Oct 26, 2016 | Cosplay, Events, International Cosplay Contests, Travel |
We got a very late entrance number, so our craftsmanship judging was in the late afternoon/ evening.
Next to the judging you are also busy with interviews, making your introduction video, weighting and measuring your props etc etc. Because we got our judging in the evening we started with our introduction video.
Introduction Video:
You have about 20 seconds to introduce yourself in your own language. To tell which team you are, your name and something about yourself or your country. The introduction video will be played during the championship right before your performance.
Because this year you have the Semifinals and finals you were supposed to make 2 different videos in case you manage it to get to the finals.
We didn´t know that and practiced only one video. So we just thought about something the day before.
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| Recording and translating |
You really have 20 seconds, not more not less.
This makes it sometimes very difficult to time your introduction.
We needed 3-4 tries for our 1st video and 2 for our 2nd.
You only have about 10-15 minutes to finish you video and to translate everything for the staff.
After finishing the videos, you have to tell the staff what you said during what phrase. Normally they translate it for you into Japanese. But I translated it directly for them.
Interview:
After filming the video you went to the interview room. I heard that the last year the interview was a paper, where you write down your answers and that it was verbal the year before that.
This time we got a laptop and a word sheet with questions.
I think you got about 15 questions? (Not sure anymore) Mostly about the Cosplay culture and fans in your country.
They told me, that this sheets are used for study and research purpose. Not for introducing the Cosplayers.
Chiko had some problems with their PC, because it always turns into Korean. She also wasn’t used to the English keyboard. Some of the other participants had the same problem. It took more time than the WCS calculated and caused some delay (although we were one of the first).
Weighting and measuring:
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| Props |
Normally you are weighting and measuring directly after the technical meeting or craftsmanship judging. But this means you have about 2 minutes to get your costume off and weight it. Because it wasn’t possible for us and we had some spare time till the judging we went there earlier.
Normally you need to build up your whole stage props. But because we made pictures at the rehearsals of the props standing next to each other we only needed to put out one “plate” and the WCS stuff calculated the measurements (our props are made our of square plates).
We already put all our stuff into luggage’s, so the staff could put our props on the scale at once.
You are allowed to have 40 Kg max with all your championship stuff. We were at about 23-25 Kg. So even with the luggage´s we were under the 40 Kg mark.
Some teams were near the 40 Kg mark and needed to put everything out.
This took some time and we were happy that we were done after 2 minutes.
Getting ready:
Our video appointment was at about 12 am and our judging at about 18-19 pm.
That’s why we had a lot of time to get ready and got some lunch with Iris, German Alumni and organizer. She also showed us where to go and helped us in any matter.
She was a really great support!
Official pictures:
Afterwards we had about 2 hours to get into our costumes. While getting ready Iris got us a Porenta (the Pokemon you can only get in Asia). <3
When we finished changing we went into the waiting room in the 2nd floor until the room for the official pictures was free.
They had a small studio with a white background for the official pictures. The photographer was a famous Cosplay photographer in Nagoya.
We took some pictures and checked them. Afterwards we went back and waited for the costume judging.
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| Pictures and judging |
Costume judging:
I was so nervous…. This was worser than the championship day.
I needed to go to toilet every minute and drank mass of water….
The judging is in a big room there the Organizers of the other teams (not your own organizer, he has a break) are judging your costume. This means you have about 28 Organizers sitting there, plus translator, plus filming crew, plus WCS stuff.
You have 10 minutes (5 per person) to present your costume with your power point, which you sent them a month ago. They ring the bell once after 8 minutes, twice after 9 minutes and 3 times after 10 minutes.
If 10 minutes are over the staff translates a short version of your presentation into Japanese (some organizers only speaks Japanese) and they have about 10 minutes to watch your costume and ask you questions.
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| Construction report |
We had so much stuff to present. 3 costumes, 2 props, 3 small handprops.
I wrote the presentation already 1,5 months ago and just tagged it into my brain because I cannot read with colored lenses. So I was very afraid that I forget what to say and waste precious presentation time. The other thing was that the organizers looked so exhausted that most of them didn’t smiled. The Australian organizer Kenny saved me… I swear. And when the WCS staff asked if there were any questions, barely some asked anything (we got 1 question), so I panicked more and more. Someone told me that they judged since morning and were just dead after listening to 24 teams.
So I kind of understand know, why they looked so tired (more than disinterested).
But at this moment I just panicked…. (I though OMG our costumes were just too boring ToT)
But yes, it’s normal they barely ask questions and they are interested in your costume and listen to you. They are just really really tired.
