Nan Desu Kan Day 1 Discussion
/Hello anime fans! Over the next few days I'll be posting some discussion of what I did and what I saw at NDK 2018, day by day. This is going up a lot later than originally planned due to having a busy personal life and, simply, wanting to spend my few hours outside of work or volunteering having fun for me. But here it is now, discussion about what I did during Day 1 of NDK this year.
Let’s start out with opening ceremonies, our opportunity to get to know the convention staff and guests for the year. Everyone is always so excited to start out a new convention; the energy in the room is infectious. Are you excited? I know I am!
Later that evening I attended panels with Keiko and Megumi Han, a mother and daughter who both work as voice actors. Keiko is probably best known in America for her work in Sailor Moon as Luna and Queen Beryl. If you prefer subtitled anime, you might know Megumi as the voice of Gon Freecss in Hunter x Hunter and Rinko Yamato in My Love Story. The photo below is the end of the giant game of rock, paper, scissors that the audience played against her (as Gon). The panel was equal parts fun and touching, with Keiko and Megumi talking about how their familial and professional relationships have developed over time.
Next was the Sailor Moon voice acting panel featuring Lauren Landa (Sailor Venus), Sandy Fox (Chibi-usa), and Cherami Leigh (Sailor Neptune) (pictured below, left to right). They talked about the differnces between the original anime and Crystal, favorite characters and villains, working on older properties and on characters that have been voiced by other people before. Towards the end of the panel they told the story of how they learned who else had been cast in the show, backstage at Anime Expo. The casting was kept a secret even from other members of the cast until a few moments before it was publicly announced. I’m honestly surprised that the production crew kept everything under wraps for so long.
My last stop on Friday night was the Burlesque Show hosted by Queen D (pictured below). I attended the show last year, and had a great time. I think the burlesque was even better this year. If you have a chance to see Queen D and her friends perform, you should definitely go for it.
And that was the end of my Friday. After the burlesque, I drove home, had some late night dinner, and crashed in my bed, looking forward to more fun the next day.