TAKII 5 ~Shin Seiki (Neon Genesis)~ took place on April 5th-6th, 2008 & was ground-breaking in many ways. Among them, however, was that it had the sole distinction of being the 1st festival of its kind in the Greater Philadelphia Region to go multiple days!!!! This season's theme design was inspired by Shin Seiki Evangelion (Neon Genesis Evangelion), with the theme song being "Zankoku Na Tenshi no Theze (Cruel Angel's Thesis)", by Takahashi Youko (from the same show). Featuring a weekend-long celebration of Evangelion, former world karaoke champions (in Mandy Mefford, from Anime Expo), charitable offerings to ASIAC (AIDS Services In Asian Communities), & plenty more, the hordes of humanity that descended upon "the most extreme Asian culture fusion festival" was a sight to be seen. Let's look back at some of the festivities that made the 5th season of TAKII one that no one will eeeever forget!

 

 

<< The Asian Karaoke Idol Invitational Show >> Right from the get-go of TAKII 5 ~Shin Seiki (Neon Genesis)~ weekend, dozens of people signed up for their chance at immortality....a chance to be remembered as 1 of the premier voices of their time in "the house of hardcore Asian culture appreciation" by taking part in the often imitated, but never duplicated "TAKII 5 Show"! With the help of our special panel of judges (karaoke champion Mandy Mefford & Pink Lady aficionado Jeffrey Branch), the field was witted down to the top 10 performers, each taking their turn in a series of 3 rounds that tested their vocal supremacy, command of the stage, & ability to captivate the audience of TAKII fans yearning to be witness to the "next best thing" in Asian karaoke.

As each of the rounds progressed, those who didn't garner enough audience applause & judge's score points were cut (including a young lady who totally forgot the words to "Fukai Mori (Deep Forest)" from InuYasha, but gave it her all). Despite the hype around the TAKII premier of an actual novice J-Rocker & the J-Hip Hop talents of The Philly Otaku's Ascension, the real storyline for this season was between a pair of twin siblings cosplaying as TenTen & Shikamaru (both of whom went out of their way to not use their real names LOL) who made it all the way to Round 3 of the "TAKII 5 Show", Dancing Duos. Pivot for pivot, glide for slide, the sisters were evenly matched, even causing Mandy to call for a dance-off to determine a winner (a true TAKII 1st)! However, once the random DDR megamix that played finished its last chord, it was twin sister Shikamaru, with flute in hand, that got declared the winner! She now joins the likes of Annie Rubel, Carmen Lugo, The 3 Amigas, & Haku as a certified TAKII Show Champion! Shortly after her win, she created the 1st-ever fan video tribute to TAKII, which included clips from the TAKII 5 Show. Congratulations, Shikamaru!!!!

<< Makenai: Fusion Charity Benefit Concert >> Other area events have conventional charity auctions, or benefit raffles. Their efforts to raise awareness about things other than themselves is to be commended. However, TAKII 5 saw the chance to combine its mission to bring Asian culture awareness around the world & its expertise on all that is Asian music & entertainment to produce the warmly-received debut of "Makenai: Fusion Charity Benefit Concert"!

For over 2 hours, TAKII 5 fanatics were treated to the finest tributes to Asian culture around, featuring the vocal stylings of of D-chan & Mandy Mefford, authentic Para-Para dancing by Kaimo Nago Gal Circle, a Final Fantasy comedy skit by Half-Born, a vocal tribute to Pink Lady, & the general brand of extreme entertainment that accompanies any TAKII festivity. In between each performance, attendees were given a special insight into the season's Charity Beneficiary, ASIAC (AIDS Services In Asian Communities) with a series of factoids, highlighting the serious AIDS epidemic, its impact on the Asian & world communities, & what we as TAKII faithful can do to alter the course of its destructive history. As "Makenai" went on, everyone was encouraged to make any monetary donation they could, which we are proud to say was matched by The Asian Karaoke Idol Invitational itself & donated to ASIAC after the conclusion of TAKII 5 (^_^). It was a pleasure pulling this Benefit Concert off for everyone, & it was an honor to support a cause greater than one's self. May TAKII's newest tradition continue strong in many future seasons to come!

