I had the oppertunity this week to catch up with one Italian representative for the World Cosplay Summit in 2004: Laura Barbaresi - better known as Angel Hitomi.

Laura has been one of the more prolific international cosplayers in the last few years and even though she is very busy finishing her university studies (she needs to finish a 200 page thesis by next summer!!!) she still has time to persue her passion in the world of cosplay. You can find a lot of stuff about her work through her very developed home page.

Besides the WCS, Laura has participated in many cosplay events around Europe and the rest of the world including TNT in Mexico in 2006.(She also went with Georgia Vecchini from WCS 2005!) You may have noticed from the news column that Mexico a new participating nation at the WCS 2007 and TNT will be our parter organization. Take a look at Angel Hitomi's adventures in Mexico on her home page! (Only in Italian but there are lots of great pictures)

Laura was in Kyoto from November 28th to December 5th filming a promotion video for a movie called "2 Come Loro". The story is about an Italian couple and their struggles to find love and themselves in the very different environment of Japan. The story concept relies on fundamental precepts of Manga/Anime and Laura's character is very close to who Laura is herself.

Here is a picture of Laura, other actors and members of the movie staff singing karaoke or their last night in Kyoto:

Ed