WCS

WCS was once the most prestigious cosplaz event, but nowadays everyone knows it's just a farce and there are other competitions which deserve the attention. And in fact WCS clearly loses it's glamour more and more. I used to follow every bit I could get my eyes on but this year is as boring as last year.

>>9580204
Yeah they've been picking some homely looking people. There was that year with cupcake cosplay I think it was where the US was represented by a chick with no chin. Just go ahead and send the blue people of Kentucky to represent us while you're at it.

Only compete if your end goal isn't just to go to Japan. With all the time and money you'll invest in the competition you'd he better off just planning a vacation.

The former US alum that ran it were not great. They had no idea how to run or facilitate an event. This year Japan took the reigns so I'm not sure how it went. I do know that because of the switch the USA qualifier was announced with about a month to prepare. We're all assuming Anime Expo will have the competition for next year so if you seriously want to go for it plan on that. With that said they've moved the contest every year for the past 3-4 so...who knows

Also, make sure your partner is as committed to it as you and is doing it for the same reasons. If you aren't on the same page it won't end well. You are going to spend a lot of time together, make sure you can handle each other.

>>9580064
What is up with the dude on the upper rights face. He looks like he was badly drawn.

How is WCS in other countries? There are a lot more than last time I checked the list. What is happening?

>>9580862
UKfag here - we've been in WCS for around 5 years now? So it's still relatively new though the prelims are held at our biggest event (London MCM).

I think ECG or Eurocos is more likely to get attention though, I think the idea of being in a duo and only doing Japanese sources puts off a lot of people who are more likely to do Western costumes (like Marvel etc)

>>9580862
I don't know for how long Spain has been in WCS, but the preliminaries are always done in Barcelona MangaCon, which is a terrible con organized by a group of old men who only care about money. The stage for WCS, EGC and Clara's Cow contests is placed outdoors without backstage, and rough and dirty ground for the public to stay, also the con is around late October-November so it's a bit cold and windy outside. For years the attendants have been complaining to the organizators and demanding to move all the contests to the empty auditorium which is only used once in a day for activities, but the organization totally ignore them.

Anyway, it seems here people just want the "free-travel to Japan!!!!!" like if it's something really special only to vip people to go to Japan or something. The preliminaries are always rigged so there's 0% chance to select a couple of real good cosplayers to represent us. Same goes for the rest of the international cosplay contests. It's a shame because there are people really talented.

The couple selected this year at the preliminaries in Barcelona did an horrible Berserk skit with horrible cosplays (the armor he wears is totally made up with parts of other 3 different outfits of Guts, the Caska cosplayer even blackfaced!, and about the skit... well, they will repeat the same skit in Japan, so you'll see how awful it is). Also, they went with the same Berserk cosplays to every cosplay contest at all cons in Spain in order to win money for their travel to Japan, which is really pity (the girl is a total neet and the boy is a farmer...).

And I agree with >>9581061, there's a lot of interest lately in ECG and the China Cosplay Show one too for the same reasons. Spain also entered the Tokyo Game Show, which is another "free-travel to Japan" oportunity...

The whole "win a trip to Japan" thing is a joke because I'm pretty sure you don't get more than one full day to have any free time that isn't related to WCS and you're based in Nagoya. Which is one of the least interesting of the large cities in Japan.

>>9581061
They also have restrictions on what Japanese sources you can use, used to make you do your skits in Japanese, disallowed you from using music from the actual source and pushed the idea that your only chance of winning the finals is if you cosplay something that the judges like/embodies Japanese culture.

No one wonder the UK has always struggled to find people to compete. The UK can't even find more than 5 people for every other international prelim except ECG solo. It's the strictest international competition by far.

In germany WCS used to be a great social media event, but they seem to hate our team this year because there is almost nothing compared to last year. I don't like this year's team because their costumes are boring and ugly and they are annoying af but this treatment is kinda unfair...

>>9580286
They can cosplay as yondu.
Blue skinned redneck is perfect.

