keepsakes. post stories and opinion on the developments of the World Cosplay Summit in the country, and is advocating the Summit as a gateway for the country’s cosplay community to be recognized in the world.
For the first time in its run since 2013, the Philippines gets a major award in the World Cosplay Summit.
Philippine representative Team Namikaze composed of notable cosplayers Jin Joson and AC Hernandez wins the Brother Award for best costume, a major award in the annual global cosplay tournament.
The moment when Team Namikaze is give nthe Brother Award for the best costume, along with reactions from World Cosplay Summit alumni in the Philippine broadcast of the Summit streamed live on Kumu (@amboxnational on Kumu)
Joson and Hernandez cosplayed as Naruto and Jiraiya from the Naruto franchise.
In a post-event interview held on Kumu, the duo is awed and glad to receive the award, which is announced by WCS chief judge and veteran voice actor Tohru Furuya.
“Winning the Brother Award is such a big validation kasi major sponsor ‘yan, and that the tailoring part is such a big part ng WCS. They really put importance to it. … It kind of validates what we set out to show na hindi naman kailangan parati naka-armor (cosplay), and you can get acknowledgement for other skills, and ito, parang kaka-start lang namin and we’re still learning tapos we were recognized in this way, kaya totoo ‘yung gulat ko, but I’m also really happy,” Joson said.
Hernandez added that they dedicate this award to Jin’s friend Charmie who taught them how to sew. “She was a really good teacher and she’s really patient with us. We wouldn’t have gotten that award without her.”
Top (from left): Team Namikaze’s AC Hernandex and Jin Joson, Philippine broadcast lead anchor Red Mendoza. Bottom (from left): this author, Miho (WCS PH Team 2014), Yukari Nina (WCS PH Team 2016). (@amboxnational on Kumu)
The Philippine representatives also dedicate this win to everyone who has supported their journey. Team Namikaze went on to be the representative for the Philippines in the Summit’s annual World Cosplay Championship, which is organized as a video division for this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Germany gets first place with their excellent portrayal of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Italy wins second place with their rendition of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, and United Kingdom gets third with a performance of Final Fantasy which left the audience in mixed emotions.
See the list of other awardees below:
SuperMassive NFT Sponsorship Award – Team Indonesia (Dragon Ball Z)
COTY 2021 Award selected by the Grand Prix of Cosplayer of the Year 2021 – Team Belgium (Aikatsu Stars)
Prop Making Category winner – Team Mexico (Biohazard: Resident Evil 3)
Tamakoshi Visual Directing Award – Team Hong Kong (Dorohedoro), who will also receive a special Shikizakura voice actor-signed card
Sound Directing Category – Team Chile (Hatsune Miku: Project Diva)
Arda Wigs Best Actor Award – Team Sweden (Bakemonogatari), who will also receive US$500 voucher for use in Arda Wigs’ website
Environmental Consideration Award – Team India (Gintama), who used yoga mats for their costumes
Special Performance Awards
Dramatic Category – Team Russia (Mononoke)
Action – Team Japan (Nioh)
Comedy – Team France (Cat’s Eye)
This year’s World Cosplay Championship Video Division is joined by pairs from 29 competing countries and one observer nation. The Philippines led its own local broadcast of the Summit via @amboxnational on mobile streaming platform Kumu.
Last year, the World Cosplay Summit (WCS) was held online with a recap of the past events as they tread through the pandemic.
This year, they will proceed with holding the Summit in Nagoya, Japan – but this time, the participants won’t be coming in person.
The WCS Executive Office issued a statement January 29 providing details on how this year’s summit will be conducted.
Considering the current situation of the spread of the pandemic, which globally does not seem to come to an end any time soon, and as a result of a careful consideration at many levels, including consultation with the organizers of the affiliated events in 40 countries and regions, we have determined to carry out the 2021 edition as a special one with the new format of “World Cosplay Championship Video Division.”
This “World Cosplay Championship Video Division” will be a competition to determine the best cosplayers in the world, the grand champions in a contest of cosplay video entries filmed and edited by the representative cosplayers selected at each country and region, which will be judged at the stage of Oasis 21 in Nagoya, on the 7th (Saturday) and 8th (Sunday) of August 2021. This tournament will be streamed online.
