Although this was the second convention for Anime Express, this was actually the first cosplay contest. As Steve Bennett has noted many times, there were only two ninja cosplayers from the first convention, both who happened to be staffers.

First up was Redneck Ryouga, who is desperately searching for Furinkan High School.

Next up was the samurai, Misaki.

One of the wonderful things about the cosplay contest during the early Anime Express conventions was the laid back, informal setting. The cosplayers would sit around the perimeter of the central stage along with the other attendees.

Although no one knew it yet, this night was truly the birth of "Cosplay in the Round". However it would not come to be officially called that until many years later.

Now we have our own Aerith-chan who replayed the infamous Final Fantasy death scene of our favorite FF healer.

Following Aerith-chan, Fuu-chan made her entrance.