>>9581253
I also don't like them because there was a much better team which only won a special price so I think the current team don't deserve being in japan. But I agree on the bad handling. If you let your friends win then stick to them even if it turns out they suck as representatives

What do you have to do to add your country to the WCS list? I am curious

>>9581451
pay a lot of money I guess. first of a all you need to find a convention for hosting a prelim and who will pay for the hotel and bus in Japan.

Can anyone explain what events there are at WCS and what the representatives have to do at those events? I've seen a lot of pictures but to me it doesn't make sense what purpose those events have

>>9585003
There are a couple of parades, meeting with city government, visiting brother, and other various events for photograph/video opportunity aside from the actual "contest". Remember that the event is just a TV station publicity stunt for Nagoya so they just want a lot of video footage.

>>9585070
so these events are still just a sidenote, the real contest is still the main part of WCS? Are you allowed to drop those events like if you can't come for a whole bunch of days to japan but still want to take place at the stage contest?

S U M I R E

>>9585087
No, you have to participate in everything. That's your responsibility when chosen and you have to be ready for that if you decide to compete. Culturally it would look very bad on your country if you were honored with the bid to Japan and then didn't preform your duties.

The contest means nothing in terms of who wins, it's a TV show. It's arguably the most important part, but not because they care about who wins. It's the biggest part because it gets ratings.

>>9585087
When you qualify you need to be prepared to take part in a week long list of events. You do get many meals paid for too.

The contest now is also split into parts because of the amount of countries. There's almost a 'semifinals' stage in Japan from which a handful of countries get to compete in the actual finals.

Don't apply because you think you'll get a week free in Japan with a cosplay contest at the end as that's not the case.

It's an idol competition, not a creaftmanship competition. It's only really useful if you're trying to use WCS to gain recognizability and prestige by being able to tack "WCS semi finalist" or whatever into your bio.

Scandal already came out that they favor contestants, so don't enter if you're hoping to pit your craftsmanship up against others. It's just not the right venue for that.

If you just want to go to Japan by any means possible, just save your money and watch for cheap flights. They're going for 6-700 round trip from us international airports as Japan is working to amp up its tourism capacity so as to not be an international embarrassment in the 2020 Olympic games.

>>9585307
okay. how can I get to be a favored contestant?

>>9585899
Slut it up on social media. Appeal to both men and women.

>>9585908
you also have to surround yourself with WCS related people like organizers, alumni or friends of current representatives to get seen beforehand.

>>9585899
don’t forget to mention non stop that you are partaking at the prelim of your country. so ppl who search for WCS will find your social media posts and have a look.

the strategy is a piece of cake, but don’t whine when everyone thinks you to be annoying (which happens a lot in germany, where everyone hates the team and talks shit about it all the time but on social media they try to get or stay in contact to get better chances at the next prelim).

you should not care about what your fellow cosplayer in your country or your firends think about you just make sure you have some kind of presence. what counts is how you are to be seen from the japanese WCS organizers

>>9586048
Is there an overview of the important people somewhere? I think I will find me a partner and try this

>>9585307
>It's an idol competition

Serious question: then why do they tend to pick the homely looking people? Look at the images in this thread, these aren't exactly idol level.

They're obviously not screening for looks, so if they're not screening for craftsmanship what are they screening for?

>>9586182
(Well, image, plus the chinless woman mentioned above thread. CupcakeCosplay isn't exactly what you'd call 'idol' material.)

>>9586182
Up until this point, at least in the USA, the former US director had complete power. Now that Japan has taken it back who knows? Go brush up on it's history in the US. In the early years Japanese flat out refused to accept literally the only team of 2 in the competition (who's craftsmanship was hands down the best) in favor of throwing together a team out of soloists because the team was fat. That's why we had a weird US based director and why we skipped a year and why it was such a shock AX would take them back.

