/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

Like this year is not worth paying attention to. I am ashamed to be represented by two so unworthy.

>>7712730
Is that meant to be some sort of Fem Bandit Keith?

From the WCS USA Facebook.

>>7712730
Didn't care for the winners going for US.
They won't win and are very uninteresting.

Photo report of the WCS Centrair presentation.

http://www.worldcosplaysummit.jp/en/2014/centrair_en.html

>>7712767
They're so fat. And not just fat, but the shitty apple shape fat.

>>7712965
Lots of cute teams this year! But a few should have chosen something more fitting to wear.

>>7712965
Is it just me or are there huge skill gaps in some of these teams? Like one costume will look really nice and solid while the other is lumpy and poorly made.

>>7712767
Hahahaha. Did they have to buy two plane seats for each of the Team USA girls?

Please tell me that they're going to do the right thing and cosplay as Ronald McDonald and Colonel Sanders.

>>7712983
I think all the teams look good actually. I don't know to which you could be referring.

>>7713015
Hate to say it but the shorter Zelda is even more haggard looking. At least her wig actually fits her head, though, unlike the US one.

All the competitors this year are a bit iffy. Is WCS really in that bad shape as far as its reputation that it can't pull good cosplayers anymore?

Did the judges in the US just completely ignore that the cosplayers are OBESE and don't accurately represent the characters they are cosplaying?

Has America become that much of a tumblr hugbox? Jesus. How embarrassing.

when is the day of performing?

>>7713015
mama zelda and her 2 babies hilda and zelda 2

>>7712730
In a way, it they team sums up what most countries picture the US as, Fat and overweight.

Of course we'd represent ourselves with fat, ugly white people.

Why did U.S. chose fat people as representatives?

>>7713213
Because in the US judges base their judging primarily on costume construction and the skit they perform. How you look as a person (size, beauty, etc) plays no part in judging.

>>7713223
Well that's dumb. Everybody knows WCS is a beauty contest.

>>7713223
Well then it begs the following questions:
1) how good were their costumes?
2) how bad were the other costumes?
3) how good was their skit?
4) how bad was everyone else's skits?

>>7713223
It absolutely should. At least we weren't the only country to send fatties, I guess. I'm embarrassed for us. And what makes it worse is that I know a number of obese cosplayers who have seen these two as our representatives and have decided they want to compete next year.

>>7713232
we're going to send more fatties next year to WCS? >_<

>>7713239
Next year we'll be represented by Majin Buu so it'll all work out.

Just a thought but...everyone who'se saying that just because they're fat they don't deserve to go to WCS....why don't you skinnies go try? If you think being skinny is enough?

Manga: Sailor Moon Anime: Gundam Wing

Not only are they fat one of them has the most "I haven't watched an anime in 15 years" taste ever.

>>7713254
We're victims of discrimination because all the fat judges will side with the fat cosplayers.

>>7713230
According to my friend who was in the Soul Calibur group this year she said their construction was top notch. I'm having a hard time fining pics of their Guilty Crown entry so here's a video.

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

It seems solid as far as skits go, but I'm sorry to say i'm pretty constantly distracted by the fatness....and that intro video...ugh. I can understand the USA judges giving them top marks for construction, but only one costume seems to have any decent stage presence. And I don't think you're really doing them any favors by sending them to a world contest judged by Japanese judges who last year made an exception for commissioned costumes so the Japanese team could win. It's also a country where it's acceptable practice to only hire good looking people to represent your company. They won't do well

>>7713254
I'd try if I had an equally in shape partner I trusted to do good work and take it seriously. Maybe in a couple years.

>>7713254
No one's saying they don't deserve to go because they're fat. They just won't be taken seriously. America's the only country that has such a concept as "fat-shaming." Japan is a culture of shame and that keeps most people in check.

>>7713290
It's not just America but we're the most upfront about it. Almost like it's okay to eat shit, be a financial strain on insurance companies because you don't take care of yourself, and take up too much space in public transport vehicles.