After dying several times during my presentation, it seems like I showed them my panties. Yes I barely remember what I did cause I was too nervous…
But my organizer told me they were talking about, Germany showing their panties (it’s a show of panty so it’s ok. XD I made it for this purpose, because I moved a lot during my skit.).
Technical meeting:
The last part was the technical meeting.
We talked about the stage setting, how to handle the props and about the light rider.
They asked us some questions about the prop setting, I asked them some questions and than we went through the light rider.
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| Light and setting rider |
Hane san (in charge of the stage) asked me some questions regarding our light rider and confirmed that we didn’t use original voices or pictures.
This was the most comfortable part. You were just sitting there, listening and just correct them if they misunderstands something.
After a long long long day, we went to an Japanese Pub with all the other teams and went dead into our bed.
We could finish the next step, costume judging.
Oct 24, 2016 | Cosplay, Events, International Cosplay Contests, Japan, Travel |
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| With Eriko chan and Yuuka chan our students. |
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| Pokemoncenter |
As I mentioned in a prior post. Omotenashi is a student cooperation, consisting out of students, who supports the representatives during their stay in Nagoya in all matters.
Normally you get 1 Student per Team. Due to certain circumstances we got 2, Yuuka chan and Eriko chan.
We already told them before departing to Nagoya, what we would like to do.
Chiko really wanted to go to the Pokemon center and Onsen and I wanted to go to the Penguin cafe.
Before meeting her we practiced in the park and checked our championship stuff again.
Most of the teams went sightseeing at the Nagoya castle or shopping at some Otaku stores in Nagoya.
I guess all teams went to the Pokemon center.
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| At the Onsen |
Onsen seemed to be like the most unusual request. In Nagoya is a very nice and big Onsen spa named “Canal Resort”. They have nice facilities and a really great outdoor area. It is actually the biggest and most famous Onsen resort in Nagoya.
Because we both love Onsen out student took us there and relaxed with us together in the really nice outdoor Onsen.
We also went to the Pokemon center and met Team South Korea.
Chiko only bought Raichus and I bought only Plinfas. <3
We have been at a Pokemon center several times before, so for us it was nothing new.
But when I went there the first time I was so overwhelmed, how many great Pokemon stuff they offer for a very reasonable price. It´s really the heaven of every Pokemon fan!
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| Making Okonomiyaki |
In the evening we went to get some Okonomiyaki and met Team France, and the Alumnis from Denmark and Mexico.
Yuuka chan and Eriko chan also showed us how to make Okonomiyaki by ourselves.
It was very interesting and a great experience.
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| Had fun at Nagoya |
Oct 20, 2016 | Cosplay, Events, International Cosplay Contests, Japan, Travel |
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| Laguna Ten Bosh |
Finally the first event! I was so excited!
We went to Laguna Ten Bosh for the opening ceremony at the new opened flower lagoon. Laguna Ten Bosh is an amusement park. They have rollercoaster’s, carousels, a big pool, a beach, illumination shows and a flower lagoon.
Normally its not allowed to make pictures there, but at this day the Cosplayers were allowed to make pictures as they like. It was also allowed to go into the water and to make photo shootings in the rides itself during certain times. The Location was very unique and perfect for Cosplay shootings.
I knew quite early that the opening ceremony will be at the flower lagoon so we chose this version of Love Live for this event.
Because in Japan it’s prohibited to go in costume to the events, we chose costumes which don’t take a long time to change. We also chose some for the outdoor events where you can use a fan as an accessory, because it was just hot outside!
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| Our costumes for the Laguna Ten Bosh even |
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| In the changing room |
We departed divided into 2 buses (block a bus and block b bus, the blocks and appearing number was always the same as in the championship), played a lot of Pokemon go and arrived after about 1 hour drive.
They started with a short briefing about the WCS and the following schedules. The problem was that we departed to late and needed to cut time.
That’s why we only got a briefing about today and have been told that we will get most of our schedules the night before the next day.
Afterwards we made make up and changed in our cloths, got into the bus and arrived in the back of the flower lagoon.
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| Lining up |
We waited there, lined up in front of the water lagoon and got some balloons.
Actually no one told us what to do, only that there would be an opening ceremony.
The host tried to tell us in Japanese that we should say the phrase “Cosplay everywhere” and release the balloons in our hand when she counts till 3.
That’s why you might find a lot of pictures with confused looking Cosplayers, because most of them cannot speak Japanese. XD After some more communication we managed to release the balloons.
After some speeches, the cutting ceremony followed and we had some hour’s free time.
A wall of photographers were taking pictures of the opening ceremony (my first time seeing so many photographers in front of one motive, I later learned that this was nothing…) and also continued to make pictures of the Cosplayers.
