Saturdays schedule entailed a visit to Comic World, the biggest comic event in South Korea. It is a monthly engagement at one of the larger convention centers in Seoul and cosplayers from Seoul and other places nearby will get together to do their thing in the park behind the center. It offered some nice background imagery and wide spaces. At one point there were about 200 cosplayers and about the same number of friends and family. Here is a shot of the whole group:
Our first night came to an end with a traditional Korean hot pot dinner called Butai Nabe. Here is everyone as we headed back to the hotel:
In the front you can see Renee of the US team from 2008 and Yuimino of Osaka 2008 are to the top right. In the front beside Renee is Akira of Osaka 2007.
Yuimino came in on a flight from Tokyo arriving an hour and a half after me. Some of the Wonder Cosplay Festival staff and myself hung out until their flight came in and we all took the bus to hotel in Seoul together. Here's a shot of Yuimino on the bus:
They've been pretty busy of late Yuimino went to NYAF in New York last year as you probably know. In early May they made appearances at both Cicaf in Hangzhou and the WCS preliminaries at ChinaJoy in Shanghai. They have had regular live performances around Japan and have put out a new song recently. They had the lyric book out and were practicing their moves on the bus, I think we are in for a good show!
Here I am at Inchon Airport in Korea with these big bags again.
I will be attending the WCS Korea preliminaries of course giving you updates as the event progresses.
Here is the second part to the interview with India of the USA 2009 pair:
Question: WCS 2008 Osaka representatives Yui and Mino were invited out to NYAF when you won, did you get a chance to meet them? What was your impression if you did?
Dia: It was great to meet them! They were staying at our friend Renee's (Umister of Team USA 2008) house out in Queens, so we were all able to hang out after the convention. Along with a big group of friends, we took them to an authentic NYC diner, and then back to my apartment for a little party. We had a really good time - they taught us all sorts of fun Japanese words and told us about different series we should look into.
Q: How was the reaction of your family when you won the competition?
D: I called them immediately afterward, and they were so pleased. My family has been really supportive of this crazy hobby of mine over the years; my mom has been sewing her entire life, and got me started in it when I was very young, so she's always excited to see what I do. My dad made sure to tell everyone about the competition at work the next day, and it was immediately demanded that I send over some photos so he could show them off.
Q: What do you find fascinating about Japan?
D: I love learning about any foreign culture, but Japan is especially intriguing to me, since it's so different from what I'm familiar with, and yet also very similar. I'm a city-girl, so I'm quite fascinated by cities. I can't wait to visit Tokyo and just wander through. I'm also very much into fashion, so I'm interested in experiencing the fashion culture in Japan and explore the trends and stores.
Outside of that, I've been interested in geisha culture for a number of years, so I'd love to do some research on that, perhaps even visit Kyoto. I also have an interest in modern Japanese art, particularly the Superflat movement, so I may have to pick up some Takashi Murakami merchandise while I'm there.
Q: What do you hope or expect to find once you have arrived in Japan?
D: Piles of delicious food, adorable clothes, and crazy cosplayers! In all honesty, though, I'm just utterly excited for whatever is in store. I really can't wait to meet and hang out with the cosplayers from different countries. Renee from last year's Team USA had such fantastic things to say about the camaraderie and friendship between the entrants, and I'm really looking forward to that.
Q: Do you like Japanese food? If so, what do you like?
D: Absolutely! I love food, and I'll try just about anything you put in front of me. Seafood is my favorite thing in the world, so of course I love sushi and anything involving it. Octopus, squid, and crab are some of my favorites. I also love all kinds of Japanese noodles, especially since you can get really creative with the things you add to them. I'm really excited to try okonomiyaki, too. And I love Japanese beer as well!
Q: Could you please provide a comment to your fans and readers of this blog?
D: I hope our words aren't too boring! Elizabeth and I both really do love to talk, so please get in touch with us if there's anything you want to know or you think we can help with! This hobby is so much better when people are open and willing to share ideas. Also, the amount of support we're getting from everyone is so overwhelming and so inspiring - huge huge thanks to everybody!
Thanks a lot to both Liz and Dia, looking forward to meeting you and seeing you out in Japan!
We have the other half of the USA 2009 duo for you today, here is the first half of the interview with India:
Question: WCS 2009 is coming up, what is the current overall state of your preparations?
