Judging can be a tough job especially when competition is close. I was surprised at the popularity of the judges this year though. Okubo of TVA and columnist/critic Essai Ushijima were 2 of the 3 judges. Ushijima was in fact a judge at WCS 2007 last year, you can see a write up on him half way down the page here!
The 3rd judge, voice actor Masakazu Morita (seen above) received the greatest applause from the crowd however. He has gained great notoriety recently and has been very busy doing voices for Bleach to Gundam Seed Destiny and in games such as Final Fantasy X and X-2. There was in fact a Masakazu Morita award which the Dragonball Z team received. It was a plastic paper file with a character that he had done and his signature. I didn't think much of it initially but from the squeal and cries from the audience I knew that this was a treasured item. He also presented the final award, a "Home Lock Stitch Kagari III DF4 Sewing Machine" and the crowd really went wild. Cosplayers were calling "Hoshi! Hoshi!" (I want that! I would love to have that!) and there was a rush as people leaned and pushed forward.

Before the awards presentation he had a 15 minute interactive talk period with the crowd on stage. I think the most touching moment was when one girl got up to ask a question and before saying anything she stood there silent for a time. Morita asked her what her question was and realized she was crying. She finally got enough courage to ask her question and it was "How can I be a better fan?" To this touching question Morita responded "Well I think your doing pretty well right now". I realized how special Masakazu Morita was to the crowd at that moment.