Nan Desu Kan

Japanese Guest Announcement

Submitted by Jinnie on August 30, 2010 at 5:04 PM

We're pleased to introduce Japanese guest Yasuhiro Imagawa. A director and screenwriter known for his groundbreaking, unconventional approach, he is best known for creating the classic, steampunk-inspired series Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still. You may also recognize him as Chief Director of Mobile Fighter G Gundam.

He will be doing panels and signing autographs throughout the weekend.

Announcing our final domestic guest

Submitted by Jinnie on August 23, 2010 at 11:04 PM

We're proud to announce our final domestic Guest: Barbara Goodson. This is the fourth convention she's attended in her lengthy career, and we are honored to host her and all of our Guests.

Our full domestic Guest roster for 2010 is:

Voice Actors

Wendy Powell: Fullmetal Alchemist as Envy, Negima!? as Misora Kasuga
Chris Patton: Fullmetal Alchemist as Greed, Full Metal Panic! as Sousuke Sagara
Cristina Vee: Rozen Maiden: Träumend as Kanaria, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha as Nanoha Takamachi, AIKa R-16: Virgin Mission as Aika Sumeragi
Chris Cason: Fullmetal Alchemist as Gluttony, Hetalia-Axis Powers as Holy Roman Empire, Dragonball Z as Tien Shinhan and Mr. Popo
Patrick Seitz: Hellsing as Luke Valentine, Hetalia-Axis Powers as Germany, Monster as Grimmer, World of Warcraft as Arthas Menethil and Garrosh Hellscream
Richard Ian Cox: Inuyasha as Inuyasha, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 as Allelujah Haptism, Ranma ½ as Ranma Saotome (Boy-Type)
Rebecca Forstadt (Reba West): Robotech as Lynn Minmei, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex as Tachikoma, Tenchi in Tokyo and Tenchi Movie 2 and 3 as Mihoshi
Jerry Jewell: Hetalia-Axis Powers as Russia, Kodocha as Akito Hayama, Fruits Basket as Kyo Sohma
Christopher Bevins: Hetalia-Axis Powers as Japan, Aquarion as Apollo, Romeo x Juliet as Mercutio.
Barbara Goodson: Pazu in Castle in the Sky, Marie Crystal and Sera in Robotech, Doris in Vampire Hunter D, Naota in FLCL, Mitsune Konno in Love Hina and Coda in Eureka Seven

Musical

echostream
Plus, Kazha will be making a special appearance!

Industry

Kevin McKeever, Steve Yun, and Tommy Yune (Robotech Convention Tour)

And stay tuned, Japanese guest news will be coming soon!

NDK 2010 Crazy-Small Update

Submitted by Jinnie on August 23, 2010 at 1:19 AM

As the convention continues to rapidly approach, you're going to see multiple general information posts. To get those started, here's a short one.

Introducing the Atrium Balcony Decorating Contest

Each year, we look forward to admiring the creativity shown by the attendees who decorate their atrium balcony rooms for all to see. This year, inspired by StarFest's contest, we thought we'd reward you for that effort. You could win a free hotel room, as well as badges for both NDK 2011 and this year's NDK NYE Ball! Please see the guidelines and general tips for more information. Happy decorating!

Hotels

Speaking of the hotel, still need a room for NDK? The Marriott sold out in June (as has another nearby hotel), but we've made arrangements with three close-by hotels to bring you special NDK attendee rates. Book a room as soon as possible, they're filling up fast everywhere!

Charity Auction

NDK is a registered 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, and we consider it both a duty and an honor to have the ability to assist charities that aid and strengthen those in need. We're sure you're aware of the devastation in the Gulf region, and we have multiple staff members who were affected, or had family that was affected.

As a result, we've selected the United Way Gulf Recovery Fund as our assisted charity this year. Please see this page for more information and how to donate items for the auction. Thank you for your generosity.

Guest announcements, round 3!

Submitted by Jinnie on August 12, 2010 at 11:50 PM

We're very excited with our Voice Actor lineup this year! From returning family members to fresh new faces, we have something for every anime fan.

In addition to our previously announced guests, we'd also like to welcome:

Rebecca Forstadt (aka Reba West)—first convention since 2005!
Christopher Bevins
Jerry Jewell

In addition, Tommy Yune and Kevin McKeever will join previously announced Steve Yun with the Robotech Convention Tour, marking the first time since 2005 a convention outside of CA has hosted the entire Robotech staff. A fitting way to celebrate 25 years!

We're not done yet! More announcements to come.

Big deadlines approaching fast!

Submitted by Greg Hines on August 4, 2010 at 1:11 AM

Nan Desu Kan is quietly sneaking up on all of us. We're less than six weeks away from NDK 2010 and that means some important deadlines are coming up very soon:

Sunday, August 15 is the last day to pre-register for NDK. After that, the only way to register will be at the door, where the price will go up to $50. This deadline applies to both online registration and mail-in registration. And because we require that all mail-in registrations be postmarked by the 15th, you'll need to drop it in the mail before it's collected on Saturday the 14th. We won't accept any mail-in registrations postmarked after the 15th. (Yes, Monday the 16th is too late!)

