Hoping to find parking we left for the hotel earlier on Friday than we have in past years and still ended up having to park in the overflow parking.  At least they gave deals if you parked over the whole weekend, but man it was still packed.  We ended up having to park ourselves in the hotel lobby for awhile to wait for our room to finish up so we took pictures and took in the beginning Friday madness.  I know that NDK hasn't hit the max level of attendance yet, even with the attendance cap in place, but man was it crazy packed!  It seems that every year it's harder to navigate through the crowds of people.  It's mostly due to some attendees not understanding the meaning of traffic flow and pulling off the main areas to stop and take pictures or chat. 

Panels were extremely popular.  I say this in the fact that I, ZeldaQueen, have been attending since 2000 and remember just being able to walk in on some panels without having to line up and wait to get in.  Now there are so many attendees interested in panels that some will line up an hour or two before it starts to get in, and this is not just for the popular panels such as the AMVs or the Costume Contest.  While the waiting can't be helped due to limited seating in the panel rooms, it's encouraging to see so many people interested in the panels.  These looks behind the industry or discussions of it is what makes me interested in returning every year and we hope to keep covering more and more panels in the conventions to come. 

The number of guests was also great this year.  There were two guests from Japan and about 14 domestic guests.  It's great to see that NDK is one of those conventions that guests want to and like to come.  Some guests were new to NDK and the Denver area and some were coming back for another round.  Their enthusiasm and general appreciation for the attendees was heartwarming.  These were guests who enjoyed what they did and enjoyed sharing it everyone in their panels and just wandering the halls.  Though NDK is reinforcing the whole "you might be from Colorado" bit by introducing many of the guests to Casa Bonita.  Have no idea what this is other than a crazy Colorado tradition it seems, check out the place here.  I apologize on behalf of all Coloradans who think that this is still an appropriate place to take visiting guests.  We have much better food and entertainment than that I swear!

Artist's Alley seemed bigger this year.  Maybe it was the same number of booths, but the configuration was different so it made it seem as if a few more artists were there compared to last year.  Apparently the artists also reported having a better year than some years past, which is also good to hear.  There are some really amazing people there and they need the attendees support to keep creating excellent art!  Trust me I speak from experience.  A friend of mine from art school has been having her own booth in Artist's Alley for a few years now.  She does original artwork, comics and commissions.  It's great to see original art and not just fan art so I'm always glad to see that she was there for another year!  Her original online comic is called Devil's Cake and I recommend everyone to follow that link to give it a read!

I missed another late night show however as I ended up getting a bit worn down due to sleep depravation and not following my own rule of eating properly.  Had my meals, but had them a little too late.  I will do better next year and recommend everyone do the same.  Eat your meals and eat them at proper times and make sure you drink plenty of water.  These will make your convention experience better!

We have also posted our keeper images from this year's NDK.  You can check out the photos under our Photos Tab on the right hand side of the page, or by following this handy link here.  Keep tuned to our page for more information and news from NDK 2011, and until then Game On!

Overall, this series feels very much like Next with a similar balance of comedy, action, and drama.  Certainly, this is a worthy heir to The Slayers dynasty and I heartily recommend it.  For those who have not previous watched any Slayers series, I would recommend at least watching Revolution.  However, all of The Slayers is available on Netflix streaming, so you might as well watch the whole thing. 

So jumping right in, this story focuses on one Natsuru Senō.  He is given a stuffed animal from the EntrailNatsuru Transformation Ending Animals series (think stuffed toys that in some way committed suicide or died horribly) by the love of his life, Kaede Sakura.  Turns out the new "toy" is actually a messenger for the Moderators (ooohhhh, spooky and ominous).  As the owner of this messenger Natsuru is turned into a Kämpher.  This includes the wonderful accessory of a blue bracelet, and it also turns him into a girl.  What?  Kämphers must be girls.  It is somewhere in the rules, they are sure of it.  So now we have a boy who turns into a girl and gets the ability to throw fire. Natsuru must fight red Kämphers lest he be killed himself.  At this point it seems like it can be a cool anime. Ah the misgivings of the uninformed mind.

Yahuhiro Imagawa Q&A at NDK 2010 from Assimilator on Vimeo.

Best Video Game Video
Castor Troy - Resident Evil 5 Reloaded

Best Action Video
Radical Yue - Pierce the Heavens (No Link)

Best Drama Video
Nessephanie - Ceasefire

Best Comedy Video
YTMND AMV : Fad of Princely Caliber

Editor's Choice Best of Show
Moonlight Soldier - The Friend Request

Judge's Choice Best of Show
Ileia - Rah Hey!

Category X and Viewer's Choice Best of Show
Kitsuner w/ Ileia - Blame it on the Anime (No Link)

Let's give these people a round of applause and remember to thank them for the time they put in these videos.  They are truly masters of what they do.