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| Making pictures |
The Cosplayer just stands in front and the photographers are lining up in order to make a picture. After a short thank you and Coscard exchange the next photographer takes pictures of you.
The simple and Japanese way of making pictures.
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| Cosplayers making pictures |
After making some pictures at other spots of the lagoon, we had a look around with Iris and Patrick (our organizer), Team China and Japan, had some ice cream and enjoyed the park. We also met our 2nd Omotenashi student Yuuka chan who always cared about us for drinking enough and finding the places.
After walking back to the changing rooms, we changed and prepared ourselves for
the welcome party.
The welcome party is organized by the Omotenashi students. The Omotenashi students are cooperation of students who are supporting the representatives in all matters during their stay in Nagoya. They care about your wellbeing showing you around and if you need something they give their best to help you. Yuuka chan and Eriko chan were our students, who took really good care of us.
The Omotenashi students organized and collected the money for the welcome party at Laguna Ten Bosh.
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| The welcome party |
The food was really delicious and it was really fun to spent time and talk with the other representatives, organizers and Alumnis.
I don’t know why, but we didn’t got any chairs for the tables. And the tables weren’t that high you could stand in front of them.
So we decided to sit on the ground. Looks funny? It was funny!
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| Sitting at the ground |
After the welcome party we had some time to visit the 1.000 sunny, the ship from One Piece. It was a great experience to be at a full size ship of an Anime you love! We had a lot of fun!
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| 1000 Sunny |
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| Inside of the ship |
After a long day we arrived in the Hotel and went to bed.
Oct 19, 2016 | Cosplay, Events, International Cosplay Contests, Japan, Travel |
I could luckily finish all my costumes a month before departing. So everything I did was just planning and packing until we could finally depart.
With our 3 big suitcases, 1 roll, 2 hand carries we went to the airport, checked our stuff in and got rebooked into a flight going 1 hour earlier than expected. …
I am very happy that I am used to flying and know the airport. So we could rush there without problems.
Chiko also had troubles checking in into her flight from Tokyo to Nagoya.
This is also why we couldn’t sit next to each other at both short flights.
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| Our baggage |
In Frankfurt we got a snack, played Pokemon Go and tried to get a boarding ticket for Chiko. We still don’t know what happened but it seemed that it was quite difficult to check Chiko in… (She also had problems at the flight back to Germany).
Finally we could board the airplane to Tokyo.
Normally the German Team flies with their organizer. But due to some booking issues our organizer booked a flight for an earlier date.
After some movies, ice cream and a lot of really bad sleep I had to fight for my immigration card as always(The stewardess always thinks I am Japanese… I am a German potato…).
If you have a domestic connecting flight in Japan you first need to immigrate, get your baggage, go through customs and check in again.
We were 30 minutes to late and had 1 hour until departure.
Again we were rushing. Because our roll was special size baggage, we waited a long time to pick up our stuff…
I was very happy that I could explain the customs quickly, why we have this odd size baggage….
After checking in our stuff again we boarded the bus to the domestic terminal.
And voila Team Canada where standing directly in front of us. That was a very funny coincidence.
After going to the gate and boarding we said bye till Nagoya.
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| With our Canadian candies *o* |
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| After some make up XD |
But they where sitting directly next or behind us. Out of 200 passengers Team Canada and Germany had seats next to each other. 🙂 It was a fun flight with both of them.
We knew that a camera team will be waiting at the airport that’s why we changed our cloths and put on some make up, so we won’t look like zombies after a 16 hour trip. This is why we were the last one picking und our baggage and the stewardess where running around with our stuff, panicking and searching for us. ToT I am still sorry for her…
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| With our organizer Patrick |
At the arrival our organizer team Patrick, Iris, Laura and Mo were already waiting for us. The team took some pictures, filmed us and made a small interview.
Afterwards our Omotenashi student Eriko chan greeted us and showed us the meeting room (I would more call it a baggage storage room XD). We left our stuff there and went to dinner with Team Canada and Brazil at the airport.
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| Interview at the airport in Nagoya |
Afterwards we boarded the bus and checked in into our Hotel, where we got a loooooot of stuff. Next to the Omotenashi pack (with a wigstand, a small pampflet with all students, a bag and tea) we got our passes, food cupons, T-Shirts and our savior, the 2 GB internet Simcard!
Our room was just amazing and very spacy. We were kind of lucky. Normally the teams stores their baggage in an special room, because the rooms are normally very small.
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| Our Omotenashi bags |
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| Our presents in our room from the International Hotel Nagoya |
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| Our Simcards, passes and more |
So we just throw everything into the corner, checked our championship costumes and prepeared everything for the next day (we put everything into the hand carry so it was just taking everything out).
