With the first preliminary for the Australian leg of the World Cosplay Summit (WCS) only three months away and the excitement is building. To help clear up some of the rumours that have been going around and assist cosplayers with there preparations, Wakaleo, the driving force behind Australia entering the WCS has agreed to give Cosplay Australia an interview.

First some general facts that people should know about:

Website:  [link]
Rules: [link]
Judging: [link]

- A preliminary round will be held at each Mini Animania to select entrants for the Australian Final at Animania Sydney. (This is different from normal. Usually only one convention holds the event giving less people from less areas a chance – Floaty)

- Three pairs will be selected at each Mini Animania, and will compete on the Sunday of main Animania in the finals. That’s 12 pairs selected to competed in the (Australian) finals 

- Qualifiers will be going to the WCS 2009 event in Japan giving a year to prepare one new costume each.

 
Cosplay Australia - Tell us a little about yourself:

Wakaleo - My Cosplay.com profile has quite a bit of info about myself and my Cosplay history: [link]

I started cosplaying in 2001, at an outing organized by AnimeUNSW (anime club in Sydney). I cosplayed as Larva from Vampire Princess Miyu. From there, I started to attend many conventions, including Manifest, Supanova, Animania, Animeau. After larva, I did Inuyasha, then Wakka, Mog, Hades, Jiraiya, Gippal, Totoro, Aiolia, Ryuu-oh and finally Balthier (see my profile for details about where I wore those costumes). I won several competitions, and I am well known for making big costumes (Mog and Totoro).

In 2003, I was president of AnimeUNSW, and was invited to join Animania. I became treasurer and Cosplay coordinator of Animania. In 2004, I remained Cosplay coordinator, and continued in 2005. In 2006, I went to France for the whole year, and Peggy and her sister Pearl took over as Cosplay coordinators. In 2007 (after mini-Animania Sydney), I came back and got back as Cosplay coordinators along with Peggy and Pearl as assistants. In 2008, Animania is raising Cosplay to its own department, having its own volunteers and team. Peggy and I remain Cosplay coordinators, but Pearl left us but a new recruit, Kim, joins us to organize the preselection of WCS at Animania.

How is the Australian representative being selected?

The process is quite easy, yet it can be confusing too, because there are many steps before getting to the stage in Nagoya. Cosplayers wanting to participate in the pre-selection must find a partner, and prepare 2 sets of costumes. For example, (let’s say) me and my partner will Cosplay as Goku and Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z, and will prepare a skit for it. Cosplayers need to enter any of the 4 preliminary rounds, at each of the 3 Mini-Animania (Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane) and on the Saturday of main Animania. To enter the preliminary rounds, the pair (or duo as we are calling them at Animania), must submit a portfolio at least 3 weeks before the event. A panel of judges will assess the portfolio and choose 12 duos which will be able to go into the onstage competition. Out of the 12 duos, 3 duos will be selected to go to the finals on the Sunday of Main Animania, totalling 12 duos in the finals. The finalist must have a second set of costumes in the final (different from the preliminary round). Then, 1 duo will be selected from the 12 duos to be the Australian representative for WCS.

Will the judges be the same for all events?

There are at least 3 judges confirmed at this stage. Widya Santoso (http://www.fansview.com/person/0215pers.htm) and I will be attending all Mini-Animania and Main Animania. There will be one Japanese guest from WCS coming to judge at Main Animania. Peggy and Kim will be there in Sydney, making a total of 5 judges for Main Animania. For Mini-Animania, there should be at least 3 judges (unless we can find 5), but neither Peggy nor Kim have confirmed if they were going to Melbourne and Brisbane. A judge may need to be found before those events.

What role will the WCS people have in the selection?

A WCS guest judge will be coming to main Animania to help judging, and WCS will have a booth at Animania to promote the event in Japan. Apart from that, WCS is letting Animania organize the preselection as it sees fit.

Are the same costume/skit required for the preliminaries and the Australian final?

The costumes in the preliminary rounds and the Australian final must be different, so each duo should prepare 2 sets of costumes, especially if they have won a preliminary round. If a duo enters Mini-Animania Sydney, but doesn’t get to go to the finals, the duo can re-enter any preliminary rounds with the same costumes until they get chosen to go to the finals (unless they are not chosen).

How many costumes will be required?

Per person: 3 costumes. 1 for the preliminary rounds, 1 for the finals, 1 for Japan. The one for Japan is only made by the Australian representatives, and they have a whole year to make it. The Australian representatives will have a coach (probably myself) which will follow their progress throughout the year to check how they are going, and give feedback with the making of the costume and give opinions on the skit, but obviously the coach cannot make the costumes for the team. The coach will be going with the Australian team to Japan for WCS as a chaperon.

