Geek Babble- Nan Desu Kan 2021

I never really went to conventions with poor reputations just to see how bad they actually were.  With so many conventions out there, my time is more than occupied just trying to attend conventions that have good or unknown reputations.  With conventions, you have one chance to impress me, and it only takes one poor experience to leave a bad taste in my mouth.  Even if my friends were insistent on attending a convention with a poor reputation, I don’t let peer pressure get to me, and in return, I don’t pressure my friends to attend a convention they dislike.  Nan Desu Kan previously held my distinction for being ranked as the worst anime convention I had ever attended (See Review Here) with absolutely no redeeming features whatsoever.  A cramped dealers room, horrible photoshoot arrangement, high costs, and overall lack of enthusiasm amongst the attendees all combined to mark the convention as a complete dud.  However, it is because of this poor reputation that made it the perfect convention to attend for this year.

 

See, unless you have been in a coma for the last 18 to 24 months, you probably are aware of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has caused almost every single convention to undergo a hiatus of 1 to 2 years.  Even now, with conventions starting back up again, not everyone is looking to jump back into the game immediately.  I had decided to start off slow, forgoing the first wave of conventions in August to see whether there were any problems such as unruly attendees, inadequate COVID-19 prevention policies, or even worse, a potential COVID-19 outbreak which would cause conventions to start getting cancelled again.  Thus, it makes perfect sense to attend a low-commitment convention, where spending less time at said convention would not result in me shedding copious amounts of tears, where costs can be kept to a minimum, and one where cancellation would not evoke massive sighs.  Nan Desu Kan already had the worst reputation amongst all the conventions I had attended, so its cancellation would have meant an extra half day I got to spend with friends.  However, the convention had done two things that gave me a sense of optimism even before I paid $45 for my one-day Saturday pass:  move their venue to a newly built resort-style hotel called the Gaylord near Denver Airport, and reduced their room prices to $176 per night versus around $200 per night in years past.

 

Now I will disclaim that one can only do so much by attending a convention for a few hours, though I did want to know whether attendees were practicing good COVID-prevention measures and how had COVID affected the convention experience as a whole.  Upon arriving at the convention venue, the change in mood was pretty apparent.  While there was a slight buzz in the air, the attendees’ enthusiasm was muted and most folks were just slowly milling about.  Shouting?  Running around?  Loud music?  Nope.  Not here.  At least the staff members’ enthusiasm and penchant for running an organized convention was shown when I picked up my badge, where there was no wait at all.  However, for some unknown reason, two of my friends had received badges for Saturday and Sunday, whilst another friend and myself had received a Saturday-only badge, despite everyone having purchased a Saturday-only badge.  While masks were required for nearly all attendees, a vaccination requirement was not implemented, and thus no vaccination card check was performed.

 

 

For entrance into the now-combined dealers room and artist alley, a scan of one’s badge is now required, but at least now there is more than enough space to accommodate both attractions.  Both the dealers room and the artists alley had an excellent variety of items for sale, and now includes wide avenues where one can easily move around without the risk of crashing into other booths.  However, one thing I did notice whilst perusing both places is that folks have brought back merchandise from older series popular about a decade or two ago such as “Bleach.”  This was also reflected in the variety of cosplays present as well, where in addition to “Bleach,” there were also several cosplayers from “Soul Eater” and circa early-90s “Power Rangers.”  A harken back to the old days?  Pulling out old cosplays because folks were not making new ones?  I honestly couldn’t say for certain, but it is certainly welcome over conventions where folks only focus on cosplays and merchandise from the newest series.  Physical contact amongst cosplayers?  Maybe when a group photo was taken but otherwise no.  Social distancing?  It was practiced wherever possible, at least, though wideish hallways and a huge open area outdoors certainly helped, and staff did a great job at lining attendees up for events and panels.  What was disappointing, however, was the programming itself, in that panels did not start up until 5:00 PM on Friday evening, and there were only 4 panel rooms and 2 activity rooms (think arts-and-crafts activities) available in addition to the main auditorium.  The majority of panels were quite bland, centering on things like “anime in general” or “cosplay in general” or “video games in general” rather than specific franchises, and there was a lack of panel programming focusing on more modern series.  “My Hero Academia?”  Nope, not even that was present, and unfortunately one of the few panels which my friend had wished to attend was cancelled.

 

While Nan Desu Kan did have photoshoots in the past, I did not find any evidence that there were photoshoots this year.  Promotional pictures posted up on the website did show the new venue was fantastic, with great areas to do private photoshoots using mockup Western-themed props.  However, while the convention center was relatively easy to navigate and reasonably sized for Nan Desu Kan, the hotel itself that was right next door felt cluttered with the mockup props and landscaping, leading to a confusing layout inside upon first impressions.  Now, I am sure that one can eventually get oriented, but make sure to do a thorough walkthrough after checking in and diving into the convention experience.  However, no matter where one turns in the venue, there will be some sort of food.  In addition to the options available at the hotel itself, there was both an indoor concessions area with an enormous dining room and several food trucks outside.  However, while there are also plenty of restaurants nearby, the only feasible option is to call for rideshare, as the Gaylord, though close to the airport, is otherwise very isolated, surrounded by open fields and a nearby interstate.  One big issue that became apparent on Saturday afternoon is the venue’s severe lack of parking, causing attendees to instead park on the streets of a nearby residential neighborhood.  Oh, and when I say “nearby,” it is relative.  Think walking distances of at least half a mile, and even then, the neighborhood streets were jam-packed, whether it was due to a lack of hotel parking or from folks wanting to avoid a $26 daily parking fee.

 

Like I previously said, spending a few hours at Nan Desu Kan may not have provided the most thorough of experiences.  However, it was enough for me to get an idea of the convention environment in the era of COVID and how to approach attending future conventions.  Overall, the experience was not too big of a problem, and I never felt uncomfortable with the behavior of the other attendees in regards to COVID-related practices, though this may be different depending on the culture and attendee demographic of each individual convention, along with how much space there is for the number of attendees at said convention.  As for Nan Desu Kan itself, it was previously ranked rock-bottom, but not anymore.  The Gaylord was a much better improvement over the old venue, allowing for more space, a fancier interior, and best of all, a lower price than before.  The staff themselves were very organized, with a certain level of enthusiasm amongst them, though how much of this was due to being able to host a convention again is an unknown.  The dealers room and artists alley also have much better room arrangements, and plenty of room to grow.  However, all is not perfect.  The programming needs a significant amount of improvement, and photoshoots need to be advertised much more heavily.  The convention also needs some sort of solution for the lack of parking, because it will only be a matter of time before the nearby residents lodge complaints at the convention.  But overall, attending Nan Desu Kan 2021 answered the questions I wanted answered, and the convention made a much better case for itself on why one should attend.  Will I attend again?  Perhaps.  It’s not the best convention, but no longer is it the worst and one that attendees should actively avoid.  Do I feel it is safe enough to go to large conventions again?  I still have my doubts and will still exercise caution, but my concerns are at least somewhat alleviated in seeing how the attendees are acting, at least at this convention.  It’ll still be a while before my enthusiasm goes back up again, but at least we’re heading in the right direction.