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NEWS: World Cosplay Summit 2007 to be Held in Nagoya


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starcade



Joined: 18 Feb 2006
Posts: 204
PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 4:15 pm Reply with quote
Well, the farce continues another year.

And I think it's clear, now, that the United States has been effectively dis-invited from this event in the future, as discussed after last year's event.
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The Xenos



Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 1519
Location: Boston
PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 6:58 pm Reply with quote
So what's the Drama and story behind this event and the non-invite the US got? I thought there was some controversy last year over the Italian team or something.
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DragonsRevenge



Joined: 15 Nov 2004
Posts: 1150
PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 8:44 pm Reply with quote
They really have these? I thought it was just something cosplay complex made up.
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BleuVII



Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Posts: 672
Location: Tokorozawa, Japan
PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 9:40 pm Reply with quote
If only I was in Nagoya. I would attend just because I could, though I probably wouldn't dress up.
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OneHotAlchemist



Joined: 12 Nov 2005
Posts: 85
PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 12:45 am Reply with quote
The Xenos wrote:
So what's the Drama and story behind this event and the non-invite the US got? I thought there was some controversy last year over the Italian team or something.


Essentially, back in 05, at the finals to decide the group representing the US, a group won, but the Japanese organizers said that their costumes weren't allowed since the creator of the anime (Rose of Versailles) didn't approve of cosplayers of her works. The group then showed the organizers a laaarge book with various different group cosplays they had done, all of which were deemed "unusable" by the organizers and the winning group was disqualified, and they personally selected a group made out of various different solo cosplayers at the event.

US Team goes the Japan to compete, notices they are more-or-less relegated to the background wherever they go, and after some questionable antics, eventually realize, they aren't competing for anything, since the organizers have already decided who will win. After the awards ceremony, the US Team is left alone without a ride anywhere in Tokyo. They had to get their own cab, and head to the airport on their own (speaking little to no Japanese). Apparently, their scheduled van had been relegated to the winning Italian team, and they were left to fend on their own.

Fast forward to 06, and no con in the US wants the selection competition held there after what happened the previous year. Hence why there isn't any US representation (and probably won't be for the foreseeable future). The contest is held, and 'lo and behold, one of the teams in the competition is.... cosplaying from Rose of Versailles, further validating the suspicions of the 2005 US participants, and invalidating the reasons given by the organizers.

Hope that summed it up enough.
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Dargonxtc



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 4463
Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋
PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 7:36 am Reply with quote
OneHotAlchemist wrote:
"..."


Which is complete and udder BS.

This should be a lesson that the same rules do not apply to the US. Only "other" teams are better, even when they aren't.

I guess it shouldn't be a surpise though, the World has always hated us.
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OneHotAlchemist



Joined: 12 Nov 2005
Posts: 85
PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 8:57 am Reply with quote
Dargonxtc wrote:
OneHotAlchemist wrote:
"..."


Which is complete and udder BS.

This should be a lesson that the same rules do not apply to the US. Only "other" teams are better, even when they aren't.

I guess it shouldn't be a surpise though, the World has always hated us.


Basically, the World Cosplay Summit isn't so much about the costumes as it is a costume-themed beauty contest. The TV Aichi oragnizers felt the US Rose of Versailles team wasn't physically attractive enough, so they disqualified them and selected "more attractive" cosplayers.

Apparently, due to the fact that one of the key sponsors (CURE) required all the winners to be pre-decided. Also interesting, is that one of the winners on the Italian Team was official CURE model Francesca Dani.

Due to the unfairness of CURE's demands, COSPA (The other big sponsor) decided they didn't like what they were seeing, and withdrew after the competition was over.

Honestly, I have nothing good to say about that competition.
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Abarenbo Shogun



Joined: 19 Jul 2005
Posts: 1573
PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 2:45 pm Reply with quote
OneHotAlchemist wrote:
Also interesting, is that one of the winners on the Italian Team was official CURE model Francesca Dani.


Ah yes, 4chan /cgl/'s beloved photoshopped princess. Well, other than Adella....Laughing

I torrented a siterip file of her website....you can tell that most of her costumes are bought on eBay. Plus she photoshops her stuff so much that it would make Chisame Hasegawa of Negima! green with envy.
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sandra monte



Joined: 29 Mar 2003
Posts: 33
Location: São Paulo - BRASIL
PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 8:09 pm Reply with quote
OneHotAlchemist wrote:
The Xenos wrote:
So what's the Drama and story behind this event and the non-invite the US got? I thought there was some controversy last year over the Italian team or something.


Essentially, back in 05, at the finals to decide the group representing the US, a group won, but the Japanese organizers said that their costumes weren't allowed since the creator of the anime (Rose of Versailles) didn't approve of cosplayers of her works. The group then showed the organizers a laaarge book with various different group cosplays they had done, all of which were deemed "unusable" by the organizers and the winning group was disqualified, and they personally selected a group made out of various different solo cosplayers at the event.