Luckily our costumes survived the trip and we could go shopping for the next day.
Japanese summer is very hot and humid.
This year we had luck and it was quite nice. Someone told us, that the weather 2015 was about 10°C and 10-20% humidity more.
But I still wanted to buy icespray, icesheets, wiping sheets, icepacks and blotting paper. It was the best decision ever and really saved us. Blotting paper is a bless and these ice sheets are the best invention ever!!
The bought more and more during the whole trip. It really helps to endure this summer heat of 30°C-40°C.
After this long arriving day we went to bed and were sleeping like a dead stone.
We finally arrived and the adventure finally begun.
Oct 13, 2016 | Cosplay, International Cosplay Contests |
Next to the costumes, preparations and skit, we needed to fill out some forms.
We had about 4 different sheets we needed to fill out.
1. Construction report
2./3. Performance Sheet
4. Costumes
5. Participation agreement
All sheets needed to be sent in 1 month prior of the championship with the finished video file, audio file and original pictures of the characters you are going to Cosplay.
You have about 2 weeks to fill out the most forms (we got the construction report earlier) and you need a lot of information’s regarding your props (size, Kg, pictures) and costumes. This is why we finished all our championship costumes and props, made all pictures, measurements, scripts etc. beforehand so we just needed to copy and paste everything inside.
1. The construction report
The construction report is a power point presentation which you use during the craftsmanship judging in order to present your costume. You are supposed to talk 5 minutes per person about your costume and to use the presentation as support. You can show your finished work in comparison to the original artwork, the materials and the technique you used. It had 3 main sections; Costume, wig and prop. We kept it in the order we wanted to present our costumes and decided to change after each section. The rehearsed a lot, because we were afraid not to finish everything in the time frame. Our report was about 24 pages.
2. The performance sheet->The prop setting
In this sheet you write everything about your props inside; Height, length, wide and weight and a picture. This is necessary, because there are limitations. The staff will check the measurements and weight (incl. the weight of your costume) at the craftsmanship judging day. In this sheet you also fill out where the props should be set at the stage and how your stage setting is at the start of the ski and what will be left after the skit.
3. The performance sheet->The rider
In the rider you write down a short description of your skit and a detail one for the camera setting. You also need to mark where you will stand and where your props will be at which point of your audio. Additionally to that you write down the light setting and the special effects you want to have at a certain moment at your skit.You also write down your phrases in English and Japanese and describe what happens on stage at the certain moment and time code.
4. Costumes
This was the easiest sheet. In this sheet we just wrote down which costumes we are going to wear at which event.
They told us that no changes are possible, because the Cosplayers are going to be announced with their costumes at most of the events.
Actually someone changed his costume without notice before a courtesy visit and it caused a lot of trouble. It happened in front of the Major where a lot of cameras recorded this mistake. Furthermore the press people all wrote down the wrong character name. I guess it was kind of embarrassing for the Cosplayer.
Afterwards they told us, if we need to change a costume, we have to tell the staff beforehand. I guess they accept changes if you notify them in order to prevent embarrassing moments like this.
5. Participation agreement
In this sheet you just sign and agree with the rules of the World Cosplay Summit and the usage of your pictures for promotion purposes.
A lot of teams had troubles to finish these sheets in time, because they weren’t finished with their championship costumes or skit or weren’t prepared for that. A lot of pictures and information’s in detail were required. If you missed to take pictures and gather the information’s, 2 weeks are a very short timeframe. Some of them couldn’t take pictures or write everything down because without finished costumes gathering all these material is nearly impossible.
The most crucial part was the costume construction report.
If you don’t have pictures of a certain technique, because you are not done, you cannot show it to the judges.
Difficult also seemed to the light rider. I am quite used to it because I write light riders every 2 weeks. But I guess for people who have no idea about light setting and effects it can cause trouble.
I prepared everything beforehand and could finish it in 2-3 evenings. I made it in Japanese and English so it was easier for the staff to read our sheets and light rider.
I guess if you are prepared it is quite easy to fill out all these sheets. The preparation itself took hours and hours… I think it was quite tough to finish everything in 2 weeks.
Oct 11, 2016 | Cosplay, International Cosplay Contests, Uncategorized |
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| Picture by Japanaily |
I am back from one of my biggest journeys of my life and my head is full of great memories, experiences and new friendships. It was an honor to participate at the World Cosplay Summit and Iam really grateful for this experience.
I never though that the World CosplaySummit would be such a rewarding event.
