Akai Panda Cosplay (25/04/2009 @ Da Sein): Part 1- Curses, Notes & Kagebunshin

It’s late, it’s been far too long in the making, but… iiiiiit’s here! First off I apologize to everyone, Akai Panda and the cosplayers most of all, for taking so long in preparing this series of posts. There don’t seem to be enough hours in the day, days in the week and so on and so forth, for me to do ALL the things I want, as well as those I MUST and the past few days have been especially busy; not to mention f@&ed up beyond all recognition (hereon known as FUBAR). But enough babbling…

Remember how I always say I have a trouble with time, always arriving where I should be, either way too early or (usually) late? Well, I didn’t think that this cosmic ability would rub off on those around me, especially when the schedule is not up to me: I was wrong. The idea was, Tomodachi and I would go together to Camus’s home (another place of the “There Be Dragons” variety for me, since it’s in an area I have ventured towards… maybe thrice in my whole life), where Tomodachi would transform into Jigoku Shoujo’s Enma Ai, some last details of the party would be taken care of and then *pouf* we would head for Da Sein. Well, it DID kind of work out that way, only we reached Da Sein around 21:00-21:30 and Camus was in a state of near nervous breakdown, looong before that. At any rate, the events prior to our arrival at the party will be covered in a different post but for information’s sake, it was at Camus’s house that Cassiel (who had come all the way from Salonika, along with Ritsuka, Lily from Crete and Dark Seraphim) and I first met up close, after having talked so much over the net, for his Cosplay Hall of Fame project.

To her amazing credit, Camus had to manage last minute details of the party, get Tomodachi ready, help Cassiel transform into Tuxedo Mask (Sailor Moon) and Dark Seraphim into Sagara Sanosuke (Rurounin Kenshin), as well as get this whole circus ensemble to a metro station safely (as I said, Dragons…). At any rate, we somehow made it to the station and then downtown, although we got separated since Camus had to bring Jiraiya over from Panepistimio Station and Tomodachi couldn’t really walk the streets of Athens in traditional Japanese shoes. Ten, maybe fifteen minutes after 21:00 (I believe), we had reached our destination and were greeted by the amazing sight of Da Sein being already nearly full, with cosplays abounding. Namida was at the decks and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely.

However, as it turned out, that first sight was nowhere near as impressive as what Akai Panda’s party turned out to be. I believe that pictures will speak overwhelmingly louder than words…

On arrival, we met Eri-chan as her latest Death Note incarnation…

…Melo, L’s first substitute! I swear, that girl…

…is trying to go through all the main cast!

(Yes, yes, except Near. Am I the only one who likes that guy?).

Incidentally, the burns on the face were made with water-based paint (courtesy of KOM) and the chocolate is real.

Moving on, we bumped into Flexxy as Rock Lee (Naruto)…

…who was preparing…

…to face Orochimaru (Estorial version)…

…not knowing that the villain was expecting company…

…in the form of a female (and more tentacled) Shadow-Clone, as well as Akatsuki’s Tobi!

Since things would get heated up soon, I decided to scram and go visit…

…the evening’s first DJ, Namida, who kicked off with a number of favorite anime classics.

Of course, Glastenen was not far, ready to take place when needed!

(Arigatou for the Weiss Kreuz song, doll!).

Continuing on my look around (not as easy as you might think, seeing as the place was packed with people)…

…I came upon Kameno Kotopoulo and her friend…

…the first of three Misas (a very popular character that night)…

…Vegetasmate being the second one.

Rock Lee and Orochimaru couldn’t take it outside…

…so they decided to resolve their differences on the dance floor!

A very commendable novelty of Akai Panda, were Didi as Sailor Moon…

…and Cassiel as Tuxedo Mask, tasked with giving the Lots / Cosplay Voting Cards at the entrance…

…as well as collecting them in a Totoro-shaped voting box, courtesy of Glastenen (more on that in the following posts).

If nothing else, they acted their parts beautifully and were even voted en masse…

…although they had been excluded from the procedure, as Akai Panda aides, to ensure clarity with the voting.

Imagine, this was what Da Sein looked like at just around 22:00…

…and as time wore on towards 23:00, people just kept pouring in!

Much to my delight, the new arrivals kept swelling the ranks of cosplayers.

Here, two gun-toting men: Ravente as Matt from Death Note, with Nabeshin from Excel Saga.

Melo: “Matt’s OK, Afro-Head is OK, why is SHE coming near me?” *chomp*

Seeing as the stairs I was standing on, to take this picture,…

…seemed to be the only available space after a while, I decided to head out…

…passing by Azuma Kazuma (Yakitate! Japan) and her fresh-baked bread (yum).

Right outside, Android 17 was itching for a fight (hey, don’t punch the photographer!)…

…as well as most of the Death Note delegation.

Now, I know it was a warm and very crowded night but…

…it seems to me, this picture will prompt ol’ Zauk to say another inspired line such as “L with boobs”.

George went with the safe choice of L…

…although his girlfriend makes for the second most successful Misa I have seen (the best ever was probably Christy).

However, I think that, cosplays aside, this is one Hell of a picture!

Misa: “Awww, look at them. I wanna hug too Meloooo…!”

“Gaaah! Get that woman off of me fer friggin’ chrissakes! I need more chocolate!”

Have you noticed those little black marks on some people, in the previous photos?

