Road to Nagoya - WCS 2011 - Team Italy

Team Thailand... Oh My God!!!

2011-06-20T17:15:00.006+02:00

First of all I apologize for not updating my blog so often as I wish, but this is a veeeeeery full period, I just came from a Cosplay event in Sicily (Cospladya) and very soon the awesome Japan Expo event is coming. I need to finish my costumes and study for my university exams, lots of work!

I can show you some Work In Progress of my Japan Expo costume:

Here you can see just a detail of the shoulder cape and a photo of my hips flowers. This will also be my Osu Parade costume... can you guess the character? :P

But anyways, what made me write on the blog right away was the selection of the Team Thailand! One of my favorite cosplayers EVER was selected: YukiGodBless together with JiakiDarkness!

I'm still under shock! I can't wait to meet them in Nagoya!!
Please check their costumes:

And take some time to see their fabulous performance: CLICK!
Soon with more updates!

Netherlands, Rules, Let's begin!

2011-05-11T14:45:00.010+02:00

All right! The selections keep going! This last weekend the Team Netherland was selected! (And they will be also the representative for their country at the European Cosplay Gathering this summer at Japan Expo 2011!)

Our best congratulation for the victory to Ilona Arends and Rick De Mönnink!
They partecipate as Alphonse and Edward Elric from Full Metal Alchemist!

You can see the video of their Animecon's skit following this LINK.

Some big news about the rules were published too: This year to balance the new props limits a background video on the mega-screen was allowed for the cosplayers to play during their skit. However due to technical issues this will no longer be possible, there will be just one megascreen (down from 3 of the previous year) and it will be used to show the live performance of the stage.
I'm happy we didn't start working on the video already! Getting to know this news now saved us a lot of extra work!

Also a new World Cosplay Summit Official event was announced for this year! The "Sweet Castle Photoset"!

It will be two days after the Championship in an amazing location! Some more infos on the Official World Cosplay Summit News Page.

And what about our Work in Progress? Well... we did start! Right now we're very busy with work and studies and so we couldn't do much!

Of course it's just a beginning... but we got to start somewhere! ^___^
So far we also decided the costumes we will make for the Interviews and the Red Carpet / Osu Parade.

More updates soon!

Team Italy - Profile!

2011-04-22T12:13:00.009+02:00

That's it!

We're finally online on the Official World Cosplay Summit 2011 Page!

To see our photo and profile description among the other teams gave us extra charge in order to work on the costumes more than ever! We'll do our very best!!!

We'll keep you updated with some preview of the work in progress soon!

Fields of Hope...

2011-04-17T19:31:00.000+02:00

Together with Marika we decided to give our little contribute to the initiative "Prayers from Cosplayers".

This is our entry as Lacus & Meer from Gundam Seed.
Our message is given by the song "Fields of Hope".

We encourage cosplayers to join too, this initiative is promoted from Japan for Japan.
They really care about this, it's no joke, they love to feel all the cosplayers around the world close to them!
So please take some time to send them your message too! Maybe is "nothing much" for us, but it means a lot to them!

Minna san, ganbatte kudasai!

Costumes... CONFIRMED!

2011-04-15T16:41:00.000+02:00

Yattaaaaaaaaaa!! The new costumes that Marika and me decided to create for the finals of the World Cosplay Summit have been approved!!! I'm so so so so happy and relieved!!! Tomorrow we'll meet and start working on the skit and planning right away! Ganbarimaaaaaaaaaaaasu!

Welcome Marika!

2011-04-12T12:06:00.000+02:00

It's official.
My road to the World Cosplay Summit 2011 will now continue with Marika Roncon!
As you might know from the previous post, Ginevra decided not to participate the finals in Japan anymore for personal reasons.
I was blessed with the possibility to have a new partner and so my new journey with Marika begins!
She's a great friend to me, we worked together for the World Cosplay Summit selections at Romics 2009 as Seth & Mirka from Trinity Blood.

Besides being a great friend she's an amazing cosplayer, I believe she lost the count over the costumes she made, but that number should be up to more than 200!
When we worked together in 2009 she taught me a lot of things and my sewing skills improved a lot. I'm really grateful for her help she always gave me since years.

Another plus is that we live really close! Just 15 minutes by car! I can't wait to start working back again!
The time is running short, but I believe we can make it! We will surely do our best!
We will keep you updated on the progress!

If you wish to see more from Marika please visit her Website or her deviantART.

Soon an official communicate will be published on the Official Romics Website, stay tuned!

The Challenge for Japan... and for the Team Italy.