World Cosplay Summit Executive Office
The WCS Executive Office also laid out important guidelines for this year’s edition of the World Cosplay Championship:
The participation in the “World Cosplay Championship Video Division” is open to teams composed of two representative cosplayers selected in national preliminaries held in countries and regions participating in the World Cosplay Summit.
The procedure to select the representative cosplayers differs depending on the country or region, so please contact with the corresponding organizers for inquiries on details regarding the national preliminaries. (These are expected to take place roughly between February and June)
The basic rules are the same as in the World Cosplay Championship so far, and participants shall submit a video entry of cosplay performance with a maximum length of 2 minutes and 30 seconds, wearing costumes made by themselves.
The detailed rules of the “World Cosplay Championship Video Division” will be announced before the end of February.
The final deadline of submission of the video entries to be presented from each representative team is expected to be around end of June.
Opinion: Add “video editing” to your skill set if you want to win
With the international competition going online due to travel restrictions, the stakes have become higher. Aside from the skill to act and to create costumes with great detail, the chosen representatives will need to prove that they are much capable of doing post-production video editing.
As mentioned in my recent segment on ANImazing Show, I stressed the importance of knowing how video editing works in order to increase the chances of winning the World Cosplay Championship.
Prior to this, winning participants have proven that aside from acting and costume-making skills, visual effects are an important aspect of the creative process in building a skit.
“… and how far our minds can explore with this video thing?”
World Cosplay Summit 2019 Team Philippines, performing a skit from Sengoku Night Blood. [Screencap from WCS YouTube]
It has been a long time since I wrote my opinion regarding the World Cosplay Summit. All the time, I was jumping to places where I have never been before — and before I knew it, I have spent a lot of time, money and resources to share the news to you.
The journey so far
In 2018, I went to Davao to cover the National Preliminaries at the Nippon Industrial and Cultural Exchange. This was the first time that I covered an event outside Manila — and I am so stunned with my experience that I consider it as a milestone… a keepsake, if you will (nudge, nudge).
In that same year, I saw myself traveling to Singapore for my first overseas trip — I am lucky to see Singapore’s National Preliminaries at C3AFA Singapore 2018:
Of all the teams, Karlonne and I were fixated on the last two teams: Rithe & Kai, and Melanie Joanne & Gearchi. Both are impressive, belting out their efforts in making the crowd awe.
In the end, I’m still firm in my bet that the former will win this one. I was right.
Lastly, I was in Cebu for my first event visit there — Otakufest 2019 — which is also a host to the Cebu Qualifiers:
The performance of both teams have made their mark in the judges’ eyes as well as the audience present in the area. This is evident especially on the part of Class S, to which the judges got surprised with their scene execution.
The story so far
Between duty and devotion, I have to put duty first — and this is why I have not talked that much about the Summit’s development in the country.
The only time I talk about this is during the actual Championship, in which teams from 40 countries have competed for the coveted title. Unlike the past Championships, this one made me think so hard of guessing who will be the champion — there’s no definite pattern.
Last year, it was “winning by nostalgia,” executed by Team Mexico as they performed the arcade classic “Street Fighter.” In 2017, it was China’s Blood+ “blood streak” effect that awed a lot — and look, no kidding, we see that effect being executed by some teams even from this year’s tournament.
With 40 countries in the pool, the organizers must do something so as not to prolong the whole process, and that brings us to this year’s championship format:
Tokyo Round — all teams will be doing a cosplay catwalk. Eight teams have been selected to qualify automatically for the final round, but they have to pass the…
Costume judging — for two days, all teams have their costumes checked and judged.
Nagoya Round — perhaps the longest on-stage round in the tournament, this had me glued on my phone as I watch on YouTube for around four to five hours at most. Sixteen teams have been selected to proceed to…
THE FINAL Round — which will put all 24 remaining teams in the bout for a spot at the podium.
Last year, it was just a qualifying and a final round. They sure made a lot of adjustments along the way.
If we will check in the Wikipedia entry for the Summit, by 2016, the “Observer” status was no longer in effect, paving way for new representatives to be in the competitive level equal to other competitor-countries. The last countries to have this status in 2015 were Canada and Sweden.
