with many of my close friends.

This year we were talking about how much has changed.

When most of us first started going, we were in 8th or 9th grade and it was held in a building out by the airport. We couldn't even drive yet. Our parents dropped us off in the morning and picked us up at night. We didn't sleep much, hardly ate (no food within walking distance), and were always running around giddily. Many of our inside jokes started here. We spent nearly all our time in the game room because it was usually pretty empty and we could sit and talk and play Apples to Apples to our hearts' content. There weren't a lot of rules. "Will yaoi/yuri for Pocky" signs everywhere, people carrying and making odd jokes about paddles. "Glomping" was when someone ran up to you and gave you an abrupt, crushing hug, usually without warning so any personal space you had was not there for the weekend (and you just had to accept that). There were more games and events to participate in (like Anime Olympics). If you got too bored, there were always a couple of viewing rooms where they showed (usually dubbed) animes. Scott McNeil used to come almost every year. I remember when he stopped, there were petitions all along the walls that said "Save our Ma(Scott)." He hasn't returned since, which is sad because he was always a favorite. I have his autograph and a picture with him. He read and talked to me. I saw some of his shows with other voice actors and he was always so dramatic and funny. (I mostly know and love him for the roles of Duo from Gundam Wing and Kouga from Inu Yasha, even though I generally hate watching dubbed anime.

On that note, I want to share my treasured Scott McNeil stuff:

With Scott McNeil, 9/20/2002 (WOW! 2002?!?!)

I know it is difficult to see, but this is the cover of the second Gundam Wing Manga. It says "Samara 'I may run and hide... but I never tell a lie.' Scott McNeil <3" (Yes, there is a heart :) ). And he read page 62 to me (I know because that is where I keep the photograph) and it is Duo (duh) saying: "Piloting a Gundam has special meaning. Am I right Deathscythe? You don't qualify to pilot Gundam unless you're prepared to self-destruct! I wonder how Heero's doing.." <3

These days, NDK is held at the DTC Marriott. We stay there or drive home. We have easier access to food. Parents now accompany kids and pre-teens instead of dropping them off (and some of them are probably shocked by the antics that the societies socially awkward kids get up to). There are rules against everything above: no paddles, no yaoi/yuri references, no glomping. I wouldn't be caught DEAD in the gaming room (now that technology has taken over it is always packed). There are insane numbers of people and fewer events to participate in. There are more panels to attend and the cosplay contest and AMV (Anime Music Video) contest are popular as ever. If there are viewing rooms for animes, I do not know where they are. (As a side note, this video won Drama/Romance — Best use of emotion and feeling this year, and I loved it, so here is a link: Creating Something Beautiful by siny)

This all sounds very negative, but it isn't entirely. The positives: I have lots of friends to attend with and we all love to dress up and make costumes. Also handy for big group cosplays, like our Katamari one (see my next blog post). We are old enough to drink so we usually begin Saturday morning with mimosas and end evenings with beers. It makes for great conversation and a laid back atmosphere. By staying at the hotel we don't have to stress as much and with atrium rooms, we have a GREAT spot to people watch. Some people have incredible costumes, which is fun. I think we are in a great position to have a good time (once we are finished stressing over last-minute costume preparations).

Also, one of my friends, Wyatt, has a video blog, often with another lovely friend, Eli. Here are a couple of links to the special NDK videos they made. The second one is especially good because you get a pretty good taste of what NDK is like (and they filmed it on the atrium balcony, which is awesome--you can see where we liked to be). The second also mentions a couple of interesting sites to use if you are an anime/cosplay fan.

Video one: RAW: NDK! The First Night!
Video two: Brain Cheese: ALL TEH ANIME!!

Also, here is the main NDK website:  http://ndkdenver.org/