Here's a quick rundown of the many events of Saturday, before the Championship day really gets going! The teams were at it for over twelve hours yesterday, but somehow remained energetic through to the end.

The day began with the Nishiki Red Carpet Parade outside the hotel; the lobby turned into a press centre.

The teams got ready in totally different cosplays to yesterday; first out on the red carpet came the samurai from the World Samurai Festival that's happening at the same time. Then each cosplay team paraded down the red carpet, accompanied by a member of idol group SKE48. Here are a few of the teams:

France looking lovely as Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus.

Italy look fearsome as usual as William Birkin from Resident Evil 2 and Rock Adams from Soul Calibur 4.

South Korea are striking as Jin from BlazBlue and Kamui from Vocaloid.

Mexico draw admiration as usual with their Diao Chan from Dynasty Warriors and Squall Leonhart from Dissidia: Final Fantasy.

After each team had made its way down the carpet being photographed by the press and the lively crowd, there was a photography session at the end of the walk; first the teams and SKE48; then the samurai joined in too; it was quite a display!

It was a baking hot day in Nagoya, as usual, so the teams were happy to get on the bus and take a ride back to the hotel, where some took a much-needed rest and others were interviewed by the press.
The next event was the big cosplay parade in Osu. We took a coach and microbus there, but had to wait a while because the sheer volume of Japanese cosplayers who had also come to parade was so great that it took a little while to sort them out. The teams and other cosplayers paraded through the shopping avenues of Osu, drawing a huge crowd, and then had a mini interview and performance in the Osu Kannon temple grounds.

Ed concentrated his camera on the international teams, while I took care of photographing the Japanese cosplayers. There were between 200 and 300, and it was really amazing to see the effort everyone had put in and their enthusiasm!
Here's a few pictures of the Japanese participants.

The imagination people use when coming up with their costumes is just fantastic!

And, of course, last year's winners Yuri and Rie:

After the parade and mini stage, the teams took the bus back to the hotel, where some only had a few minutes' rest before they had to go straight back out again, down to Oasis 21 for a rehearsal of their championship performances. The others followed soon after. Even without full costumes and makeup, I could already see that the standard was unbelievably high; today's championship will be something amazing for sure!

Backstage was a sea of props, cosplayers and staff, making sure their stage placing would be perfect on the night. Each team then ran through their performance with backing sound and visuals.
As an example, here's a quick pick of Thailand as Final Fantasy: Advent Children's Bahamut SIN and Cloud Strife (one of my all-time favourite characters):

The teams were both worked up and tired after such a long day; but there were still the opening and closing ceremonies to rehearse.

They somehow managed it, however. Then back to the hotel for as much rest as possible, because today is the big day, and needless to say it's going to be long.

Well, that's all from me until after the Championship. Come and watch if you can!