August 15 is also the deadline for proposing a panel. If you want to run a panel at NDK, you need to submit your idea no later than the 15th. If you've already completed one step of the process but haven't completed the rest, you'll need to submit the next step by that date as well. (The final step for each panel must be completed by the 22nd to be considered for scheduling.)

Keep an eye out for the Costume Contest and Cosplay Contest entry forms on August 15. They're first-come, first-served, so be sure to get your entries in early. The forms will appear at noon on that day and we'll accept submissions until we have enough entries for the contest and waiting list. (Just submitting an entry doesn't guarantee participation!) So be sure to read the contest rules, get your costume information ready, and make sure you have your script and audio file ready if you're entering the Cosplay Contest.

Sunday, August 22 is the last day to submit an AMV. We've already received a lot of great entries, but we know that a lot of you like to spend as much time as you can polishing them up. But don't delay too long. Keep in mind that it might take a long while to upload your AMV, depending on your connection speed. (Our server can handle very fast uploads, so your upload speed should be the limiting factor.) To ensure your submission goes through without a hitch—and to give you enough time in case something happens during your upload—we recommend submitting them a day early... just in case.

And finally, we're now accepting registrations for press outlets. The deadline for press registration is September 1. Please see our press section for instructions on how to register as a press outlet.

Hyatt Regency discount available for NDK attendees

Submitted by Greg Hines on July 29, 2010 at 12:09 PM

For those of you that still need a hotel room for Nan Desu Kan, the Hyatt Regency—one of the Marriott's neighbor hotels—is now offering a special discounted rate for NDK attendees. Rooms start at just $89/night for a king or double room with no additional charge for each extra person (up to four people). Just use their online reservation system to reserve a room for NDK weekend to take advantage of this fantastic offer.

Second round of guest announcements!

Submitted by Jinnie on July 18, 2010 at 11:52 PM

We're excited to announce even more guests for this year (and there's still much more news to come!).

The following voice actors (castmates in the upcoming Hetalia-Axis Powers!) will be appearing at NDK 2010:

Patrick Seitz
Chris Cason

In addition, Steve Yun and Tommy Yune with The 2010 Robotech Convention Tour will be joining us to celebrate Robotech's 25th Anniversary.

They will join Cristina Vee, Wendy Powell and Chris Patton, as well as bands echostream and Kazha, and other guests still be to announced!

Edit 7/20/10: voice actor Richard Ian Cox (Inuyasha, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Ranma ½) will also appear!

The Marriott is sold out!

Submitted by Jinnie on June 17, 2010 at 12:26 PM

Just like last year, the hotel has sold out even earlier than before! We're excited that so many of you have already made arrangements to join us for NDK 2010. Still need to book a room? There are other hotels in the area with some available, but we recommend you reserve a room as soon as you can. Here's a list of nearby hotels:

Please note: The hotels are listed by their proximity to the Marriott DTC in descending order. The Hilton Garden Inn is literally across the street and the Homestead Studio Suites are a 1/2 mile walk under the highway.

Catch a sneak peek of Kazha!

Submitted by Jinnie on June 16, 2010 at 7:14 PM

Want to see a preview of Kazha's special appearance at NDK this year? They'll be performing Tuesday, June 22 in Boulder; this is the last date of their debut US tour.

Tickets are only $8! ($10 at the door)

For tickets contact:
The Rock N Soul Cafe
5290 Arapahoe Ave., Ste I
Boulder, Colorado 80303
303-443-5108

Kazuha Oda, Kazha’s namesake and founder, created the band in December 2008 after a successful solo career in which she released four albums in Japan and worked with pianist Bob James. Kazha features Hideki Matsushige on guitar, Yota Sato on bass and Rui Aranai on drums. From Kazuha's study of classical music and career in pop to Hideki's love of rock and fusion, as well as Yota's experience in electric and metal and Rui's admiration of R&B and jazz, their eclectic backgrounds create a fusion of cultures and musical viewpoints.

In July 2009, the band returned to their native Japan to record their first album and tour the country. Following the Sept. 30, release of the first EP, “Breathe Through Your Dreams”, on major Japanese label Victor Entertainment, the band launched their Asian tour in Nov. 2009. Kazha played some of the biggest music festivals in Japan and Korea, including Metal Goddess in Japan and Fire Rock Festival at Sangsangmadang Concert Hall, produced by major labels in Korea.

Kazha will open for echostream at NDK 2010's Friday night concert.

AMV submissions for NDK 2010 now open

Submitted by Greg Hines on May 22, 2010 at 9:23 AM

Preparation for NDK 2010 is in full swing, and our AMV Contest is a big part of that. We've got some big changes planned for this year that we're excited about. We'll show once again why our AMV Contest is widely considered to be one of the best in the country.

But for there to even be an AMV contest, we need you to submit your entries to us! This year we've got a new way for you to submit your AMVs: using our new online submission form (JavaScript required). The form has fields to collect all the information we need about your AMV, so please include all the detail you can. If you have multiple AMVs to submit, please fill out the form once for each of them.

Before you submit your AMVs to us, though, please be sure to read the rules. If you're an old hat at this, the rules may be pretty familiar to you. But for new editors especially, it's important to read through and follow the rules to ensure that your AMV isn't rejected.

The deadline for submitting your entries is midnight on August 22.