If someone enters at a Mini Animania and isn't chosen for the Australian Final, can they enter on the Saturday of Sydney Animania with a different costume and try again?

Yes, they can re-enter any preliminary rounds (so you can enter all 4 preliminary rounds if needed), but you don’t need to change costumes. You only need a new costume for the finals. You need to resubmit your portfolio before each preliminary round to be eligible to enter, and you will only be able to enter if the judges have selected you for the onstage competition.

What length should peoples skits be?

Three minutes, that’s it, so plan well. Any skit longer than 3 minutes will be disqualified (meaning you won’t receive any points for the skit, reducing your chances of winnings drastically).

What will be required in the entry submission?

The entry submission is a portfolio for the duo. We will need all the information that was asked last year, such as Cosplay history, information about skit, costume. We will require photos of the costumes being made to see that you made it yourself. Being a portfolio, it really means that cosplayers are free to present their team as they see fit, better the portfolio is, more chances you have to get selected. Think of it as a resume and that you are trying to get a job, so why should we pick you out of everyone else. (Progress photos and other photos have been mentioned as good additions – Floaty)

What financial assistance will be provided for winners?

Good news and bad news: let’s start with the bad news. The duos selected in the preliminary rounds will have to finance themselves the cost of coming to Sydney for the Finals and pay their own accommodation. Entry to Animania will be free for them however. Cosplayers should keep that in mind before entering the competition. Duos that are unable to come to Sydney will be replaced by the next best duos (so if you don’t get selected for the finals, you still have a chance to get selected if a duo pulls out).

Good news. The Australian representatives (the winners of the final) will receive 2 return tickets to Nagoya Japan, and accommodation is taken care of by WCS. They will have to pay for their own food however.

Do people have to be Australian nationals or can people in Australia studying able to enter?

There are no rules about this in the WCS rules, so Animania will assume that as long as the cosplayers have a valid visa to live in Australia, and they are able to get a visa to go to Japan (e.g. they have not been banned from Japan), it shouldn’t stop anyone studying in Australia to enter and win the competition.

What is expected of the cosplayers in Japan and what will they be required to do?

The WCS website explains this in details, but each cosplayer should ideally bring 3 costumes with them; one for the parade, one for the competition and one for TV and/or other public appearances. The parade is basically walking in the streets of Nagoya in costume, the competition is pretty much just like the finals in Australia, so a skit will have to be performed, and the TV/public appearances will be most likely of interviews by TV Aichi and other media. The Australian team will have an assigned coach/chaperon (probably myself) which will help them make their 3rd set of costume for WCS, and will follow them in Japan.

Any final words of wisdom/advice?

As I said on the Animania forum, this is going to be a tough competition, and only those who are tough morally should enter the competition. Animania will still run the usual competition for those not entering the WCS preselections. Keep in mind that you will be judges by the following criteria:

Performance (10 points)……..production, creativity and entertainment
Costumes (10 points)…………workmanship, how faithful the costumes are to the original
Faithfulness to the story (5 points)……….how faithful is the performance to the story of the original work and characters etc  (this would mean unless your character really is gay, yaoi is out- Floaty)

Choice of costume will be very important, because you will need to demonstrate your skills to make a costume, and also you should choose characters with which you can make an entertaining skit.

“The main reason I pushed for Animania to organise the preselection of WCS, is because most cosplayers don't think like I do, and they won't put the effort to improve if there isn't a carrot to eat at the end. The competition should give a "kick in the butt" to Australia as a whole, and raise the standards and increase the number of great cosplayers.

Obviously the competition will be tough, and people entering the competition should enter knowing that the competition will results in only 1 team winning, and hundreds losing. The odds of winning are very low, and everyone should be prepared of losing rather than going in the competition thinking they will win easily. Hence, I advise that you should enter the competition having several other reasons (e.g. love of cosplay), because it would be very sad to see amazing cosplayers leave the competition in tears. Regardless of the outcome of the competition, you should be proud of your work, and should enjoy your cosplay as much as you can.” (From the Animania forum – Floaty)

Also, about judging, as per usual, there will be people not happy with whom judges have chosen. Keep in mind that judges are trying their best to select the best team, and although you may not agree with the selection, arguing about it on forums will not change anything. In fact you may offend judges which gave their free time to judge the competition.

And most importantly, have fun; Cosplay is all about having fun!!!

Thank you Wakaleo. Comments can be left here: [link]