[ Remember those cosplayers from the ViewScream photoshoots?
Well, they're back! And they've produced another album for everyone from their latest convention appearance! This time the group shots see them standing in front of a homemade banner reading, in inappropriately cheery lettering, 'HOUSE OF MIRTH II: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO'. There are bloody handprints on it. Is that a kawaii Asmodeus face down in the bottom right hand corner? Is he winking? Why is he flashing a v-sign? Wait, what way round is his hand? There's a lot of fake blood involved this time. A lot. Not all of it, of course, is red: you gotta love that attention to detail! Once again, their coverage is exhaustive: highs and lows, dramatic tableaus, outtakes, goofs, parodies... there's pages and pages of this thing, including any photos individual idols may have received personally. Highlights include:
★ A series of elaborate photoshoots show re-enactments of the fans' favorite murders! On closer examination, some of the murders turn out to be entirely hypothetical, involving idols on the same team, idols who never met, and the occasional idol who isn't even on the show any more. No matter! Why let a little thing like series canon stand in the way of a perfect photo opportunity?
★ A long string of tableaus feature chainsaw duels. Just. All of the fucking chainsaw duels, featuring chainsaws of greater or lesser degrees of believability, from hyper-realistic handmade props (where are con security??), to boxes taped together and colored in with marker, to novelty inflatables. Of course there are staged versions of the real deals - though even here the Dramatic License is getting a workout - but chainsaws do seem to be finding their way into the hands of the most unlikely of participants. Amaranth gets a chainsaw. C gets a chainsaw. Taisho and Avante all get chainsaws. A particular highlight: an Asmodeus cosplayer fleeing from an enraged group of blood-spattered idols, chainsaws held high.
★ A Q cosplayer shows up to photobomb several of the shoots. Holding a plate of cake and a fork, she stares staright into the camera while scenes of mayhem unfold just behind her.
★ A Griffin cosplayer holding a lance is surrounded by cosplayers of every single vampire in Tokyo-F (and at least two people the fandom clearly just like to imagine might be vampires) lying on the floor in positions of feigned agony. Almost all of the vampires appear multiple times. A final image shows Griffin on the floor too: an L cosplayer stands over him with one foot on his head, brandishing a frying pan.
★ A group of cosplayers dressed as Phantom Thieves open fire on one another for no reason in the middle of the convention center's lobby. The skit ends with them all lying on the floor in positions of feigned agony. Yes, that's a QR code at the bottom of the album page. Yes, there's a video of this skit. Yes, it plays out pretty much as you'd expect... right down to the audio cues.
★ The cosplayers get romantic, and stage a series of shoots where their favorite Imeeji couples murder one another - but lovingly! Some are based on real events involving genuine partners; some put a ship-tinted twist on situations that were anything but (romantic chainsaw duels?); others are, of course, wildly fanciful and involve a large amount of wishful thinking. Some of them feature OCs.
