Saturday, October 31, 2009

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask Become Zombies in Toronto

Happy Hallowe'en, Moonchasers!

Saturday, October 24th, 2009 was the date of the seventh annual Toronto Zombie Walk. The walk began at Trinity Bellwoods park and progressed along various streets of Toronto until the end point on Bloor street near Bathurst station.

Before the walk began, zombies gathered in the pit bordered by Dundas street and Gore Vale avenue, where organizers made some announcements and one organizer (Adam Pearson) even proposed to another organizer (Thea Munster)!

The walk began with zombies being directed to Dundas street to exit the park, and it wasn't long before it was clear that even Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask had become zombies!

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask lurched along with the crowd, barely noticing curious onlookers taking photographs. Groups of zombies were soon throwing themselves at bus shelters to scare the odd victim, while other groups took greater interest in stopped traffic, moaning and grasping at streetcars, buses, and cars, trying to claw their way through the windows to scare people traveling in Toronto that afternoon. A local news vehicle was even stopped by zombies who smeared blood on the outside and piled on the hood of the vehicle. The driver, like many spectators in Toronto that afternoon, seemed to find the event enjoyable to watch.

Other costumes included a group cosplaying as characters from the Legend of Zelda, pirates, medical staff in scrubs, Mr. T, Billy Mays, conjoined twins, a 1950's housewife with anger issues, brides, and zombie movie extras (they had signs explaining their lack of costume!). Unfortunately for the odd zombie hunter, they were vastly outnumbered by the zombies.

The organizers wore Umbrella Corporation uniforms, a very fitting tie-in to Resident Evil, one of this year's sponsors. It also reminded me of the 2004 movie, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, which was filmed in Toronto and the surrounding area.

Many of the zombies were very well behaved, groaning for brains and randomly moaning, but obedient when organizers controlled pedestrian traffic around busier intersections.

Following the walk, there was a showing of zombie films at the Bloor Cinema, which seemed to attract a massive lineup.

The zombies were everywhere in Toronto last Saturday. The zombie slayers were hopelessly outnumbered, and it was interesting to see even Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask become zombies. They weren't the first Sailor Moon zombie cosplayers, but it's definitely an unusual way to cosplay characters from the series.

Have you ever dressed as a zombie version of a Sailor Moon character? We'd love to see your costume and share it on the site!



Thanks to Derek Haecker for providing photos.

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