US Team goes the Japan to compete, notices they are more-or-less relegated to the background wherever they go, and after some questionable antics, eventually realize, they aren't competing for anything, since the organizers have already decided who will win. After the awards ceremony, the US Team is left alone without a ride anywhere in Tokyo. They had to get their own cab, and head to the airport on their own (speaking little to no Japanese). Apparently, their scheduled van had been relegated to the winning Italian team, and they were left to fend on their own.

Fast forward to 06, and no con in the US wants the selection competition held there after what happened the previous year. Hence why there isn't any US representation (and probably won't be for the foreseeable future). The contest is held, and 'lo and behold, one of the teams in the competition is.... cosplaying from Rose of Versailles, further validating the suspicions of the 2005 US participants, and invalidating the reasons given by the organizers.

Hope that summed it up enough.


Now... I understood the problem that happens with U.S.A cosplay..
I´m sad with occurrence, because I saw the American pair and they was perfect!!!
And I´m super fan of ROV ! I have almost all Rose of Versailles´s material and I says that was excellent! Sad that a strange fact as this has happened... Sad Sad Sad


Sandra Monte
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Sydney2K



Joined: 01 Mar 2004
Posts: 219
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 9:38 pm Reply with quote
One asks how one could hold an international cosplay gathering, and NOT invite the region with probably more cosplayers that any other Western country... not that the WCS has any credibility.

Link to the original thread from two years ago, for the curious.

Widya Santoso
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JTtheBrick



Joined: 21 Jul 2005
Posts: 99
PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 8:52 am Reply with quote
It's nothing more than a BS beauty contest.
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Swissman



Joined: 11 May 2006
Posts: 793
Location: Switzerland
PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:40 am Reply with quote
OneHotAlchemist wrote:

After the awards ceremony, the US Team is left alone without a ride anywhere in Tokyo.

I guess you mean Nagoya.

Quote:
They had to get their own cab, and head to the airport on their own (speaking little to no Japanese). Apparently, their scheduled van had been relegated to the winning Italian team, and they were left to fend on their own.

If I knew this would happen back then in august 2005, I'd worked one month more at the Swiss Pavillon which was less than 150 yards away from the Expo Dome and would have helped those poor cosplayers to find a cab/bus for the airport or something like that. Maybe that would have eased their anger a bit over what happened and we wouldn't have such a discussion today .... whatever ... the Expo organization had a somewhat strange and unclear information policy towards foreign Expo staff members and sometimes couldn't handle most basic needs for them efficiently. I guess the same thing happened to foreign cosplayers participating to the event.
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Tempest
I Run this place.
ANN Publisher


Joined: 29 Dec 2001
Posts: 10456
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 5:32 pm Reply with quote
Dargonxtc wrote:
I guess it shouldn't be a surpise though, the World has always hated us.


While I agree that a lot of people outside of the USA hate the USA (and very often for very good reasons), I would like to say that I don't think this was the case.

For starters, Japanese people don't have a hatred of the USA, in fact, several other countries that participated are generally looked down upon in Japan, but the USA is not.

In this case, it's simply, as OneHotAlchemist stated, the event was more of a cosplay beauty pagent (Some members of the American winning team were overweight, which is the accepted assumption for why they were disqualified) and the lead model from the winning team was already working for the event's sponsors.

In otherwords, the whole affair is highly, highly corrupt, but racism (or Anti-US sentiment) was not likely part of the problem.

-t
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mjgeo



Joined: 08 Aug 2006
Posts: 133
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 6:44 pm Reply with quote
Dargonxtc wrote:

I guess it shouldn't be a surpise though, the World has always hated us.


As a member of the World, I'd say that we hate your government and not the U.S.A. or it's citizens.

Quote:
One asks how one could hold an international cosplay gathering, and NOT invite the region with probably more cosplayers that any other Western country... not that the WCS has any credibility.


Going by what OneHotAlchemist said, no convention in America is willing to hold the selection competition. I guess it's a little hard to give an invitation when there is no one to receive it.
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starcade



Joined: 18 Feb 2006
Posts: 204
PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 7:53 pm Reply with quote
Sydney2K wrote:
One asks how one could hold an international cosplay gathering, and NOT invite the region with probably more cosplayers that any other Western country... not that the WCS has any credibility.

Link to the original thread from two years ago, for the curious.

Widya Santoso


The problem I have is that it's clear that there are serious cultural differences (not only in cosplay, but in a lot of other things anime) between the US and Japan -- and you might see a lot more friction across the Pacific in the near future (look for intellectual property to be a major issue in 2007!), which will impact American anime fans across the board.

It's clear to me that, even had some con put on a qualifier, that the WCS would not want an American team, dis-inviting them after two years ago. Cosplay contest or beauty contest? Doesn't really matter...
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