My viewpoint on select teams
Now that we have talked about my story, let’s shed light on some teams:
Malaysia
In Malaysia, their National Preliminaries was overshadowed by what I perceive as politics.
The Agence France Presse (AFP) posted a story about the said qualifier being entered by police amid immigration issues. This has been picked up by local and international news sites including Singapore’s CNA and Coconuts. Just a few months ago, a similar incident happened there. My references are leading me to the conclusion that the latter incident is in retaliation to what has happened in the former, to which my info is still inconsistent.
Nevertheless, the team still pulled up a great performance, and I believe they applied the strategy of the 2018 Champions (winning by nostalgia), reflecting on the medium they worked upon — Classic Tekken is Classic. I watch my brother play that game through the PSOne we had at home.
Above all of these alleged politicking are the few good men who helped sorted this issue out, something that mainstream media (I’m especially looking at you, AFP) will not be able to tell you in detail.
One notable name is Solomon Freeman, and I’m glad to meet him in person at C3AFA. Simply put, he extended his hand along with the organizers to help sort out the issue and assist the guests out of the country to safety.
I may be wrong in interpreting this whole issue altogether, and I’m looking at my references online, so if you have beef with me about this, please say so.
Philippines
Our Team Philippines went through a lot as well. As I see it, the award-winning Team Class S has solid support from their peers in Cebu and Davao.
What I need everyone to pay attention to is that our delegation received a lot of raves from viewers online. This is how I see it:
This team showed the craft they refined for so long — from the actions, the moves, the fearless sword swings, and even the slow-motion part — I am floored by this performance.
This makes me say, “Ah, this will be the future of the Philippines in the WCS. I’m confident that we will be at the podium with this kind of performance soon enough.”
Of course, coming from the Philippines, I believe our delegation deserved some form of recognition. Especially of this kind. I remember them saying that they do their best to fulfill the expectations of people in Nagoya, where their characters were born and made history.
If there’s something that Team Australia taught us how they got their first WCS Championship, it’s this:
K Cosplay and I have extensive experience interacting with Japanese people both socially and professionally. We gathered that they generally enjoy seeing two things in international visitors:
People who have a strong spirit and flavour of their home country AND/OR
Foreigners who are more involved with Japanese culture than even the average Japanese people.
Having grown up with traditional Japanese martial arts, language and cultural studies, K and I chose to appeal to the latter…with a hint of deadly Australian animals of course ?.
If you watched their performance during THE FINAL Round, their story starts from failing a quest, which leads them to train more to succeed, which they did.
Their strategy to create a better impression to the judges from the first look, topped with their carefully-executed happy-ended Monster Hunter performance, led them to victory royale.
Guys, we may have found a way to be noticed by the judging panel and be at the top. they will be also sitting as judges in the Championship Finals by next year, so let’s see where this goes.
What I think will be the future of WCS?
If I remember correctly, during the Opening Ceremony, the committee said that they were preparing the Summit for a year. This year’s summit has just been concluded and they’ll need more manpower to support them for next year along with the rest of the activities and the additional activities in line with their advocacies, notably their campaign against ocean waste (umigomi) in partnership with The Nippon Foundation.
Their umigomi campaign is just one advocacy the WCS Committee will be focusing upon, but I believe they won’t stop there — they will sure have two more advocacies to shed light in the years to come.
The World Cosplay Summit is keen on adding more countries each year — just by looking at their brochure [PDF], we have 30 countries waiting to be included. It is one thing to gather cosplayers from around the globe, but it’s another thing to organize a tournament participated by 40 countries.
There’s no stopping WCS — born in 2003 and started with only 5 invited individual cosplayers — in expanding to attract most if not all countries to participate.
In retrospect
If I am allowed to speak about my personal life for a moment — loving and doing what I do best and doing what is necessary for me to live are two things that I always juggle…
The thing is, what I’m doing for a living is what supports me to do the things I love, and I am thankful. Yes, I am thankful, but even I am thinking my efforts were not enough for me to be satisfied.
As I look back, I realize I may have forgotten the footprints that led me to who I am and what I stand for today.