In any case no matter who is running it they are still limited to the people that actually want to participate. You have to want to go through their ridiculous hoops and a lot of people just don't want to deal with that. I'd assume the "hot" girls who have a ton of followers to maintain don't have time to deal with WCS bullshit.

>>9586328
Was that the year before everyone was BAAAW-ing over how Japan was ~~totally biased~~ for France and Italy and there were all those long winded posts about how Team America totally didn't get as much attention as the other teams and Team America totally didn't get as much interview time as the other teams and wah wah wah? Or was that the no-fatties year?

I wanna say it was 2006 or 2007? Livejournal was just blowing up with it.

Either way, there are plenty of attractive cosplayers who have excellent craftsmanship. It's almost like they're treating it as a pity prize.

>>9586328
I mean, though. Our teams may have been selected solely on craftsmanship but that's a pretty sorry looking bunch? They look like the stereotypical fat western otaku. If you're going to compete internationally, why can't you put as much time into yourself as you do your costume?

I'm not saying send Jnig out to represent us, but Yaya is hardly the only cosplayer who knows her way around a sewing machine while still not looking like a troll.

>>9586740
Yaya doesn't really need the boost though. Also she had emcee'd USA prelims at Katsucon so she clearly is above the need to compete.

>>9586766
Yayas just the obvious example for cosplayers that work on craftsmanship and still manage to weigh less than 400.

Not all normal looking cosplayers have bad craftsmanship and that they only ever manage to find the more embarrassing looking cosplayers is kinda weird. Again, it just holds up the stereotype of cosplayers as being obese fuggo rejects.

Even looking at ECS you have plenty of examples of cosplayers who made excellent costumes while miraculously managing to look good it in.

Making a costume, craftsmanship, isn't just about avoiding the hot glue gun- tailoring and having an honest eye for what costume suits you best is a part of costuming.

>>9586734
I think it was 2 years after. We didn't go the year following because of the ~drama~

Is it allowed to copy a skit from a former year?

>>9586800
Like someone said above, they can only pick from the people that decide to compete. There are tons of decent looking cosplayers with good craftsmanship, but that doesn't mean they want to spend the money and time competing in this. I don't want to jump through all these hoops to "prove" something, and Nagoya in August is a sweaty swamp.

>>9587189
>and Nagoya in August is a sweaty swamp

Ugh, I'm in Nagoya right now and this is no joke. It's like 3 showers a day weather here. I'm too damn Californian for Japanese summer weather.

>>9586328
>>9586740
Can we get a picture of them? Just how fat were they? Were they balls of fat rolling around on stage or were they just chubby girls 4chan considers to be fat.

>>9587186
like team germany you mean?

China killed it this year, 3 special awards and grand winner

>>9588262
china was so much better than anyone else they truly deserved the win. noone can tell me this was rigged

>>9586182
It is not an idol competition in that the people need to be potential idols, it is an idol competition on that they are more concerned about your level of social media following and international recognizability, because that is what is going to bring viewership to their network.

>>9587275
Not that fat, but they both had double chins and decided to wear costumes that emphasized their faces without doing any contouring on their faces whatsoever.

>>9588262
China's skit put every fight scene skit to shame.

>>9588527
>>9588527
Vid please!

I hope their fight skit used SFX

>>9588652
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoYFrMGoWcM

>>9587420
This.

>>9587275
Chubby is just a cute word for fat, though. It's not a 4chan thing, but you keep telling yourself that.

>>9589144
I'd consider fat to be overweight. You can be chubby and still be comfortably in the healthy weight category for your height. But each to their own I guess.

why is there not much drama? Japan's third place for example? isn't that a thing to discuss?

>>9589454
You go first

>>9589454
Because cosplay isn't a huge thing in Japan as it would be in US or some other countries. This is a country where general attendees outnumber cosplayers 80-to-20, as opposed to 60-40 you'd see at American anime conventions.

>>9580064
Please don't tell me the idiotic American WCS judges are sending MORE embarrassing fatasses to the competition.