Dia: Getting there! The press costume is done, with the exception of some shoes, which is a big load off my shoulders. The press costume was important for me to do really cleanly and professionally, so I'm glad I was able to get it out of the way in a comfortable manner.
I've got most of the fabric/accessories I need for everything else, so I'm ready to get started on everything! I'll probably start with my performance costume (or, rather, costumes!) first to get it done, so I don't have to worry about it anymore. That way, I can focus on the more complicated aspects of the staging, and practice a lot!
Like Elizabeth, the parade costume will be last for me, since it's very easy. I could probably run it up in a day, which is good.
Q: What manga and anime you like, why do you like those titles? What are your favorite characters and why?
D: FLCL has been one of my favorites for a long time. Mamimi is one of my favorite characters (and one I cosplayed a long time ago, too) and I love the varying art styles used in the series. I like a lot of Gainax titles, actually - Gunbuster and Diebuster have a special place in my heart. Noriko and Nono are such fantastic characters, and the "hard work and guts!" theme of the series is really inspirational. Aside from that, I love all of Ai Yazawa's manga, with Paradise Kiss being my favorite. Because I went to fashion school, I really connect with the characters, and the designs are fabulous.
Q: What was your criteria in choosing your costumes, either the ones for the WCS or otherwise?
D: It was actually rather tricky! Since there are such specific guidelines we need to follow, we had a hard time deciding what to use. We also wanted to take into consideration the weather-related aspects - Nagoya in the summer is incredibly hot, so we don't want to overheat during the parade. We wanted to choose popular series that were also special to us, and I think we came up with some great selections. Cardcaptor Sakura is great for big, flashy costumes in the performance, while Kuroshitsuji allows us to exhibit our sewing skills, and Space Channel 5 is skimpy and well-ventilated!
For other costumes, I'm generally drawn to the costume itself, not necessarily the character or series. I love designs that require intricate sewing, or that challenge me with something I've never done. I'm also often drawn into a series by the art style; occasionally, I'll even do a costume out of an artbook by an artist I like, even though there isn't a series attached. I also enjoy doing costumes from non-anime/manga series, like movies and TV shows. Sometimes goofy TV costumes can be the best!
Q: Could you tell me what your performance at New York Anime Festival was like?
D: Like Elizabeth said, it was all done in a month, which is a pretty short amount of time for such a big endeavor. There was a lot of frustration (changing into big fluffy costumes in a public bathroom is less than ideal!) and a lot of anxiety, but it all paid off. It was really nerve-wracking practicing on the stage for the first time - you kind of hold your breath and hope that your idea comes across to the audience, and we were lucky enough that ours did.
You can see the second part to the interview with Dia right here tomorrow.
Here is the second part of the interview with Elizabeth of the USA 2009 pair:
Question: WCS 2008 Osaka representatives Yui and Mino were invited out to NYAF when you won, did you get a chance to meet them? What was your impression if you did?
Liz: Oh yeah, they were really nice. We hung out with them after the NYAF masquerade. I really loved their performance. They move so well, and they’re really expressive. After the con we were hanging out, and I asked them if there were any new series I should be reading, and they suggested I check out Kuroshitsuji, so I owe them a debt of gratitude.
Q: How was the reaction of your family when you won the competition?
L: They were very excited. My mom said she cried. My husband said he teared up a little, but that’s probably because he was like, “Oh no! I thought Yuuko would be the end of it.” I prefer to work in a constant state of distressed anxiety. I think that was the main lesson I took from working in theater: If you aren’t crying, you aren’t working hard enough. So when I’m in the middle of a costume, my house is covered in shredded fabric, sequins, balls of wig hair, and I’m constantly going, “Oh no, oh no! I ruined it! What’s going on? Is this fabric wrong? Oh no! I made it too big! Now it’s too small! Oh no!” That’s just how I like to work, but it’s pretty stressful to watch.
Q: What do you find fascinating about Japan?
L: I love Japanese theater, particularly kabuki and kyogen. I adore Nomura Mansai so much. I saw him perform at Meiji Shrine a few summers ago, and I saw him in San Francisco in Kyogen of Errors, which everyone should try to see. Japanese puppets are amazing, of course. I’m also a big fan of Takarazuka, except my favorite actress just retired and now I need to pick someone new to fan.