Disgusting.

>>7713254
Judging is too skewed. You actually have an easier time being judged if you're fat or homely looking since the entirely female cast of judges (composed of ex-WCS contestants and fatties/uglies themselves) will give uglies extra credit for doing a good job on something.

The only times the US has ever sent good looking contestants to WCS was back in the early days when the producers controlled judging. You simply cant count on American women to award someone for being beautiful. It makes them feel bad.

My waifu is representing Korea. Guess I'll actually have to pay attention this year.

Why did Team Brasil choose such cringy costumes, eugh. They look too old for Kuroko no Basket.

>>7713317
Pandering

>>7713239
But the reps for next year haven't been decided, right? The only prelim winners so far for 2015 aren't bad looking, and their skit was really cute.

> 5 years ago entire community bitches because WCS refused to accept fat girls with well constructed costumes as reps.

> this year community bitches because WCS chose to send fat girls with well constructed costumes as reps.

Never change /cgl/!

>>7713366
I actually was happy 5 years ago when WCS didn't accept fat girls.

I will never care about how well constructed a costume is when the cosplayer is fat. It isn't like the judges get to look at the costumes when the cosplayer isn't wearing it. So aesthetically pleasing cosplayers in decent costumes would do better.

>>7712767
That's just terrifying.

Talk about an "unhealthy body image"- That "image" screams diabetes and rotting extremities..

>>7713374
A well made circus tent, is still a circus tent.

>>7712767
>Amerifats

Who the fuck selected these two?

>>7713366
Years back it was that the entry with the fat chick had the most amazing costumes and best stage presence, but the WCS rep assembled a team out of less good cosplayers because they were thin. This year there were thin girls that also had excellent costumes and performance, but they were passed over for these two, who are going to get screwed over in Japan. The judging there is such that 1/3 of your score is construction from the construction judge you are assigned (reading the rules gives me the impression that there's a team of construction judges, but most entries only see one of them, so different teams may get judged by different people?) and 2/3 of the score is what the celebrity judge panel sees on stage for performance and representation of the character. If you want the US selection to pick teams to win in Japan, the same selection process needs to apply.

>>7712965
>http://www.worldcosplaysummit.jp/en/2014/centrair_en.html
That Brook though <3

Here's pics from the US finals if people need a reference.

http://cositphotography.com/nawcs2014finals

While I don't think Green Jello was the worst group I feel like they got bumped because they were big. Only the red dress from their skit had any decent stage presence. Any other sort of craftsmanship is not going to be appreciated by the Japanese audience. Honestly for a long time I didn't really care until I saw OP pic and I'm like shit they look like the plus size version of Crabcat industries.

>>7713302
What are you talking about? There was one overweight girl on the judging panel this year. Everyone else was fairly thin and three of them were foreign. How is it fat american bias when nearly half the panel is from Europe?

Also, we won 2nd and craftsmanship last year with a girl who's stature was larger. Not saying she was fat, but she was an overall larger girl (taller, more broad).

>>7713185
This is honestly why I chose not to follow the competition this year. It's humiliating.

Quite honestly aside from their weight the performance was so lackluster. Not even the costume change was that good.

There's a lot of reports that the costumes made, particularly Mana's dress was really intricately made. Yet that's the issue. The details are great but too small to be noticed by the audience and cannot compare to other cosplays that were eye-catching by design as a whole. What is TV presentable. The other outfit looked poorly made too.

If the judges could find a medium between great craftsmanship but also a keen eye to what is beautiful for a performance from an audience view, that would be great. I think that's the magic that last year's team had: solid craftsmanship but also eye-catching designs and skit.

>>7713530
Fushigi Yuugi AGAIN?

>>7713622
I think they won with Guilty Crown. This Fushigi.Y is other team.
I'm not from the USA, but the skit seemed boring for me. Also one of the costumes - the girl who was crossplaying - was very poor and wasn't flattering.
My fav USA girls were the Chii group I was very surprised they didn't win. Their costumes were eye-catching and the skit was well thought and you could see they invested in it. I really enjoyed it.

