Sakura Syndrome 3rd Anniversary Birthday Party @ Da Sein

Well, well, well… Hello my good people. I have come out of the cave, after my long absence (though I am not quite out of the woods yet) and since I have very nearly finished the grueling work with which I was tasked over the past few weeks, I thought it would be a good idea to get back on track, one wheel at a time. Since I still do not have ALL the time in the world to post my usual, prolific reports, Sakura Syndrome’s Party (31st of January) seemed the perfect choice to begin. Before moving on, I want to thank all of you who have lent me their support over the net, whether as such, or in the form of things that made me laugh (near hysterically, might I add).

As any of you who were there remember, Sakura Syndrome’s party in Da Sein was great, in terms of music, videos, people and of course, first and foremost, fun. As befits the team’s perfectionist streak, videos and music were partnered in order to create a great audiovisual experience, as a whole. Whether J-Rock, J-Pop, Anime Music, Johnny’s Music (those make my skin creep, personally, but oh well…), as well as vintage J-Metal (Loudness Rule!!!!), everything was perfectly orchestrated. The program was segmented into kind of “separate chapters”, where a specific amount of time was spent on a specific genre (though not just one time around): the good thing was that the segments were balanced, so someone who came say, at 22:00-22:30 and stayed until  01:00 or 02:00, was bound to listen to variety of songs, to their specific taste. I, personally, need to congratulate them, out of the depths of my geek heart, for their “Otaku Segment”, which featured, not only classic favorites along with videos of the opening sequences, but also some hard to find oldies. Extra credit for having the proverbial balls to play Candy Candy (“Speedy you are a geek, geek, GEEEEEEK!”).

The secret band of the night were Blood Stain Child, who hail from Osaka and mix Visual Kei with Death Metal and Trance elements – Somnium gave us a downright freaky taste of them, hehehe.

Near the end of the party, after everything else had more or less played, the focus shifted to some current stuff being played in Japan, among which, another over-the-top band, Mamono, who are self-designated as “Horror Punk Metal” (their actual presentation took place at Sakura Syndrome’ s Horror Valentine Party) and feature the tiniest bass player I have ever seen.

But I have ranted long enough and I know what you crave (heavily featuring didi-doll and Ayami-chan). Onwards!

First thing I see upon entering: KrizD giving me the… eye!

Then, on to our lovely hostesses…

…Mona Risa and Somnium in Tenebris!

We saw many new faces on that night, although good and familiar company was not missing, such as…

…Flexxxy and Zauk, our two injured warrior geeks (good recuperation to you both)…

…Milk (and half of Tsiroto)…

…Louiza…

…dear Tomodachi, then yet Rena-to-be. (I couldn’t be during that cosplay. Gomen…)…

…as well as the other, elusive Cosplay Star, Glastenen as Belial (Angel Sanctuary)…

…the Flame Alchemist (dude, so weird without the moustache)…

…Ed Elric (interrupting my flash-lens combat with KrizD)…

…elusive Psofia (wham! full-face flash – which, again, sounded so wrong)…

…Mercyful and… well, his friend, who I do not know but wears a way cool sweater…

…Dakon Darkblade (an old acquaintance from my RPG years), here in the “Do I see a similarity?” picture…

…Ploutonas, aaaaand (right next to him)…

…my two favorite lollies, didi-doll and Ayami-chan, as a Sailor Fuku Lolita and Punk Lolita respectively.

As I said, there were also fresh faces, such as Piou-Piou here…

…giving Matu-san some hard love (he DOES seem to be in pain, no?)…

…and even though I did not have the opportunity to be acquainted with everyone…

…I don’t think I really had to interview them as to if they were having fun; else, what the hell were they all doing there?

If Somnium was a bit worried about attendance, given that the real crowd started showing after 22:30, while the party started at 21:00…

…it seems she was soon rewarded for her efforts and patience (lollipop and smile are a signs of good mood) and a little later…

…she really cut loose…

…and was in a near-constant state of headbanging, thretening to overturn the Black Metal Melomakarona (is there a word for these in English? “Honeybuns” just didn’t…) she had brought for everyone.

Mona on the other hand, pleased as all Hell, was content to simply smile devilishly.

As I said, this post is heavy with didi and Ayami (I hadn’t seen them for SOME time even then)…

…and it seems my persistence paid off. This is one of my favorite photos: the Sailor, the Giru and the Punk!

Flexxxy: “Metaru!” Didi: “Nyu!” Speedy: *dies laughing*

What can I say?

The lens is addicted to these girls.

The only thing that can tear away its glassy surface from them…

…is sheer geekiness!

All in all, it was a very fun party, one that brought back memories of another time and place…

…and not just to me.

Iga no Kabamaru’s Mikizo…

…with lots of Yakisoba…

…was followed by Yagyu Jubei (Ninja Scroll: The Movie)…

…Claire (Claymore)…

…as well as some Loudness. (KrizD: “Yeah man, Rainbow, Dio and Iron Maiden Japs! Long live Metal!”)…

At some point, it was time for Sakura’s lottery…

…which Mona took care of announcing and working through…

…since, for some unfathomable and probably scary reason, Somnium could not stop laughing!

And that’s not even half of it, but I was too tired from work to take any more photos.

However, I hope that the final two illustrate the main point: “If you’re gonna do it, stop whining and put some heart into it!”

Well, that was it and though I have already told them so in person,  let me thank Somnium and Mona for a well organized and memorable night. At he time this blog is being written, their Horror Valentine Special has already had a huge success and we are looking forward to their next project. Happy Carnival!

Sincerely yours

Speedgrapher