2011-04-05T17:16:00.000+02:00

It's no more secret, it has been posted on facebook and on the forums.
I'm here to confirm what's been told: Ginevra will no longer partecipate in the World Cosplay Summit.
She made up her mind on her own after the recent events that hit Japan hard.
I absolutely respect her decision, even if mine is different... and so our paths divided.
I would like here to report what's been written already from Cosplay Planet and CosmoPlay.

I will keep the blog updated as soon as I recieve official comunications from both the Romics organization and the TV Aichi.

Most of all I would like to copy here the note that Ed Hoff has wrote not long ago.

The Challenge for Japan

We are experiencing trying times in Japan. I just came back from a trip to Tokyo where the atmosphere is quite different to Nagoya. It is more subdued, there are people in the streets going about their business as usual but Operation Yashima is in effect, the Yamanote Line train runs but the lights inside the trains are out, half of the illumination at night in Akihabara is turned off and signs for convenience stores are dark making you wonder if they are open at all.

I gathered with some cosplayer friends to construct costumes which everyone had set aside for 3 weeks. Each came with their own personal stories - cancelled travel plans to an event in China, leaving Tokyo to stay in Nagoya for a week at a hotel or volunteering time at a shelter in Ibaraki Prefecture making soba for the displaced. It was good for everyone to get their mind off of things momentarily and do something that comes very naturally to a cosplayer - making a costume.

Our talk did not dwell on the negative for long, discussion turned to what efforts could be made to improve things. We went out for dinner and talked about the importance especially now of buying things or eating at restaurants to help the economy. This may be a different approach to the situation than in other countries, mourning in Japan is done appropriately and over the long term but I found in my friends a strong desire to work through this difficulty now in a productive way. It's the reaction to these challenges that make Japan the country that it is. The stories that fill our favorite manga and anime come from living in an environment where natural and man made disaster is always a possibility. I was grateful to be beside my friends at that time and to see a hidden strength in them that is a part of what makes Japan the country we love.

I return to Nagoya which seems a world away it is peacefulness. Although there are people collecting funds at train stations or on TV and clothing donation places have been set up, there are no power shortage and life remains uncomfortably normal. We seem so close but technically are in the Western power grid separate from Tokyo and with Sendai being over 500 kilometers away we only felt light shaking during the earthquake. Over the last 3 weeks I have asked myself what I could do to help and I realize that just being in Japan beside my friends is a lot. I pour my time into activities with Tadaaki “Jacky” Dosai on the Prayers from Cosplayers project and the reaction from people in Japan has been amazing. This is a small thing I can do to give people the strength and emotional support to keep going.

Outside of Japan these nuances seem lost. We turn to the newspapers for our news but all we see are shocking images of a country in ruins. The sensationalized stories are not limited to any country as you can see on the Journalists Wall of Shame and Italian media too is suspect. Reporting like this shows us the ugly side of the news – it’s like they have turned their back on a friend of ours in order to sell a few more newspapers. Lost are the honest efforts of people trying to normalize their lives.

Within this climate we must make hard decisions. One question is whether it is right to go on with the WCS this year. As the cosplayers in Tokyo felt, moving forward is a small thing that we can do to help the economy recover and return a sense of normalcy. There is so much more that can be accomplished by doing something than by doing nothing. Another question is whether it is right to participate as an individual. Some cosplayers in Japan are momentarily halting activity in consideration of friend and family and this is a question that WCS representatives from each country may be asking themselves as well.

It is hard for me to say this and some people may not believe me but there are things in life that are more important than cosplay. Friends, family and well being are always paramount and decisions made on these factors must be supported. Japan will be fine, the WCS will be fine - in these tough times we must be supportive and understanding of personal choices. Daniela and Ginevra of Team Italy are making the same decision. I ask that friends and people who know them be close to both cosplayers and support their choices.

Italy has a strong and vibrant cosplay community. Now is the time for cosplayers to come together to do what you can in support of Japan and also support the hard efforts of Daniela and Ginevra. Respect their decisions and provide them with the strength they now need to move on. By so doing we can help create a stronger Team Italy. With this strength the cosplay community in your country will always be looked to as a power.

Do what you can to support, donate where you can, send a photo message of encouragement to Prayers from Cosplayers. Show Daniela and Ginevra that the entire cosplay community which makes up "Team Italy" is there to back them up in their choices. No matter what the form, you can be sure that the Italy representatives at the WCS will have double the support of cosplayers, staff and volunteers over the summer. Have no doubt too that the people of Japan will work harder than ever to pull through this situation and come out an even stronger country.

