I don't know when or if I would've gotten around to doing this costume if left to my own devices. When I saw there was a Sailor Moon anime, I bought the anime series. When I saw there was a Sailor Moon manga, I started collecting the Sailor Moon manga. When I saw there were Sailor Moon artbooks, I slowly started buying the Sailor Moon artbooks. When I saw there were Sailor Moon toys, I looked at my thinning wallet and made up a list of only the toys I really wanted. When I saw there were Sailor Moon musicals, I said, "God DAMN it I'm broke!" and left them alone. (Don't even get me started on PGSM.) Plus, you've got to remember, when they were first coming out, they weren't readily accessible here in the States: YouTube wasn't around, BitTorrent wasn't around, and the few VHS copies of the musicals were in raw Japanese--something I've never been able to decipher even with context clues.

I really only got my first taste of the Sera Myu musicals (aside from seeing other cosplayers's costumes when they'd submit them to Sailor Moon Avatars) a few years ago when Tristen Citrine sent me a sample of some of the shows on a burned CD. I had to admit, it was pretty cool: catchy songs, flashy costumes (EXTREMELY flashy costumes), minimal sets, it was like a cosplayer's dream. But all that aside, the REAL reason I have a Sera Myu costume now is due to my two VERY dear friends, Patti and Steph. We've been friends for a while now, and they're both huge Myu fans, and when they decided they wanted to give me a birthday and Christmas present, they decided at the same time that they really wanted to see me all bling-ed out as the Sera Myu version of Super Sailor Mars. Those girls worked hard for MANY months on this costume, making it the one costume of mine that is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, truly a labor of love. Thank you so much, Patti. Thank you so much, Steph.