OK, that was a long pause. The China preliminary round is still next month but I don't want you to think that I passed away here so lets make something happen. Just to let you know where we stand, Australia, Germany US, Italy, Finland, Spain, Denmark, Thailand and Mexico have selected their representatives for the summer. Coming up we have China, Brazil, Singapore, Korea, France and Japan. More interviews are coming up, expect Mexico's Abi and Sabina to let us know whats happening with them soon.

Here is a flyer that I brought back with me from Mexico that was at the event. In fact it was made in Japan and advertises tours to the WCS event in the summer. On the front you can see the championship performance by team Brazil and across the top the title "World Champions"

On the back it had an interesting explanation of the event itself in the middle and to the bottom right a break down of the 4 day tour including trips to Akihabara or Kyoto. It was the first time I had seen the tour information and seeing it in Spanish was kind of neat.

Here is the our first interview with half of the Mexico pair for WCS 2009 Abigail Garcia (aka Maskerpa)

Q: What manga and anime do you like, why do you like those titles? What are your favorite characters and why?
A: My favorite manga is Sengoku Basara! (all about SB) because I'm in love with samurai and japanese history.
My favorite anime is a tough one, there are many I like, I can't choose just one.
My favorite characters are Azai, Kojuuro and Date from Sengoku Basara. Mugen from Samurai Champloo and Sakata Gintoki from Gintama, I like them all because they're like my best friends!

Q: Are you watching any anime right now? If so, what are you watching?
A: Yes I'm watching Gintama, Bleach, Sengoku Basara, Naruto, Darker than Black, and Kateikyoshi Hitman Reborn.

Q: How did you first get into cosplay?
A: I can't really remember but i think because I always liked disguises and I like anime and manga so it made a good mix.

Q: What was your criteria in choosing your costumes in general?
A: First the height because I'm really short, besides that I usually make crossplay so i choose a character i like and fits me.

Q: What does the recognition of being selected for this competition mean to you?
A: Well, I guess it means that I did a good job, especially when I've got a great teammate like Sabi!

Q: How was the reaction of your family when you won the TNT competition?
A: My mom said "Yeah i want you to buy a lot of stuff for me!"
My dad said "How you'll pay the trip?"
My sister said "I knew it!"
My friends said "We'll miss you Momoiro! Let's go get some drinks!"

Q: What do you find fascinating about Japan?
A: History, culture, anime, manga, food, music, o-sake, geisha, everything!

Q: What do you hope or expect to find once you have arrived in Japan?
A: Sake and Geisha in a tea house hahaha!

Q: Do you like Japanese food? If so, what do you like?
A: I love it! Sukiyaki, Ramen, Katsudon and obviously o-sake!

Could you please provide a comment to your present and future fans and readers of this blog?
No fans, international friends haha, well... doing cosplay allows you to be who you aren't, dress as you don't dress, do what you don't do, do your hair as you wouldn't do it, act in a way that you wouldn't normally act, speak in a way that you don't speak. For that reason, every day you do cosplay is a new life to be who you want to be. All cosplayers rules!

Thanks for that Abi!! Next up is the interview with Abi's partner Sabina Arvide.

The WCS 2009 web page is finally up!!! Kishimoto-san (aka DJ Kissy) has been slaving on it for months and I'll bet he's pretty happy to have it online.

I did a little poking around and found some great upgrades from previous versions.

Right on the top page you can see some very cool fade in images from last years event. Whoever did the image selection and editing did a great job!

Profiles of the 9 teams that have been selected until now can be found in the profiles section:
http://www.tv-aichi.co.jp/wcs/2009/e/profile/index.php

You can see the photo gallery from the countries already selected as well:
http://www.tv-aichi.co.jp/wcs/2009/e/gallery/

There are reports available on the proceedings of each national final with placement and performance details of each preliminary event participant:
http://www.tv-aichi.co.jp/wcs/2009/e/report/

There is plenty of details on rules and regulations. Take a look at them, there are some changes from 2008:
http://www.tv-aichi.co.jp/wcs/2009/e/event/wcs_reg.php

Another cool new part to the web page is the complete list of preliminary rounds. With 15 countries participating now its easy to make a mistake with which preliminary took place when. I have made that mistake. (>,<) Also, there is detailed information on the multiple regional rounds in Brazil and Australia.
http://www.tv-aichi.co.jp/wcs/2009/e/preliminary/

Another need addition is a new sort of random image selection on the right side, keep clicking through and maybe come across some content that you haven't seen before.

Altogether a pretty robust page with lots of content to go through. Enjoy and you can say thanks to DJ Kissy for his hard work by leaving a comment here:
http://www.tv-aichi.co.jp/blog/wcs/2009/04/up_4.html

The organizers of FICOMIC in Barcalona where the WCS preliminaries from Spain are held sent us a bunch of pictures that they took at the event and I'd like to share them with you here. First are pictures of each of the groups that competed. There are quite a few but it is a rare treat to be able to see a photo of each group, have a look!














Below is a group picture of all of the participants.

Here are some great shots of the winners and representatives for Spain at WCS 2009 - Laura and Bereniç.








Beautiful pictures, thanks a lot Graziella!

The 10th representative team for WCS 2009 will be decided this weekend in Shanghai, China. The ChinaJoy event will go from the 1st to 3rd of May and TVA staff O-san is on her way to be a part of it.

The picture above doesnt get bigger than a thumbnail unfortunately but it is taken by O-san at Centrair airport. Seems like it was very busy because of the Golden Week holiday.