I’m particularly interested in theatre fan culture. I did my master’s thesis on shini-e, which are “death prints” or memorial woodblock prints of kabuki actors. Specifically, I looked at depictions of the fans themselves in the prints, which was a little unusual. It’s an interesting way of celebrating one’s own fandom by memorializing the actor’s celebrity.
Also, turn-of-the-century Japanese theater offers a remarkable opportunity for looking at the performance of gender, both on-stage and off, because there were such distinct approaches going on simultaneously. And everyone was talking about it, so there’s a wealth of available contemporary literature on the subject. It’s fascinating.
Q: What do you hope or expect to find once you have arrived in Japan?
L: Mos Burger! Now that I say that, I want Mos Burger so badly.
I have some friends living in Japan whom it will be good to see again. I hope to go see some shows, do some print club, and do a lot of shopping.
I’m excited to meet the other WCS teams, too. They seem really cool from what little I know of them from online. I can’t wait to meet them for real.
Q: Do you like Japanese food? If so, what do you like?
L: Of course! I write about food for a living, so I pretty much have to be open to eating anything at least twice. Fish eyes, foie gras, lobster pancreas. Actually, I’m in a club in New York called Gastronauts, where we just go around once a month and eat whatever the club founder tells us to eat. Like insects or live shrimp and octopus. It’s pretty delicious, actually. My coworker says live shrimp taste better because “the will to live is made of umami.” I wish she wouldn’t talk like that! She makes us sound totally crazy.
As far as Japanese food goes, I really like wagashi and kaiseki. Of course, there’s nothing better than sushi and beer.
Q: Could you please provide a comment to your fans and readers of this blog?
L: I’m pretty sure all my fans are just my mom’s different sockpuppet accounts. I hope people are enjoying reading all this. If there’s anything you’d like to know, please don’t hesitate to ask! I love to talk and don’t like secrets, so I'm an open book. And I really appreciate everyone’s support. I’m working really hard, and I’ll do my best to put on a good show for everyone. Thanks, everyone!
Thank you for the effort you put into the answers Liz, tomorrow we will have India of USA 2009.
The WCS event is coming up in a couple months, I will be on my way to the Korea preliminaries at the end of the week. Today I am happy to introduce you to Elizabeth of the USA 2009 team. I divided the interview into two parts, check back tomorrow for Part 2!
Question: WCS 2009 is coming up, what is the current overall state of your preparations?
Liz: Not so bad. My press costume is finished, and I think that was the most thought-intensive costume from a construction standpoint. I was in a mood to do some tailoring, so I was glad to get to drape a tailcoat, which I hadn’t done before. Pants are always comparatively finicky. Then there were pin-tucks, and pleats, and stripe-matching. It was fun. I go through phases with what I want to make, and when I started that project I was in a mood to focus on construction and use some new techniques to make something very restrained and tasteful. But now that the Kuroshitsuji costumes are finished, I can genuinely say the tasteful part of the program is over. Taste has left the building. Everything from here on out is going to be candy-colored disco princesses.
I’ve started on my performance costume. It’s not going to be difficult, per se, but the decoration will take a lot of by-hand work. But I’m not worried about it, because the overall silhouette is familiar to me, so I don’t have to do any new patterns or drape anything.
I also got to work laying out the plans for our props for the stage performance, but while I have models made, I haven’t started constructing any of those yet. I’ll probably get to work on that over the weekend.
I’m saving the parade costume for last. I’m doing Ulala from Space Channel 5, and I don’t anticipate that one will take a lot of time.
Q: What manga and anime you like, why do you like those titles? What are your favorite characters and why?
L: Right now I'm really interested in Kuroshitsuji by Yana Toboso. It’s a really gorgeous series set in Victorian England, and it’s wonderfully dark and funny. I can’t resist the aesthetic. I also love Samurai Champloo, which is one of the best-written and best-animated series I’ve ever seen. My favorite characters are Integra Hellsing, from Hellsing, Ciel Phantomhive from Kuroshitsuji. I like the people who are in charge purely through force of will, despite having no actual supernatural powers. I also love Haruhara Haruko from FLCL, and Miss Piggy. Bossy women make the best role models.
Q: What was your criteria in choosing your costumes, either the ones for the WCS or otherwise?
