Nan Desu Kan 2013: Day Two

Written by:  John Edward Betancourt 

Sometimes it seems like the whole world is against a con.  That despite the joy we all take in wandering the halls, there are forces out there conspiring to ruin that good time.  Such was the case on Saturday at Nan Desu Kan.  

For as the convention reached its peak hours, the always unsettling noise of a fire alarm forced a break in the action, if only for a little while.  But it didn't take much time after that for mother nature to settle in and flex her muscles to the crowd when a Tornado Watch arrived along with ominous clouds.  

But did that stop this hearty crowd from enjoying their annual dose of Anime?  Absolutely not.  

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Instead of letting a false fire alarm and weather get the better of the event, the halls of NDK remained packed for hours on end.  It was in fact a sea of human beings that was a challenge and thrill to navigate.  I was not able to find any place in the hotel that could provide peace and quiet and that's not necessarily a bad thing.  

After all, we come to a con for the thrill, and there is no greater thrill than seeing a convention filled to the brim with people.  It was exhausting in the right kind of way.  In fact I saw something that I honestly don't see at other conventions, groups of people finding whatever corner they could and simply taking a little time to relax and chill and hang out.  

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But despite the wild events and need for relaxation and rest while at the convention.  There is one great event that towers over all conventions on a Saturday...the costume contest.  NDK handles their contest in two phases, individual and group and we here at Girls of Geek managed to hang around for the first half of the contest. 

I have to say, that NDK's costume contest feels different than any other convention I've ever attended.  I would tell you it was related to the crowd since main events was filled to capacity, but I think a sold out crowd is the minimum expectation for a costume contest.  

No, what caught me by surprise was how damn good the costumes were through and through. This con splits their contestants into Beginner, Intermediate and Master like so many other conventions, but the quality of each skill level was well...above and beyond.  I saw beginners that should have been in the master category and master costumes that should be filmed. It was pretty awesome to say the least.  

But the costume contest is always bittersweet, for it signals the beginning of the end.  Once we all leave Main Events to settle in for either evening activities or head to our rooms or home, we know that tomorrow is the last day of the con and well, I don't know anyone who is happy about that.  

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