Anime Babes from Sailor Moon to Rei Ayanami: This Isn't Cosplay, This Is Burlesque

Anime Babes from Sailor Moon to Rei Ayanami: This Isn't Cosplay, This Is Burlesque

By Liz Ohanesian Mon., Jan. 10 2011 at 7:34 AM

See more photos in Shannon Cottrell's gallery "Devil's Playground Presents Anime Babes."

Over the course of the past two years, we've seen the burlesque performers from Devil's Playground channel fan favorite characters like Link and Zelda (Video Game Girls), Catwoman (Comic Book Vixens), and, of course, the Stormtrooper from their now-infamous Star Wars tribute that took place one year ago. On January 8, the ladies took on Anime Babes.

Shannon Cottrell

From nostalgic shows like Speed Racer, Pokémon and Sailor Moon to more grown-up fair like Fullmetal Alchemist and Neon Genesis Evangelion, the troupe brought both humor and seriousness to the night. This wasn't cosplay, this was burlesque, with costumes that referenced the source material, but were made for dancing while taking the characters into different directions. We broke down the individual numbers below.

Lucy Fur as Pikachu (Pokémon)

Shannon Cottrell

From her moment as both Link and Zelda to Wonder Woman to a tassel-twirling C-3PO, Lucy Fur's performances are always witty and fun. For Anime Babes, she transformed into Pikachu. Sexy versions of the now-classic Pokémon character are pretty popular, and Lucy played up on that with a routine that was cute, silly and a little naughty. Amidst the round of applause, an audience member shouted "I choose you!" Yeah, there were probably a lot of long-time Pokémon fans there.

Kitty Cadillac as Ichigo Momomiya (Tokyo Mew Mew)

Shannon Cottrell

Kitty Cadillac was introduced as a neko, or cat, girl, but her frilly pink costume pointed to one well-known cat girl Ichigo Momomiya from Tokyo Mew Mew. One of Kitty Cadillac's best known performances was as Catwoman in Comic Book Vixens, where she crawled through a cat habitat and poured what looked like milk all over herself. Ichigo is a striking contrast to Catwoman, she's cute and far more subdued. It was great to see Kitty keep with the feline theme while taking such a different approach. But, it doesn't seem to be as well known as some of the other animes represented, especially Sailor Moon and Pokémon, so it didn't have the same sort of nostalgic connection to the audience that other segments of the show did.

Olivia Bellafontaine as Lust (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Shannon Cottrell

Olivia Bellafontaine's turn as Lust from Fullmetal Alchemist was one of the more intriguing performances of the night. Her character is a Homunculus, an embodiment of crimes against alchemy (human transmutation, a huge taboo in the series) and one of the primary villains. Hers was the darkest moment of the night, one that flirted with issues of life and death as understood by a character that isn't quite human, but isn't immortal. By incorporating bits of dialogue with the music, Bellafontaine was able to help guide the story for those who weren't familiar with the series. If you're a Fullmetal Alchemist fan, you can figure out how this ended.

Tags:

Anime Babes, Devil's Playground, Liz Ohanesian, Shannon Cottrell

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Brad

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Sasha

it is terrible!!! why they are so ugly?????

Boodle

I know that that burlesque is NOT the same as stripping to get some guy's rocks off, but you have to admit that these women are a little... worn.

They're nice, but they do not fit the types of characters they're trying to portray. In a way, seeing 35 year old women with tats and some saggage (not a lot, but it's there) attempt to portray characters that are all about 14-18 year old girls is every bit as bad as watching some 250 pound fattie try to play Sailor Moon or any of the above characters. It just doesn't fit and it gives everything an edge of sadness and desperation.

I know what good burlesque is supposed to look like and this isn't it. Now don't get me wrong- this isn't horrible eye-gouging burlesque, but it is mediocre. The costumes are well thought out but they should have chosen a different pack of girls to do these characters or at the very least should have chosen anime characters to play that aren't known for being extremely young.

Maybe it'd have been better if they did something like Felicia from NightStalkers, Chun-Li, or even Misaki from Evangelion. Characters that are WOMEN, not little girls. The ones they did in this? They're all teenagers and these women have long since passed that stage, making them not only look ancient but look incredibly stupid attempting to burlesque these characters. Any true burlesque artist would tell you that one of the most important parts of burlesque is to CHOOSE A CHARACTER/THEME THAT SUITS YOU AND THE OTHERS PERFORMING. Don't pick something because you think it's cute or because your favorite show happens to be Sailor Moon. Pick something that suits you, your age, and the age/body types of all the girls on stage.

Boodle

The only one who chose a character that suits her is Olivia. She not only fits the character of Lust, but the choice is also age appropriate. Lust is the only character out of all of these that isn't 14-18 years old, so Olivia looks fantastic in the costume.

Well, Pikachu technically isn't a teenager or a girl, but considering all of the pictures of the Pikachu Girl on the internet (a hot 18-ish girl in a far better costume) that are out there... well... Lucy just doesn't fill those shoes and is visibly older than Pika Girl is. Again, it's a 28-35 year old woman trying to play an 14-18 year old character. It just doesn't suit.

I'm not trying to be ageist- it's just that almost none of these women chose characters that suited them. I hate to be redundant, but this is pretty much the same thing as an overweight girl trying to play Sailor Moon or some scrawny guy trying to play Hercules. It just doesn't look right.

No im joking

no link?

Peter Nguyen

What song was being played in Daisy Meadow's Sailor Moon show? (that track was bangin)

Peter Nguyen

Guys, the song is called Plastic Beach by Gorillaz.

Guest

No. This is just cosplay with a captive audience. And it's just as silly.

Ariolander

Nightmare Fuel...

Euhue

Ugly women, worse than 3d pig disgusting. Calling it a burlesque because the strip clubs wouldn't accept you? Guess we have to do what we can in this economy.