Edmund W. Hoff

TV Aichi Earthquake Relief Fundraising

2011-03-19T19:16:00.000+01:00

"2011 East Japan Great Earthquake Disaster Relief Fundraising

TV Aichi is raising money to support the rescue operations and rebuilding efforts in the devastated area of the 2011 East Japan Great Earthquake.
Working through affiliated station TV Tokyo to support the disaster-stricken area."

Read more infos on the World Cosplay Summit Official Website and the TV Aichi Post with details.

Prayers from Cosplayers

2011-03-16T21:00:00.000+01:00

I got to know about this very nice initiative, looking forward to see many photos from cosplayers all around the world!

Hello everyone,
(日本語以下）
As you know on March 11th 2011 the massive Tohoku Earthquake
struck Northern Japan. As a small measure of assistance, we
would like to announce a campaign called "Prayers from
Cosplayers". Through this we can provide an opportunity for cosplayers around the world to send Japan messages of hope. Please send your pictures to the following web page with a message on an A4 size piece of paper or cardboard.

http://www.prayersfromcosplayers.com/

Please spread the word!

Best regards.

皆さん、

2011年3月11日に日本で発生した「東北地方太平洋沖地震」に世界中
のコスプレイヤーがエールを送るキャンペーン「Prayers from
Cosplayers」をより始動することをお伝えします。A4サイズの紙かボードにメッセージを書いた写真をアップロードしてください。

http://www.prayersfromcosplayers.com/

広報、よろしくお願いいたします！

Earthquake in Japan...

2011-03-16T19:09:00.001+01:00

I wish I was wise enough to make a decent post to describe how I feel about the events happening in Japan right now... I believe I'm not though.

I will just say that I'm extremely relieved to know that the people I know are safe, even if this is a selfish speech.

I'll link the World Cosplay Summit Communications post about this.

Minna san, ganbatte kudasai!

More news about Malaysia!

2011-03-16T19:04:00.000+01:00

That's it! As announced there will be 17 countries this year to partecipate the World Cosplay Summit finals in Nagoya!

More news about the Team Malaysia have been published!

Please read the details on the Official World Cosplay Summit Website!

We are 17!!! Malaysia!

2011-03-10T12:04:00.000+01:00

Yes! Yes! I knew it I knew it!!
I'm so happy to hear this kind of news! More teams to come, more friends to meet all over the world!

We will be 17 teams! The second new entry of thi years is Malaysia as announced in the Official World Cosplay Summit Twitter!

"We are pleased to announce that the 17th country to participate in the World Cosplay Summit for 2011 is Malaysia! More details to come."

Can't wait to meet them too!!

Maybe...

2011-03-05T12:21:00.000+01:00

More and more news... Maybe!

I just saw the post of Mari Nimura (2006 - 2010 event staff, blogger and twitter feed, 2011 webmaster) on the Official World Cosplay Summit Facebook Group announcing the new country that will join the even this year: Netherlands...But it seems that we can expect even more news!

As you can see Ed Hoff answers the question:

"Is the (Netherlands) only country joining or will there be others?"

Saying:

"There may be further announcements"

This sounds great! Maybe even more countries will join up the Event this year! This would explain the rules changes including the shorter time limit!

Can't wait to hear more!! For now let's "ちょっと待っててね♪Please wait a little☆" as Mari Nimura suggests!

WCS 2011 Official Website and Championship Finals Dates!

2011-02-23T18:06:00.000+01:00

The Official World Cosplay Summit 2011 Website has been published!!

Hopefully soon enough the Team Italy's profile will be added on the official website.

Another big news is that we might have the dates of the Championship!
On the dutch Animecon WCS 2011 Website we can read that:

"Stichting Promotie Japanse Popcultuur, the people behind the Anime festival, in cooperation with Scandinavian Air Service (SAS) will send both winners and an Anime festival staff member to Japan from August 4 - August 10 of 2011 to represent our country at this great international competition!"

Everything is getting set! Right now we need to focus on our costumes hehe!

World Cosplay Summit 2011 Rules!

2011-02-23T17:49:00.001+01:00

Hello everyone!

As you might know last year's contest was HUGE... I mean it! Huge!
There were amazing performances and amazing costumes, well not just amazing, as I said I will repeat: HUGE!
I believe that's why there were some changes from the Official World Cosplay Summit 2010 Regulations.

First of all the performance time limit has been changed:

"Please strictly adhere to the time limit of 2 minutes and 30 seconds. (Be aware that this is a change from WCS 2010)"

Another really crucial change is the new weight limits:

"All equipment, costumes and props for the Cosplay Championship performance are limited to a maximum weight of 40 kilograms combined for both performers."

