I wish I could take some credit for this; I really do. I wish I could say I called up a bunch of epic-level cosplayers and said “Why don’t y’all dress up as the cast of Sailor Moon for Otakon 2011, INCLUDING Sailor Star Fighter and like five Sailor Neptunes ALONE, and I’ll take lots of pictures?” but no, that’s not how it went down. In reality, the cosplayers collaborated their own awesome photo shoot via the Cosplay.com forums, and we were just lucky enough to get a chance to partake of the greatness. Seriously, more power to these guys and gals for making this happen, I can’t praise them enough. My photographer and I did catch a few cosplayers in between downing Edo Sushi and salivating over original cels we couldn’t afford, but the majority of these images come from the shoot.

Maybe I can’t feel special for initiating this event for the Sailor Moon fan community since I was just a lucky bystander, but on the plus side, who cares about me? You have awesome cosplay to look at, including a downright scandalous amount of Sailor Neptunes! Hit the jump for a costume deluge.

Let’s start things off with the always-dashing Tuxedo Mask, without which no SM photo shoot could ever be complete.

Inner-Senshi wise, we’ve got Sailors Mercury and Venus reporting for duty. Gotta love the plushie standing in for Artemis- cute, cost-effective, and convenient!

Representing the Outer Senshi, here’s Pluto and Uranus- I’m impressed by that key, you could do some damage with that thing. Or stop time, I guess.

Speaking of plush Moon Cats, here’s classic-era Sailor Moon with Luna. Actually, I don’t know how she’s alone in this shot, the convention center was ridiculously crowded all three days and it was kind of insane- there were over 31,000 people there this year. Don’t be afraid, Sailor Moon was NEVER alone!

Is there glare here due to the eighty thousand windows in the Baltimore Convention Center, or is it the luminescence of Princess Serenity’s divine glow? I know which theory I prefer. I was so blinded by Serenity’s fantastic wings that I didn’t notice human-Luna next to her at first.

We were careful to ask Sailor Jupiter for a photo very, very nicely, because if we were too fresh she could use her martial arts skills to beat us up- that’s only a rumor, you say? Maybe, but we couldn’t afford to take that risk.

Another gorgeous Sailor Venus! What else is there to say, she’s my favorite Senshi and I’m biased- but at least I admit it.

Guess who was distracted for the entire panel trying to get a better look at Super Sailor Moon and Super Sailor Chibi Moon. I’m not sure I remember what that panel was about, actually.

Hee! Gotta love Sailor Star Fighter getting friendly with the Neptune contingent while Sailor Uranus sulks.

Now that’s more like it. You just know Sailor Uranus is like, “This is the best day ever.”

That’s a lot of Senshi.

Umm, even more Senshi?

Finally, some dastardly villains for our heroes to fight! All the costumes are great, but Man-Galaxia kind of steals the show, I must admit.

Your choice of Sailor Moon/Princess Serenity: it’s kind of surprising that there was no Eternal Sailor Moon, come to think of it. Super Sailor Moon is my favorite, though.

A great Stars-era trio.

Wait a minute, what’s Tuxedo Mask doing with multiple Sailor Venuses hanging off of him? Tux, it’s Usagi you love! USAGI!

See I’ve had dreams like this featuring more than one Tuxedo Mask, but that content is probably not safe for the little Moon Chasers out there; we’ll tell you all about it when you’re older.

Okay, I know we already had the “villain group photo” thing up above, but seriously, how great are these guys and gals?

And this, everyone, is why Tuxedo Mask is so much better than that snooty Prince Endymion. Stop hiding behind your girlfriend and fight like a man!

Queen Beryl and Jedeite: they might be evil, and they might be a few fries short of a Happy Meal, but you have to admit, they’re romantic.

The two sides of Ms. Hotaru Tomoe.

Likewise, the two sides of Chibiusa.

It’s some knock-down, drag-out fisticuffs between Jedeite and Tuxedo Mask- I’ve got $20 on Tux, he looks like his head is in the game.

And here’s one final group shot to take us home.

Needless to say, we had a fantastic time documenting all the great cosplay this year, and hope for even more at Otakon 2012- if that’s even possible. Oh Exalted Cosplayers, if you are reading this, please look into dressing up as the following next year: Eternal Sailor Moon, Sailor Cosmos, Sailor Mars, the Amazon Quartet, Nephrite and Molly/Naru. Oh, and if you want to bring an adorable toddler to dress up as ChibiChibi and a real-live horse to cosplay as Pegasus, that would be most appreciated. I’m kidding about the horse though- kind of. Oh, and Fiore from the R movie would be nice too….