For example, I got an interview with WCS Organizing Committee Chairman Tokumaru Oguri when the Nationals was held at the SM Mall of Asia in 2015 — this I believe left my other friends from the media with a few questions to ask:
In 2014, I was able to talk to that year’s Champion — may I ask you to focus on the one I’ve spoken to first:
That lady right there is MingMiho, who will eventually be one of the ambassadors for this year’s Summit in Tokyo, as well as receive a lot of gigs.
I believe her popularity in the country is not at par with the likes of Alodia or Myrtle Sarrosa, but I believe she is one heck of a personality outside of the country, and that’s why I believe she is underestimated here.
Fast forward to 2018, I saw Oguri-san at C3AFA Singapore along with the competitors for the Singapore Preliminaries. (Now this one is part of my Singapore travelogue, maybe you have free time to watch the full release. ?)
Going back to 2017, I met Ping and SJ of Team Eurika Ai as they hopped to Manila for the Asia Pop Comicon. This, after I first met them in 2015:
These are those little things that make a big difference to me, as a self-proclaimed advocate of the Summit in the Philippines. This gives me the motivation to share more stories about the development of the World Cosplay Summit in the Philippines.
To cap off this piece, let me share what AK Wirru of Team Australia 2019 posted just an hour ago after I finished writing this:
[…] So it’s important that we remember to believe in our own work, our time spent and our achievements. It’s important to remember exactly what shit talkers, gatekeepers, armchair experts and the like are worth: less than the dirt beneath our feet. […]
[…] Success is an iceberg. Unfortunately most of it is destined to be submerged. But. Trust in your own work. Trust in your support circle. Trust in your time. Trust in your failures. Trust in your success.
Hard work doesn’t lie. Hard work never lies.
This piece was supposed to be written with a focus on our country, but I can’t help adding other things.
I hope you endured reading my story up to this end, and I trust that I have conveyed my feelings to you, my friends. Thank you very much; let’s keep in touch.
Another sidenote: I’ve shared a draft of this to my friends prior to posting, and one of those who have seen this is my friend Naru (who once competed for the WCS Philippines), who suggested maybe we can discuss the experiences WCS participants had during their trip.
I admit, I wasn’t that much focused on their trip, but I can suggest a documentary about WCS Alumni uploaded on YouTube last year. At that time, TaeYeon was managing the alumni side:
Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore also to compete for the finals
World Cosplay Summit 2019 Team Philippines during a post-performance interview. [Screencap from WCS on YouTube]
The Nagoya Round of the 2019 World Cosplay Championship has been held at the Aichi Arts Center in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.
This major highlight of World Cosplay Summit 2019 saw 32 teams competing for the remaining 16 slots for THE FINAL Round — among of them is Team Philippines which performed a scene from the otome game Sengoku Night Blood as historical figures Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Seeing comments on YT makes me proud, they are commending our Team Pilipinas's movements and timing!
The team’s refined performance has received a positive response from those who have watched the round live on YouTube, according to Anime Pilipinas Chief Correspondent Red Mendoza.
In the post-performance interview, the team stated that they have to execute their performance to the expectations of the locals in Nagoya, in which Nobunaga and Hideyoshi are born.
The Philippines is among the 16 teams who qualified for THE FINAL Round, following other Southeast Asian countries Singapore (Fate/Stay night), Thailand (Fate/Apocrypha), Vietnam (Observation Record of a Self-proclaimed Villainess’ Fiance) and Indonesia (Soul Calibur 6).
The Summit has also released the order of performance for THE FINAL Round which is set to be broadcast on NicoNico on August 04, 2019 at 5:00pm Japan time (4:00pm Philippine time):
Prior to the Nagoya Round, 8 teams are selected during the Tokyo Round at the Tokyo Dome City Prism Hall last Saturday, July 27. Teams from the (Group 1) USA, Chile, (Group 2) Saudi Arabia, South Africa, (Group 3) Mexico, Costa Rica, (Group 4) Australia and France compose the top 8 of the said round.
After the costume judging held last July 29 and 30, the rankings have changed — Costa Rica’s 2nd place spot in Group 3 has been taken over by Russia, and South Africa (now the 1st placer for Group 2) took over Saudi Arabia’s spot, leading to a swap in their positions.
keepsakes. post stories and opinion on the developments of the World Cosplay Summit in the country, and is advocating the Summit as a gateway for the country’s cosplay community to be recognized in the world stage. Read more stories on WCS here.