And more detailed weight and size limits about the stage-props:

"All large props set on stage before the Cosplay Championship performance begins are limited to a maximum weight of 10 kilograms. Prop dimensions are limited to 2100 millimeters in height, 2100 millimeters in width and 900 millimeters in depth."

And yes, even the number of props to be set on stage is now limited:

"All large props set on stage are limited to a maximum of 3 items. Dimensions of smaller props carried onto the stage must be relayed to WCS head office in written form and accompanied by photographs."

And... we can no longer ship anything to Japan! T-T

Which means we have to fit everything in our baggage >_<

"You are required to bear the cost of any overweight luggage charges when shipping costumes and other items. It is not possible to send them to Japan by air or ship beforehand."

As a plus though we might now use the mega-screen!

"Use of the large background screen for video images is permitted. The background video or image(s) should be created by the performers; it is not permitted to use trademarked images or video."

To clear things up they made a rule explaining that the props on stage and video are not going to be judged!

"The 3 props on stage and background video will not be subject to evaluation by the judges."

Here is the list of the detailed judging criteria:

"Each judge of the cosplay championship can award 10 points for costume, 10 points for performance, and 5 points for faithfulness to the original work, for a maximum total of 25 points. .

1. Performance (10 points): level of performance, inventiveness, entertainment.

2. Costume (10 points): design, faithfulness to the original characters costume.

3. Fidelity to Original (5 points): level of faithfulness of the performance towards the original story and characters."

If you would like to read more, here is a link to the complete Official WCS 2011 Regulations.

Big News! Netherlands!

2011-02-22T23:34:00.001+01:00

Just got to know the big big news!!
A new country will join the World Cosplay Summit this year...
...NETHERLANDS!!

If you would like to read more information please check the Animecon website!

The selection of their WCS 2011 team will be held the 7th of May!
Good luck to everyone!!

Selected Teams Summary! (Up to February)

2011-02-13T23:14:00.000+01:00

We thought it would be cute to make a little summary of the selected representatives of each country up to now! ^_^
We already met (almost) them all on the web and can't wait to meet them in person! Plus many more nations are still to be selected! Can't wait!

Let's start from...

Team Australia!
Tessa Beattie & Jessica Allie were Miyoubi & Tsugiri from Alichino!

Performance Link: WCS 2011 Australia Video

Team Germany!
Iris Herrmann & Annabell Huwig were Suigintou & Shinku from Rozen Maiden!Performance Link: WCS 2011 Germany Video

Team Spain!
Maria Perez Tomas & Nicolas Cabrerizo were Juliet & Romeo from RomeoXJuliet!

Performance Link: WCS 2011 Spain Video

Team Finland!
Janne Hemminki Rusanen & Aape Heikkilä were Vash & Rai-Dei the Blade from Trigun!Performance Link: WCS 2011 Finland Video

Team Korea!
Tasha & Shinme were Kaiser EQ & Ranjang from Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite!Performance Link: WCS 2011 Korea Video

Team Mexico!
Abigail Mascherpa García & Cynthia Olvera Monterrubio were Kiri-hime & Kitsune from Hana Fuda!Performance Link: WCS 2011 Mexico Video

As far as we know still remains: Brazil, China, France, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and USA!

Team Italy, konnichiwa!!!

2011-02-07T01:11:00.000+01:00

Nice to meet you everyone!
We are Ginevra and Daniela (Selaine), the 2011 Italian Team for the World Cosplay Summit.
The event will be held this summer in Nagoya, Japan.
If you would like to know more about this event please follow the official TV Aichi's video:
WCS 2003 - 2010 Digest

To keep in touch with the other teams and whoever wants to follow our progress we made a twitter account: However we're not really big fans of Twitter so we decided to make a blog to publish our material!
Let's start from the beginning!
We started cosplaying together in Romics 2008 performing Sora & Layla from Kaleido Star:
If you want to see more photos of our first adventure together you can follow the link:
Selaine's Kaleido Star Page
Or if you prefer to just check our performance: (I apologize for the low quality video)

Then we took a break for 2009 and we decided to cosplay together for the 2010 Romics Selections!
We performed as Medusa - Art version (Ginevra) and Honlon Shuko Kanan Junrei (Daniela).
You can read more on Selaine's webpage:
Selaine's Pet Shop of Horrors Page
And if you wish to see our performance: We honestly didn't expect to win at all, since the contest was filled up with huge costumes!! Indeed we didn't keep on wearing the costumes until the prize giving... OOOOPS ^^;

Please follow us to this amazing journey, we'll keep posting news here!

See yaa~~!