By Tanya Cook, Sept. 4th, 2018
Fans gathered in Denver over the weekend to celebrate all things Anime at the 22nd annual Nan Desu Kan, known as NDK. Technically, Anime is defined as animation from Japan or animation done the Japanese Anime style. Throughout Labor Day weekend, the Sheraton in Downtown Denver was filled with amazing cosplayers, gamers, and anime appreciators of all ages.
Programming kicked off on Friday evening with a burlesque show and a J-Pop dance party. Saturday’s highlights included the extremely popular Anime Music Video, or AMV, and cosplay competitions. The Anime Music Video (AMV) competition featured entries from editors who combined clips from one or more shows into a compelling video set to music. Check out last year’s comedy winner (warning for language). AMV submission categories included Upbeat, Romance/Drama, Action, Category X, and Comedy/Parody. Submissions reflected the amazing international diversity and included editors from Armenia, Chile, Australia, India, and Germany. Check NDKDenver over the next few days to see the winning videos.
One of the best parts of NDK is the Cosplay Competition. Moved up to Saturday at 4pm, it did not disappoint! Divisions included beginner, intermediate, advanced, and skit. The Skit competition featured groups performing short sketches in cosplay. This reporter’s personal favorite was The Animated Educators Convention which featured cosplayers as Aizawa Sensei from “My Hero Academia”, the big yellow teacher from Assassination Classroom, and Kakashi Sensei from Naruto performing an altered version of “Kids These Days” from “Bye Bye Birdie”. As a teacher who happens to love both anime and old musicals, well it was just about perfect.
A cosplay favorite
Amazing cosplay at NDK
Programming kicked off on Friday evening with a burlesque show and a J-Pop dance party. Saturday’s highlights included the extremely popular Anime Music Video, or AMV, and cosplay competitions. The Anime Music Video (AMV) competition featured entries from editors who combined clips from one or more shows into a compelling video set to music. Check out last year’s comedy winner (warning for language). AMV submission categories included Upbeat, Romance/Drama, Action, Category X, and Comedy/Parody. Submissions reflected the amazing international diversity and included editors from Armenia, Chile, Australia, India, and Germany. Check NDKDenver over the next few days to see the winning videos.
One of the best parts of NDK is the Cosplay Competition. Moved up to Saturday at 4pm, it did not disappoint! Divisions included beginner, intermediate, advanced, and skit. The Skit competition featured groups performing short sketches in cosplay. This reporter’s personal favorite was The Animated Educators Convention which featured cosplayers as Aizawa Sensei from “My Hero Academia”, the big yellow teacher from Assassination Classroom, and Kakashi Sensei from Naruto performing an altered version of “Kids These Days” from “Bye Bye Birdie”. As a teacher who happens to love both anime and old musicals, well it was just about perfect.
Animated Educators Skit – Kakashi Sensei from Naruto and the teacher from Assassination Classroom.
Other unique events at NDK included tabletop gaming, cosplay improv games, an amazing vendor’s room, and over 36 hours of special anime screenings. Panels covered topics as diverse as Anime’s Red Light District, how Avatar and Korra parallel Eastern Asian History, Strong Female Characters, and Cosplay tips and techniques.
Proceeds from this year’s auction benefited Love Planet, a charity founded by voice actors Lex Lang and Sandy Fox who were both celebrity guests this year at NDK. Love Planet works to educate the public about the importance of conservation and environmental issues using a variety of media. Check out some of the amazing auction items pictured below.
NDK returns next year. This reporter is off to get her Sailor Moon cosplay plans going and marathon more of My Hero Academia. We’ll see you there!
Tanya Cook is a sociology professor at the Community College of Aurora. Her current research project “Always Keep (Nerd) Fighting,” explores fandom-based charity work and activism. When she’s not teaching or writing, Tanya enjoys learning new cosplay skills and playing Settlers of Catan with her children.