This is why I decided to blog about it. So I can share my experience and write down my memories and thoughts.
If you have any questions or wishes about which topic I should write. Please don’t hesitate to ask.
Today I want to start with the Preliminary 1 year ago and the way to the championship.
The Preliminary in Germany:
One year ago I participated with my partner Chiko at the Preliminary at the Connichi, one of the biggest Anime/ Manga events in Germany.
I did I because I really love to perform and could try out new things on stage next to singing and dancing.
I never though we really would be become the next WCS Team Germany, because I know that other awesome Cosplayer are trying since years and years and I was just a rookie who started to participate at competitions recently.
I was happy but really felt unsure if I would be really able to represent Germany accordingly.
Buying the materials:
Because we never expected to become the next team we already planned and booked a Asia trip in November.
This was also the reason why we decided a week after the preliminary which costume we are going to bring to Japan. We knew that we would visit Taipei and Dubai, where you can get fabrics and crafting supplies for small money.
I calculated the time schedule for the WCS and realized directly after the preliminary that we don’t have a lot of time and need to start practicing an sewing as soon as possible.
These are the costumes we decided to bring to Japan:
Because I knew that we are short on time I finished the interview Cosplay 2 weeks after the Preliminary. It was a good feeling to know, that at least one Cosplay is finished before enjoying the holiday in Asia. In Taipei and Japan we went shopping and got most of our material for our WCS costumes. Chinese silk is awesomely cheap over there… We bought wonderful Chinese embroidered silk for about 3-4 Euro per 90 cm. And 50 Meter braids for about 3-5 Euro.
We mostly bought our braids in Dubai. Because they were cheaper than in Taipei.
The skit:
Because I knew we need to practice a lot I finished the audio file in February.
We decided to go for Adekan and to use our preliminary skit, because we got a lot of good advices. I wanted to make a better skit than at the preliminary. So I we though, that pimping up and improving our skit would be a good choice.
The audio consists out of 12 Songs, 25 cuts, 160 pieces and a lot of corrections.
It took me about a month to complete it. I worked at it every day about 4 hours.
We adjusted the audio file till June in order to get the perfect timing and speed for all the effects.
It took me 3 months to write the skit and to rewrite the choreography.
The skit and the choreography has been changed and adjusted till June. We worked a lot on it to make it “better”.
At first it was very difficult for us to learn the choreography and to get used to the new movements, because we are very unsporty and don’t know anything about dancing or material arts. You can imagine that my bruises already got some names… But after 3-4 months it went better and we could start working on smaller movements of the hand and the way of walking.
A lot of people asked me how long we practiced.
We practiced from February till departing every week one between 4-10 hours. Sometimes 2 or 3 times a week. Our last practice was 2 days before departing to Nagoya.
The costumes:
Next were the championship costumes.
I started sewing directly after coming back from my Asia trip in December and it took me about 7 months to complete my championship Cosplay as well as my props and quick change costumes.
Ill write about the construction of them in an other blog.
Ive never put so much time, money and effort into a costume as for the championship.
The costumes are really not perfect but I am
very very happy about them.
I haven’t studied or learned how to sew so I needed to watch a lot of tutorials or ask friends for certain new techniques. But it was worth it.
I worked at them about 4-10 hours a day and I admit it was very exhausting.
The props:
For me it was the first time to build stage props which need to fit into a luggage. My friend owns a very big car, that’s why it was quite a challenge.
For the gate and the box we decided to use a clip box board system.
It is very simple to build up and to transport it.
The cage is made out of plastic pipes.
We shaped the rings with heat in order to get a ring.
I need to admit that I am noob regarding to light stuff. That’s why my friend helped me to construct it. And I just watched and helped him to get the stuff done….
I only know that it took quite a time to finish it and I am really thankfull, that he helped me this much.
Next to the skit and the costume I realized that planning and preparing yourself is also very time consuming and important. The earlier you think about your baggage the earlier you might avoid problems. We had problems to transport our swords, because they are too long for a normal luggage. Cause we though about it beforehand we solved this problem in a very simple and cheap way.
Also informing yourself about the events and what is expected of you is very important.
The most important thing was to inform myself about the hotel, the surroundings of the Hotel regarding craft supplies and batteries etc, as well as about the weather.
Japanese weather is very different to ours in Europe. So I checked what gadgets might be useful in order to survive an outdoor event in the Japanese summer heat.
I also got spares for all of my props, batteries and everything that might be damaged during the transport in the airplane.
Actually planning, making research and preparing myself took about 2-3 months of my sewing and practicing time. I never though that it would be that time consuming.
But it was worth it, because we were prepared for every case and could avoid stressful situations.