Cosplay is not supposed to be a model thing, but ofc looks help. But it's a matter of being smart too and chosing something which the construction might flatter your body.
But I agree that in WCS it's more important - being charming and pretty- than in most contests.

>>7713653

Eh, I thought the Chobits/Matrix skit was an overdramatic mess. And while I think Nessa looks pretty good, her partner Pipsi is a butter face, and well on her way to looking as fat as these girls chosen.

>another year of not sending a male team to the WCS
>not picking a team as soon as this WCS is over so that they are given a year to prepare
>not adopting the US way of dominating sports to cosplay in general

If the US team took this competition seriously, they would win every year

I liked wild garden and the chobits group... yeah the fatties shouldnt have won, too bad the chobits group fucked up the first time or they would have got it I think.

>>7713735

You consider this a real contest? It's not.

What happened with the chobits group

>>7713846
The performance idea was alright but they overdramaticized everything. It was wayyy to melodramatic.

On the other hand, I could follow the storyline for it more clearly than the winners. I'm not too familiar with Guilty Crown, but it way harder to connect with it. At least with the CCS, Utena, both SC (and I haven't even played the games), and Chobits, the plots were able to be followed.

>>7713846
False start

>>7713968
I'm familiar with GC and could barely follow the skit. Part of that I can attribute to the audio quality on what I watched being not very good, but part of it was it really required you to know and understand the BS from the end of the series, with a side of dancing because WCS.

The teams from singapore and finland are always so shitty, Its fun to see the difference in st cosplay sandards

>>7713275
Their skit was boring as fuck. We are getting last place this year

>>7712991
this one. seth looks like shit. the costume doesn't fit at all and has nothing to do with the design of the manga. I was so shooked seeing this. it took me even a while to realize this was from Trinity Blood.

>>7714394
elastic waistband? seriously? what the fuck

>>7714394
gosh she looks like an ugly guy in drag. who is this?

>>7714397
Not really. they just look like 30+ women.

>>7714394
sagging breasts!

this makes me speechless. I am a huge Trinity Blood fan and I love this outfit of Seth because it is so pretty and I adore the butterfly themed clothing. and now someone who put like two days of effort in such a costume shows up and is presenting it on such an event where I would have expected a brilliant tailored beautiful work but look at it. she is wearing a fucking diaper, missed some major parts of the costume and the overall look is a fucking disaster.

>>7714400
more like cheap 30+ whores

>>7712730
Don't be ashamed USA, at least your team knows how to cover theirselfs!

>>7714394

What is wrong with you all? I thought the Seth looked super cute!

>>7714441
these do look like perfectly fine cosplays for a parade setting if you ask me. They made them with just the right amount of detail and I like the general look.

Stop bitching about nothing cgl, there are far worse people to bitch about if you look at the photos.

>>7712767

Think the US team could have at least started working out and getting in shape a little for this. I feel for you America, but at least some of your past teams have done well.
I've got a gorgeous friend competing this year so I'm sending all of my good thoughts to the UK team <3 Their finals costumes look fucking gorgeous.

>>7714462
Uk has had some really cute/amazing teams in the last 2 years!
I really love the sakura gown the girl made so far. One of my favourite teams, I hope they do well!

>>7714462
They did start getting in shape by eating only the most fattening foods they could find.

sad to say it but these girls actually look bigger now than when they won the right to represent the USA just a little while ago.

>>7712767
Don't they know what the Japanese do to whales?

These girls are going to end up on a Tokyo restaurant menu.

>>7714441
just because she's not fat doesn't mean she's cute. you americans with your low standards just because your team are whales
Both of the trinity blood cosplayer are not the ugliest girls in the contest but for sure they don't look good

>>7714447
perfectly fine is too much.
But considering the gap which was mentioned they are a perfect example. The white haired cosplayer is obviously far ahead of the black haired one when it comes to skills and neat sewing. But none of them looks like the characters and that's mostly due to the crappy wigs

This Kotori is so cute! Which team is this?