★ And, of course, there's another QR code leading to a video. This one has an animated title card with a shaking, bouncing cartoon mansion in one corner, rocked from within by acts of horrible, heartbreaking violence. It opens on a montage set to '(I've Had) The Time of My Life', featuring enthusiastic cosplayers waving, smiling, embracing, brandishing chainsaws, and feigning death throes. A lengthy skit follows featuring three cosplayers dressed as hosts holding Olympic-style scoreboards, rating the various deaths and bloody murders they witness with marks out of ten. A D.Va cosplayer films an altercation with con security who want her to put a top on, in blatant disregard of canonical accuracy; an N cosplayer is chased out of a fountain; a troupe of Eichi cosplayers lip-synch and dance to Rock Me Amadeus; another altercation involves the mass confiscation of a dozen prop chainsaws; the N cosplayer is chased out of the fountain again; Avante and Taisho throw down in a children's play area. It concludes with groups of cosplayers dancing to the 'Ghostbusters' theme, and an end card reading 'Thanks!!'. ]
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Well, they're back! And they've produced another album for everyone from their latest convention appearance! This time the group shots see them standing in front of a homemade banner reading, in inappropriately cheery lettering, 'HOUSE OF MIRTH II: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO'. There are bloody handprints on it. Is that a kawaii Asmodeus face down in the bottom right hand corner? Is he winking? Why is he flashing a v-sign? Wait, what way round is his hand? There's a lot of fake blood involved this time. A lot. Not all of it, of course, is red: you gotta love that attention to detail! Once again, their coverage is exhaustive: highs and lows, dramatic tableaus, outtakes, goofs, parodies... there's pages and pages of this thing, including any photos individual idols may have received personally. Highlights include:
★ A series of elaborate photoshoots show re-enactments of the fans' favorite murders! On closer examination, some of the murders turn out to be entirely hypothetical, involving idols on the same team, idols who never met, and the occasional idol who isn't even on the show any more. No matter! Why let a little thing like series canon stand in the way of a perfect photo opportunity?
★ A long string of tableaus feature chainsaw duels. Just. All of the fucking chainsaw duels, featuring chainsaws of greater or lesser degrees of believability, from hyper-realistic handmade props (where are con security??), to boxes taped together and colored in with marker, to novelty inflatables. Of course there are staged versions of the real deals - though even here the Dramatic License is getting a workout - but chainsaws do seem to be finding their way into the hands of the most unlikely of participants. Amaranth gets a chainsaw. C gets a chainsaw. Taisho and Avante all get chainsaws. A particular highlight: an Asmodeus cosplayer fleeing from an enraged group of blood-spattered idols, chainsaws held high.
★ A Q cosplayer shows up to photobomb several of the shoots. Holding a plate of cake and a fork, she stares staright into the camera while scenes of mayhem unfold just behind her.
★ A Griffin cosplayer holding a lance is surrounded by cosplayers of every single vampire in Tokyo-F (and at least two people the fandom clearly just like to imagine might be vampires) lying on the floor in positions of feigned agony. Almost all of the vampires appear multiple times. A final image shows Griffin on the floor too: an L cosplayer stands over him with one foot on his head, brandishing a frying pan.
★ A group of cosplayers dressed as Phantom Thieves open fire on one another for no reason in the middle of the convention center's lobby. The skit ends with them all lying on the floor in positions of feigned agony. Yes, that's a QR code at the bottom of the album page. Yes, there's a video of this skit. Yes, it plays out pretty much as you'd expect... right down to the audio cues.
★ The cosplayers get romantic, and stage a series of shoots where their favorite Imeeji couples murder one another - but lovingly! Some are based on real events involving genuine partners; some put a ship-tinted twist on situations that were anything but (romantic chainsaw duels?); others are, of course, wildly fanciful and involve a large amount of wishful thinking. Some of them feature OCs.
★ And, of course, there's another QR code leading to a video. This one has an animated title card with a shaking, bouncing cartoon mansion in one corner, rocked from within by acts of horrible, heartbreaking violence. It opens on a montage set to '(I've Had) The Time of My Life', featuring enthusiastic cosplayers waving, smiling, embracing, brandishing chainsaws, and feigning death throes. A lengthy skit follows featuring three cosplayers dressed as hosts holding Olympic-style scoreboards, rating the various deaths and bloody murders they witness with marks out of ten. A D.Va cosplayer films an altercation with con security who want her to put a top on, in blatant disregard of canonical accuracy; an N cosplayer is chased out of a fountain; a troupe of Eichi cosplayers lip-synch and dance to Rock Me Amadeus; another altercation involves the mass confiscation of a dozen prop chainsaws; the N cosplayer is chased out of the fountain again; Avante and Taisho throw down in a children's play area. It concludes with groups of cosplayers dancing to the 'Ghostbusters' theme, and an end card reading 'Thanks!!'. ]