Denver area anime fans celebrated the 20th anniversary of NDK (Nan Desu Kan) Labor Day Weekend Sep. 1-3, 2017. The Sheraton Downtown Denver hosted the event with plenty of space to roam, mingle, snap photos, and to keep tabs on all of those Nintendo Street Passes. Many made new friends waiting in the autograph lines for celebrities such as Sumi Shimamoto, Sumi Shimamoto, Dante Basco, Leah Clark, Clarine Harp, Kyle Hebert, Lauren Landa, Jason Marsden, Ian Sincalir, Erik Kimerer, and more. Attendees enjoyed panels, video rooms, and impressive varieties of gaming. There was even an event called the AMV’s Anime Music Video awards named the Auskas (the play off the Oscars) that awarded submissions from all around the world.
To some, NDK is a family reunion where friends from all over the Rocky Mountain area gather once a year to cosplay and catch up. What started out with a little under 100 people back in 1997 has exploded to about 30,000 a year and is by far the largest in 13 surrounding states, excluding Texas. The huge popularity of anime in the United States came about by fans back in the early 1980’s. Clubs were formed and friends were made as they chained VCR’s together in order to record the Japanese TV shows and films off old Beta and VHS tapes. It was basically an underground network of tape-trading until licensing finally hit the US with shows like “Speed Racer,” “Sailor Moon,” and “Robotech.”
Artists and dealers were plentiful and the fans came home with hard to find treasures. Cameras and phones were never tucked away as the cosplay was stunning. The beauty displayed attendees’ love, passion, and incredible craftsmanship. There was even a Nan Desu Kan museum curated by Guy Davis, the Director of History and Archiving. Here displayed original programs, passes, and old photos back to the beginning and fans and original staff members such as Chris Murdock hang out and swap memories.