<< TAKII Rhythm D-Generates >> Having debuted at TAKII 4 & returning for TAKII 5, "TAKII Rhythm D-Generates" was our way of making sure everyone had the chance to get up, wave their hands, & shake what their mamma gave 'em to some of the hottest, most enigmatic tracks from TAKII's vast library of musical awesomeness. If you weren't doing the Hare-Hare-Yukai, or the Electric Slide, there was something seriously wrong wit chu :-P! For close to an hour, there was absolutely no shame in anyone's game, all in the name of Asian music appreciation (^_^). The 8 songs selected to be a part of this unique dance session for our 5th season were: "Jelly Kiss", by Togo Project (BeatMania), "Yume Hanabi (Dream Fireworks)", by Garnet Crow (Marchen Awakens Romance), "We Are!", by Hiroshi Kitadani (1 Piece: Grand Battle 2), "Go!!!", by Flow (Naruto), "D-Technolife", by UVERworld (Bleach), "Galaxia Gorgeous (5th Musical Vers.)", by Sailor Galaxia & Shadow Galactica-tachi (SeraMyu), "Love Namida Iro", by Aya Matsuura (J-Pop), & "Renai Revolution 21 (Love Revolution 21)", by Morning Musume (Morning Girls) (J-Pop). Just what beats will TAKII 6 feature? You'll have to be there....or be square (lol) to find out!

<< Gaming Tourneys >> A cornerstone of what has helped TAKII to become the premier Asian celebration in the land, our "Gaming Tourneys" were off the chain this season! Both new-school (Wii, PS3, & 360) & old-school (Saturn, Genesis, NEW, etc.) were represented in flat-screen, HD glory (thanks to Team TAKII Coalition Sponsor, Rent-A-Center). As people struggled to get through the 1st level of Radiant Silvergun in 1 moment, groups of TAKII faithful tried their hand at games such as Space Channel 5, Wii Play, Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo ~HD Remix~, & many more.

The shining star of this season's tourneys was our all-day Super Smash Bros. Brawl competition (making the 1st time the game was played as an official tournament at an Asian festival/convention in the area at that time)! Top contenders included members from the cosplay troupe, Half-Born, as well as the Philly-area Anime club known as The Philly Otaku (TPO), among others. However, once all of the smoke cleared, it was TPO member Bravo who came out on top as the TAKII 5 SSBB Champion! The Champ has since made it known he will return to TAKII next season with more tricks up his sleeve than ever before -- so watch out!!!!

<< Win, Lose, Or Draw: Artist's Alley Edition >> As a part of our retro gameshow programming block, "Win, Lose, Or Draw: Artist's Alley Edition" combined the talent of accomplished & novice artists & the enthusiasm of TAKII 5-goers for a common goal: to raise funds for the season's official Charity Beneficiary, ASIAC (AIDS Services In Asian Communities)! Hosted by retro J-Pop enthusiast, Jeffrey Branch, & guest-starring karaoke world champion, Mandy Mefford, contestants took turns drawing from a random pile of terms on index cards & had to get their team to answer what it was within the time frame. The game saw people draw everything from Mother Brain, to Princess Peach, to even....Hillary Clinton! The winning team (Team Mandy) got to choose their own gift bags from our swag table, with the drawings everyone created being auctioned off during the course of the day for charity. Due to its unexpectedly-large success, "Win, Lose, Or Draw" was announced as the newest TAKII mainstay for many seasons to come!