Well, as I was clicking away, Enma Ai offered easy and horribly paid for revenge to many, including Dante80.

Although temporarily troubled by having bargained away his soul…

…Dante quickly turned to the only solution: Tequila! (And saw to it that I too, was properly watered…)

“Ippen, shinde miru?” (Brrr… terribly in character!).

“Uketorinasai…”

“By accepting this doll, you enter a contract with me…” (Don’t I know it…).

Enma Ai: “Hito wo noroaba, ana futatsu…”

Deep, eerie voice: “Kono urami, kikitodoketai…!”

Ayami-chan has bartered her soul away for vengeance…

…and our little punk lolita seems awfully proud of it!

Many more wasted their chance at Heaven for the brief respite of vengeance…

…including Mai-chan and Kami…

…as well as Usagi Tsukino, who got a little too jealous of Sailor Venus. (The seal was courtesy of the ever resourceful Kyoshiro).

One of my favorite photos: “Young, naive and damned for all eternity!”

It is certain that Inu Yasha’s Kikkiyo (Megi-chan) did not approve, being herself a cursed Miko and all…

Glastenen: “Whaaaat? No waaay! You can’t be serious!” (Talking to oneself is a sure sign of dementia…).

Camus: “What are you babbling about Speedy?” (Errr… never mind, nothing, nothing at all!).

After a very brief respite (hey there Katan, Kon – long time, no see)…

…and a bare minimum of random, good-mood photos…

…the next wave hit us like a Shinkansen, preceded by screams of elation…

…Jesse (Velvet Vortex) and James (Raziel), from Pokemon’s Team Rocket!!!

There was also Kairi (Niovi) from Kingdom Hearts, although…

…many people mistook her for Orihime (Bleach). Not that I blame them, mind you…

As if that weren’t enough, Misa Yoshiko showed up as Maka Alban (Soul Eater), who–

“It’s me, Mario…” “…and me, Luigi!”. (Well, um… the Mario Bros came into the spotlight and…)

(…all Hell broke loose!) Maka: “How dare you steal my glory?!” Luigi: “Quickly! Press P1 Continue!”

“Ta-taa-ta-taa-ta-tan”

After Mario saved Luigi and Maka was (kindly) restrained by her friends (hey there, Spitfire)…

…I turned my attention to a long unresolved mystery: who hides behind Tobi’s mask?

Agony, anticipation, revelation… “It’s me…!”

“Mario!!!” (Oh no, not again… I mean, seriously, the makers of Naruto MUST get their collective act together!).

Third round of surprises: an entire delegation of Visual Kei and Goth Lollies!

Believe me, those were not all! There were so many of them…

…that I could barely fit them in one photo, even in widescreen mode! (Here, Ioli and Demetra).

Anna-chan and Ioli, who was a bit hurtful, about not liking the pictures I took of her as Kanon Wakeshima (but no hard feelings – at least you came and spoke your mind to my face, unlike others).

“Pssst…! Don’t pay too much attention to what she says – she always whines!”

Thank you for the vote of confidence, Anna-chan. (A tear escapes the lens, unseen – just kidding; don’t take me TOO seriously!)

“Enough with women! This is a night for manly courage and perseverance!”

“See me Gai-sensei! Witness the bright fire of my youth!” (I swear, his doing this without breaking his neck, was award material in and of itself! Omedetou Flexxy!).

The night wore on, people kept condemning their souls (with a little help, eh, Thanh?)…

…started taking part in odd minglings…

…and Hero / Villain crossovers that Japanese companies are BOUND to make videogames out of! (Actually, I think this one has been done…).

Things felt… oddly black and white near Afro Samurai. “I say, kill ‘em all, let God sort them out!”

Ah, another face I have seldom seen in recent months, Keru-chan (wearing Sakurai erm… you get the idea)…

…here with the (also highly voted) Team Rocket.

Did you think it was over? Oh, no! The Fourth Coming (and 1st Prize Winner), Kankuro (Naruto).

The formerly called One Piece Troupe, came back with a vengeance (this word sure pops-up a lot, no?)…

…sporting Kankuro, Nerethil as Kabuto and Marilou as Haku (Anbu version)…

…and frankly, their cosplays were so good…

…that I am inclined to call them Naruto Troupe from now on, even though I hate the series.

There were so many and so well prepared Naruto cosplays that night…

…that the party may well have been Naruto-themed.

Kiba, two Tobis, three Orochimaru (one a Konoha Village version, not shown here), Kankuro, Kabuto, Haku, Rock Lee, Konan (also not shown here)…

…and probably some I now forget, but will get to them all in the next posts.

I mean (hey, where are you going?!), only Naruto ans Sasuke seemed to be missing…

…which is just as well, because they SUCK! Congrats everyone! We are very proud of you all!

Well, that’s 100 down, around 200 more to go. It has been exceedingly painful and hard for me to rule out almost any photo, but as I have explained, that is only a small part of the reason why it took me so long to start posting the party. Probably (hopefully) things will go more smoothly with the next two posts. Heartfelt congratulations to Akai Panda and to you all, both cosplayers and not, for making that amazing party all it was!

Do not forget, tomorrow KrizD and I join Tokyo Decadence’s DJ Khimaira at UNDERWORLD, for our Cyber Party. Hope to see all of you and good luck to those who have exams and can’t make it.

In earnest,

Speedgrapher