L: There are some rules we have to follow for the selection. All the costumes have to be from Japanese source materials. The press and parade costumes can be from anime, manga or video games. The performance costume must be from an anime or manga. There is a big list of titles we can’t do, or companies we can’t do things from.
After that, the considerations are that the press costume must be something we can travel in, and it is best to be from something currently very popular. The parade is going to be very hot. Japan gets really hot in the summer, and the parade is very crowded. For that, it’s best to do something small, cool, and not too heavy.
For the performance costume, it must be from an anime or manga, and it needs to look good from far away. This isn’t the place to be simple or subtle.
After that, it’s just about what you like. I’m a little obsessed with Kuroshitsuji right now, so I really wanted to do that for one of them. They’re all wool and silk, so they’re way too hot for parade, and I didn’t have any ideas for a performance, so we chose those for our press costumes.
The parade costumes, Space Channel 5, were India’s idea. I love that game, and I think the designs are really cute. Also they’re relatively small, so hopefully they’ll be cool. I’m excited to get to work with some crazy orange metallic vinyl. We spent months arguing over the performance costumes. We thought about doing Paradise Kiss/Gokinjo Monogatari, but while the Grand Prix dresses were perfect for the stage, our skit ideas were pretty uninspired. It really came down to a three-way tie between the Chevalier d’Eon manga, Vampire Hunter D, and Cardcaptor Sakura. I had really good skit ideas for all three of those, and we couldn’t decide at all. But then I happened upon some Venetian Carnivale costumes, and I started to get inspired by the things they were doing. It was really easy to translate those sorts of techniques over to the costumes for Cardcaptor Sakura, so that really pushed me in that direction. From there I got some ideas for things we could put into the performance, and India and I decided we could really put on our best show with that series.
Q: Could you tell me what your performance at New York Anime Festival was like?
A: Haha, that was a little funny. We’d only decided to enter with the xxxHOLiC costumes a month before NYAF, so we were sewing like crazy people. Our concept for the NYAF contest was pretty simple: Make the biggest, most impressive costumes we can finish in a month, and come up with a skit that is immediately understandable to anyone. We knew the judges might not understand English or be familiar with the series, so we thought it was a bad idea to do anything too talky or that relied on inside jokes or knowledge.
In the series, India’s character, Himawari, is cursed with awful luck. People around her get hurt all the time. Eventually she is given an egg that hatches into a magic bird that fixes Himawari, so she’s no longer a walking calamity waiting to happen. My character gives the egg to a different character, and he gives it to Himawari. But we didn’t have that character, so I just gave it directly to her.
India picked the music. People have been asking about it; it’s from the movie Amelie,
Basically we just wanted to give the impression of the series with some pretty music and make it easy for everyone to understand.
Check in tomorrow for the second half of the interview.
The Brazil preliminaries have in fact been going on around the country since July of last year and 12 finalists have been selected until now. The 13th and 14th pairs will be selected during the next 2 upcoming weekends you can see the finalists on the JTB website here:
http://henshin.uol.com.br/wcs/
Its in Portuguese but try poking around, especially the regional finalists already selected along the top.
Things are getting so hot in Brazil that they have put together a World Cosplay Summit song!!!! You can listen to it here:
Laura from the WCS 2005 US group stopped by Nagoya on a Japan tour with her husband Ryan last week. It was really good to see her again, she stayed at the same Toyoko Inn where all participants stayed in 2005 so it was not just a blast to see her again but also meet up again at the hotel where she stayed. We took a look at the present venue for the WCS and then we went to eat ramen at a popular ramen shop called, heres a shot of them:
Laura is keeping busy with work in LA and still active in organizing manga/anime/cosplay events with Anime Expo. She is also running a cosplay accessory business now. It had been almost 4 years to meet and was really good to see that she is sticking with her passion and moving from strictly cosplay to actively promoting the growth and development of the art.
Here is the interview with the second member of the Mexico pair for WCS 2009, Sabina:
(Photos to be updated later)
Question: What manga and anime you like, why do you like those titles? What are your favorite characters and why?
Sabina: I think I’m a second impact child, I love Evangelion!
I´m also a big fan of Clamp, both in anime and manga. Their illustrations are amazing.
My favorite characters are usually the more complex the better. I love Ayanami Rei, Mamimi from FLCL, Shiro from Tekkonkinkreet I also tend to like the cute ones, like Chii or Sakura from CCsakura.