<< Cosplay Battle Royale >> With over 75 percent of all TAKII 5-goers in some sort of cosplay outfit, it came as no surprise that our 3rd seasonal installment of "Cosplay Battle Royale" was a stunning success! During the entire weekend, you saw TAKII 5 fanatics dressed up as Disgaea chatting it up in our "TLO Video Lounge", Naruto jonin & DeathNote shinigami fighting it out during our infamous "Ota-Rave", & cosplayers doing the electric slide prior to the start of the skits portion of the Battle Royale (among other zany things you'll hear about from fellow TAKII fans). Coordinated by a seasoned Asian Karaoke Idol Invitational guest & cosplay savant, Dokudel, dozens of fans competed in 3 of our prized Cosplay Battle Royale championship levels, with winners being the following:

* BEST FEMALE = Axel (Kingdom Hearts 2)
* BEST MALE = Dante (Devil May Cry)
* BEST PERFORMANCE = Envy & Radical (Fullmetal Alchemist)

<< AMV Battle Royale >> As TAKII 5 fanatics began to file in early in the morning on Day 2, they were treated to our most robust line-up of AMV champion hopefuls in "AMV Battle Royale"! For over an hour, submission after submission was judged by everyone in attendance to determine our season's 2 champions of their respective categories. Speaking of which, this season's "Championship Challenge" was for AMV artisans to create an AMV with any video source they wanted, but they had to use audio from a professional wrestler (ie: WWE)! Notable entries included "Barbie Girl" (using "Barbie Girl" from Aqua & clips from Hand Maid May), "Vampire Woman" (using the J-Rock song "Vampire Woman" & clips from Shingetsutan Tsuki-hime), & "Sexy Boy" (using WWE Superstar, Shawn Michaels' theme & clips from Naruto), among others. However, once the smoke cleared & the fans voted, they chose the following entires as "AMV Battle Royale" Champions:

* MOST EXTREME = "Tsukuyomi" (Audio = "Now Way", by Korn & Video = DBZ & Naruto), by Orchid Productions
* TAKII 5 CHAMPIONSHIP CHALLENGE = "The Dark Side" (Audio = "The Dark Side ~Undertaker's Theme~" & Video = Naruto), by Mangekyou, Inc.

<< Otaku Jeopardy >> The good people of The Lost Otakus (TLO) brought their extreme brand of live game shows to TAKII for a 5th seaons in the form of "Otaku Jeopardy"....& it was so awesomely-popular, we had to have 2 full sessions of the game on each day! Hosted by Dan & Annie Rubel, along with assistant Koneko, contestants split up into 3-4 different teams, each with the goal of scoring the most points by answering Asian-themed questions & completing various random quests for the amusement of all TAKII fans in attendance. Out of all the memorable moments of this innovative gameshow, the 1 that sticks out the most is session that was played on the last night of TAKII 5. In a category called "Earn Free Points", contestants were unleashed to the unsuspecting public & had to do exactly what the hosts commanded. A point value was selected & they had to chase down D-chan's mortal enemy, San (aka the "Dark Lord" of the TAKII Swag Station) & embrace him while dancing to the theme from Benny Hill (ya kno, the British show with the ladies running around chasing old guys? LOL). Anywho, San ended up being captured on the Balcony of The Rotunda, & D-chan ended up twisting his ankle (while getting caught in the madness of it all :p). Game ON, indeed!!!!

Out of any other season of this fusion festival to come before it, TAKII 5 ~Shin Seiki (Neon Genesis)~ proved not only to be the most involved to put together, but the most rewarding!! From collectors programs to professionalized schedules, from unique audio/visual programming to massive outreach, TAKII 5 accomplished all that it set out to do & raised the bar of extreme excellence moving forward. The spirit that this season of The Asian Karaoke Idol Invitational embodied brought together hundreds of people from all backgrounds, ages, & affiliations, among them The Philly Otaku (TPO), who TAKII is proud to say are one of our most enthusiastic club supporters ever! While taking in everything that we accomplished this season, it wasn't long before we announced plans for & started working on the next season of this phenomenon, TAKII 6 ~NintenDecision 2008~!