Post edited August 04, 2019 to reflect Team Vietnam’s representing series.
Before the official start of the 2019 World Cosplay Summit (WCS), an opening ceremony was held at Tokyo Dome Hotel inside Tokyo Dome City this afternoon (July 26), which welcomes participant teams from 40 countries (although one team was unable to attend the said ceremony).
WCS Committee Executive Chairman Mr. Tokumaru Oguri. [screencap from WCS YouTube]
WCS to include advocacies beyond the promotion of Japan’s content and tourism industry in the future
WCS Committee Executive Chairman Mr. Tokumaru Oguri welcomes the pairs who won their respective National Preliminaries:
“This is the first year that the WCS will hold the opening ceremony in Tokyo, where we have to contribute to further promotion of the global development in the contents industry and encourage greater tourism to Japan.”
Mr. Oguri said that the WCS has played a large role in the success of forwarding Japan’s impressive contents industry in its 16 years of existence, and states their plans to include advocacies in future events:
“[…] another new development for the event this year is increasing awareness of volunteering in the garbage problem. The issue is a great social matter is regularly in the news. We hope that the connections built through global cosplay can bring greater attention to this matter. This concern will be an element in future planning for the event.”
Prior to the summit, WCS has held an “Umigomi” (ocean trash) event at Tokyo Tower last June 08 with cosplayers picking up trash from the ocean to signify the importance against polluting oceans.
He asks for continued support to promote the development of cosplay in Japan and the rest of the world in many ways as he recognizes the effort of the teams who have prepared for this year’s summit:
“We have been preparing for this event for one year, but all of them here have been prepared more longer; so long as might be 4 years, 5 years prepared at many regional preliminaries, and now they are here, so please focus on what they will be doing at the finals here and in Nagoya.”
Ms. Mitsuko Shino, Director General for Cultural Affairs at the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. [screencap from WCS YouTube]
Cosplay as a way to communicate Japan to the world
Ms. Mitsuko Shino, Director General for Cultural Affairs at the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA, a member of the WCS Committee), also graced the event.
Before she moves to welcome the WCS 2019 participants in behalf of the Ministry, she sent her sincere condolences to the staff, family, and friends of Kyoto Animation where an arson attack occurred last Thursday, July 18. “Our thoughts and prayers also go the injured and hope for their speedy recovery.”
She expresses her confidence that everyone will get over the sadness of the incident and will continue to keep sharing the appeal and charm of the anime culture to the world, thanking all cosplayers for their heartfelt solidarity.
She narrates her experiences visiting other pop culture events, and stresses that cosplay goes beyond language boundaries. She hopes that the participants share their experiences with friends and family and become a bridge of Japan to their respective nations in the future.
In closing, she extends her words of appreciation to the staff and organizers who bring the World Cosplay Summit 2019 a reality. She emphasizes to the cosplayer-participants that “this is a summit, so you have to do your best. Don’t be shy, and do your best. All the best.”
WCS 2019 Championship will be a three-round tourney
Before the teams go to Nagoya, they will be at Tokyo Dome City Prism Hall this weekend (July 27 and 28) for “World Cosplay Summit in Tokyo,” which will be the host for the Tokyo Round of this year’s championship. After their stay in Tokyo, they will move to Aichi for the Nagoya and THE FINAL Rounds of the tournament (August 03 and 04).
The top 8 pairs will be chosen in the Tokyo Round and will get a spot in THE FINAL. The teams are set to have their costumes judged in Nagoya.
From the remaining 32 teams, the top 16 pairs will be selected during the Nagoya Round to complete the 24 teams who will proceed to THE FINAL Round which will determine who will be this year’s champion.
THE FINAL Round is expected to be broadcast online.
At the moment, the Tokyo Round is scheduled to be broadcast on NicoNico and YouTube at 4:00pm Japan time.
keepsakes. post stories and opinion on the developments of the World Cosplay Summit in the country, and is advocating the Summit as a gateway for the country’s cosplay community to be recognized in the world stage. Read more stories on WCS here.
This post is updated to reflect the clarification regarding the Tokyo Round.
