On July 1st, Café Erzulie called out to all Sailor Moon fans to partake in the first ever Sailor Moon Day Party hosted by the creator of the Sailor Moon Fan Club podcast, Victoria L. Johnson. The Black owned café attracted over 50 people to the backyard jam to celebrate the iconic Sailor Moon and party the day away. Here’s how it went.

After walking into the café, Victoria personally greeted me while handing me a pink raffle ticket that matched the vibe of the event. You could immediately see the Sailor Moon theme scattered around the spacious café. Everywhere you turned were poster edits of Sailor Moon characters with themed corners such as “Hotaru’s Photo Booth,” and “Minako’s Stage.”

Local DJ ‘TheContro1freak’ started off with remixes of hit songs before transitioning to popular anime openings that made every fan jump out of their comfort zone and dance. Alternative, soca and dancehall for the Caribbean people combined with anime music made the perfect weird mix for the eclectic crowd.  “I wasn’t expecting this turn out at all,” Victoria said, expressing her shock at the sheer amount of people that showed up.

Fans dressed in pastel colors and came in various cosplay expressing their love for Sailor Moon. Lan Party, a NYC based group focused on nerd culture, also sponsored a photo booth that was occupied the entire time with guys, gals, and theybies taking flicks to commemorate the moment. Two nail artists from @narinanails painted Sailor Moon themed nail decorations and the giveaways were full of fun prizes such as treat boxes and cute items from Sugoi Mart. 

There were no issues of crowding since the venue was spacious, and had an outdoor area. It would have been beneficial if there was more seating, but the whole point of a party IS to dance and there was a lot of it going around. While there was a wide variety of music, I would have appreciated a little more of each genre being played. Sailor Moon themed food options would have sealed the deal when paired alongside the cute drinks they had (you can tell the Taurus in me is speaking).

Victoria hosted her Sailor Moon Fan Club podcast live with guest Yedoye Travis, where he talked about his dislike of Tuxedo Mask, and offered words of wisdom and advice to those trying to find their passion in life. “Do it because you want to do it,” said Travis, in regards to becoming a comedian or starting comics. “There’s not that much money in this shit. If you really want to do something just make sure you have the passion for it.”

(I didn’t have many complaints, however it was hard to hear the podcast due to noise in the background. I get it, we all want to have fun, but it would have been nice if everyone paid attention to Yedoye and Victoria’s beautiful voices and listened.)

My favorite part of the party was the performances by the talented musical artists Chantel Nicole and Shauna Moon. Chantel, a Black, Kpop inspired artist amped up the crowd with her songs from her upcoming mini album CHROMA. In her silver sequined pants, she joined the festivities after her performance, chatting up party goers and dancing to her heart's content.  Shauna had us guess her fictional faves referenced in her upbeat song ‘Anime Bae;’ (Sasuke and Kakashi were two out of the four). Her expressive rap left a lasting impression as the audience bopped to her lyrics alongside her passionate and dynamic performance in pink.

As someone with an aesthetic eye, although the outdoor area of the café had some scattered plants and color, I think having some more decorations like fairy lights would be a nice addition for the next party! I would have also loved some more interactive events, including a raffle (I  love me a good raffle), a mini cosplay contest, Sailor Moon trivia, and themed guessing games would be a cute way to keep everyone engaged. However, I still really enjoyed and appreciated everything that was prepared for us to take part in. 

By the end, everyone had at least one, or more, drinks in their system before dancing the day away to 2000’s throwbacks spun by the flyest DJ pair, Sailor Boom. Victoria concluded the event with a heartfelt speech on the unexpected success of the party in hopes to host again in the future. I found her speech very touching and inspiring and the partygoers cheered in celebration at her undertaking of hosting. To say the least, the first (and hopefully annual) Sailor Moon Day Party was a success!