Q:Are you watching any anime right now? If so, what are you watching?
S: Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei…. I’m loving it, it’s hilarious!
Q: How did you first get into cosplay?
S: The day I learned how to use a sewing machine I was practicing with a cute pink fabric. After one of the exercises I looked at it and said to myself “this looks like something Tomoyo would wear from Sakura…”
My eyes opened widely and at that moment I knew I would never stop.
Q: What was your criteria in choosing your costumes in general?
S: Sometimes I fall in love immediately with the clothes and later the character slowly grows in me. But I prefer love at first sight with the whole:
character + clothing…. The heavenly union < sigh >
Q: What does the recognition of being selected for this competition mean to you?
S: Going to Japan has been my dream for a long time!
I now believe everything is possible, if you fight for it.
Q: How was the reaction of your family when you won the competition?
S: They were at the convention, cheering up for us, and filming the whole event. When the winner team announcement was made they were so happy that they sort of dropped the camera. The day after my mom and my grandma made a big cake to celebrate.
They’ve always been very supportive with all my crazy ideas ^__^ !
Q: What do you find fascinating about Japan?
S: Their architecture, both modern and classic! I believe good architecture can represent a culture almost entirely because it is an aesthetic representation of the way of life, the traditions, an the various aspects that make a culture unique. I also love Japanese graphics in general: paintings, prints, manga and anime. I find them beautiful and one of a kind.
Q: What do you hope or expect to find once you have arrived in Japan?
S: I think I may be amazed every second. I’ll try to keep my eyes and heart wide open to take with me as much as I can of that beautiful country.
Q: Do you like Japanese food? If so, what do you like?
S: Yes! I love sashimi, tempura, okonomiyaki, shabu shabu… oh the list could go on forever!
Q: Could you please provide a comment to the readers of this blog?
S: Never stop dreaming and never stop fighting to make your dreams come true.
Be who you want to be, dress how you want to dress, and be confident that there will always be someone out there who shares your dream.
Thanks Sabina, looking forward to seeing you in Japan!
A few of the teams have been putting their own blogs together in the past couple years, I would like to introduce you to a few of them for the WCS 2009 teams. Here is Elizabeth and India of the USA team:
http://community.livejournal.com/wcs_teamusa09/
This is Annabell and Iris of the German team:
http://www.m-o-e.org/
I came across some of the other teams as well.
Here is the Sabina and Abi's from team Mexico:
http://community.livejournal.com/teammexicowcs09/
Here is Ida and Shige's of Denmark:
http://community.livejournal.com/denmark_wcs_09/
This is the blog for Katharine and Gabriella from Australia:
http://community.livejournal.com/wcsaustralia/
Take a look at them, leave a comment if you can, there are further links to personal homepages and blogs so take a look around and send your voice of support!.
If anyone knows of any other blogs or homepages by WCS 2009 participants, please let me know in the comments below!
Before leaving O-san had lunch with the ChinaJoy staff, thanks for putting on a great show and excellent hospitality!
The 10th pair for WCS 2009 have been selected. They are Shi Chen Shon and Jen Jiao Yuin who won with a performance from Shin Sangoku Musou. 10 teams competed in the competition and the crowd went wild in response to their well executed performance. Shi and Jen's movements were very clear and concise, they should make the competition very interesting this summer in Japan. The picture quality is not the best but their costumes look very ornate and detailed, it will be good to see them up close.
There are some videos of the preliminaries online if you search for "09CJ-WCS", unfortunately at the moment they are only on video sites in China making them unviewable for those who are not in that country. Hopefully we'll be able to see video of the performances sometime soon!
On Saturday the WCS preliminaries were held. Zhao Chin of the pair from China at WCS 2008 was present at the preliminaries cheering on some friends when O-san caught up with her.
This image below may be familiar to some, it is Yuimino, Osaka representatives for WCS 2008 and winners of the Brother Award.
Outside of their regular tours in Japan they have had international trips as well with a visit to the New York Anime Festival last year and the visit to ChinaJoy in Shanghai this month. In June they will be traveling to the Everland event in Seoul, South Korea. They had quite a following of fans in Shanghai and did an autograph session as well.
On May 1st the preliminaries for the final ChinaJoy event in July were held, you can see one of the teams that preformed in the image below.
The room where the performances were done had a packed audience and it was very stuffy.
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.
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 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
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