I feel bad for spain, their huge stage prop broke in the middle of the skit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5RYjGl0jYk

>>9589478
Not only their prop fall in the middle of the scenario, the skeletons didn't pop up like they mean to do and in before the event, the boxes that they have the cosplays and props was opened by someone in the airport and broke some things.
More or less cool performance, but man, what a bad luck.

>>9589478
They deserved it. They had 8 months to prepare the performance and adapt it to the stage with that huge projector (they could have projected the skeletons and Zodd and interact with the projector like almost every other performance did), or even make a new performance with new cosplays, but they're both lazy af and went into the trouble of carrying over all their shabby atrezzo and awful cosplays to the other side of the world. That's what happen when the preliminaries are rigged and the jury chose their friends instead of actually competent people.

They've changed the competition so you no longer have to do your finals skit in Japanese. Do you guys think those who do it in English now instead of Japanese are now at an disadvantage? Is it better just to do a non-speaking skit like China did instead?

>>9589619
on the other side the interaction with the screen was almost everytime badly done, so I would stick to props because it feels more real

There were so many bad acts in the finals, maybe they should only let half of them pass next year.

>>9589638
I think having the skit in Japanese is better for the audience, which is majorly japanese. However, it shouldn't be a deciding factor. I find a non speaking skit more enjoyable than a speaking one, but telling a story without any words can be hard most of the time.

Does anyone know what excactly this is:

https://www.makuake.com/en/project/wcs-2018/

Especially this voting for the position of the teams in the photo

>>9590895
This looks weird. WCS is resorting to crowdfunding to be able to add more countries to the lineup? I thought each participating country is footing the bill for flights etc. for their teams, plus the "licensing fees" to be able to use the WCS name/logo etc.

So for $150 you can vote for which country gets to be in the front of the photo? For $300 you can be a "corresponding reporter" (corresponding to who? Is it just a press pass?)

This is fucking weird. Is TV Aichi spending too much money on WCS?

>>9589619
Lo siento que no te dieran la plaza a ti en vez de Ari y Tobi, no suenas nada resentido anon.

>>9591591
WCS has become too big for its own good. Hosting people from more than 30 countries (and counting) requires a lot of funds. Even with the participants paying their share, you still need to pay the staff, the bus, the visits and all the other stuff. So the crowdfunding doesn't come as a surprise. But I can't stop wondering that if they had less countries in the rooster they wouldn't spend that much.

>>9591685
I'm sorry anon but I'm not even a regular cosplayer so you must go baiting somewhere else. Also, use English please since this is an English board, even if it's broken or google translated that's ok.

Well, in last year preliminary at Bcn there was really low level compared to 2015 preliminary. Nobody did a better performance neither had better cosplays than Tobi and Ari, and even that they suck at both... Still, they could have done something better for the finale, they had a lot of time, but they went the lazy way, so they had what they deserved. I'm not even a bit sorry for them. Hope that will teach future teams to work a lot more in their performances and craftmanship.

About the Spanish contestants, the universe is not guilty, neither the organization or the airline.Their own decisions have been fucked them. The fate did not decide to repeat the performance, also not decided send that amount of props to Japan, did not decided to use a weak background structure, .... did not decide anything, they made a decision for the final and these are the consequences. In my opinion they should have listened who wanted to advise them and persuaded them to change some elements of the performance, but it is done, nothing will change crying, I hope it will help to future contestants to think about if the atrezzo and props are necessary when you have a big backscreen and if hours of streaming are necessary when your work is still unfinished

>>9589619
>>9592733
You know, it look really bad if every bigger prop is moved to the background video. Did you watch the stream, the video didn't even show well so some of the skits weren't understandable. The screen is nice for special effects, but not as important storyteller. You just seem to be salty about them getting in the finals.

>>9592867
I only show the situation. They wanted do something, and they made it also lot of people told them this kind of performance is not good idea to Japan, but they ignored the advises. First time ever WCS have an unfinished performance, I understand they are sad about that, but incriminate the problems to others is more easy than see the own faults