God damn they are not only fat, have horrid faces, but they are shaped like a fucking pears.

If you want your team to do well, you seperate the crafters from the face. If they can craft then all the more power too them, I respect that. But dressing up a pig in a dress is just a pig in a dress.

Its just circular logic in this: If they lose, its not their fault, its that the others are fat-shamers. If they win, its not because of the crafting, its because they are empowered fat people.

Again, cant stress enough: If they are good at crafting then I am proud of them for the recognition. Hell, even some thick girls can look fucking good. But the face in >>7712730 and >>7713015 just...god damn its just not cutting it. Next thing you know americans will start demanding olympics stop fat shaming and they should pick people of weight for the teams.

>>7714984

Her eyes are so far apart...

>>7715018
I was with you until you compared this to the olympics.

>>7715033
Not comparing, saying its a slippery slope, even if highly exagerated.

It's funny how /cgl/ is willing to admit they've gained weight and are fat/miserable in feels and confession threads, but as soon as a couple of big girls end up in a competition they start shredding them.

>implying you're not fat too

>>7715045
I don't understand your logic. Just because some people on /cgl/ are fat doesn't necessarily mean that they're proud of looking disgusting, nor do they want someone with that body type representing their country.

In any case, I just wish these girls were a bit more put together. They're a classic example of the unfortunately cosplayers who look better in costume than they do as a normal human.
>ugly khakis tucked into running shoes

>>7715045
Its one thing to be an average joe, but these people were picked to represent a big country in a contest devoted to LOOKING GOOD. Pitty points only go so far.

Rest of the world already has the "Americans are fat an entitled" stereotype, why perpetuate it?

>>7715068
>nor do they want someone with that body type representing their country.

>Measured average height, weight, and waist circumference for adults ages 20 years and over (Women):
>Height (inches): 63.8 (just under 5'4")
>Weight (pounds): 166.2
>Waist circumference (inches): 37.5
Source: www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_11/sr11_252.pdf

This IS what Americans look like.

>>7715091
The thing is, it's just a masquerade with an international theme. They're not "representing a big country." It's a masq for a TV broadcast. Who cares? Not American so I have no real interest in who represents my country (which isn't in the WCS). I just can't wrap my head around how upset people are that a couple of fat chicks are wearing costumes in a competition, boo hoo.

>>7715118
I'm not denying how obese our country is, I just wish we had sent more attractive representatives. Just because our country's population is undeniably fat doesn't mean that we HAVE to choose fat people to represent us.

It could be considered a masquerade with an international theme if multiple groups from each country were allowed to participate, but because there are regional prelims and national finals to elect what the competition literally deems "Team USA" or "WCS USA representatives," they ARE, in fact, representing a country. You seem really dense and concrete.

The Link was at ALA masquerade dressed as Princess Serenity and although she was a bigger girl, she looked fine and it was well made. I believe the year before that though, she cosplayed Bunny with the similar khaki pants and her bottoms were pretty large and overshadowed the rest of her costume.

That being said, I think if they at least picked costumes that were flattering to their figures, like typical silhouettes that are mean for larger people, it would help. It's honestly a basic when dressing yourself.

Nothing can save their skt though.

ITT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WabT1L-nN-E

>>7714487

9/10
you made me spit out my orange juice.


but seriously though, i hope they're shamed out of the competition or harassed at the event for being fat so they can go home and cry about it already.

>>7714984
I think Korea? She was dressed as Noel from Blazblue in recent pics, I think.

In every WCS thread before choosing the representative
>ughhh who cares about wcs anyway it's so stupid you guys, i so don't care
After choosing the WCS representatives
>I'M SO GONNA DIE OF SHAME OUR TEAM LOOKS SO SHITTY WE'RE THE LAUGHINGSTOCK OF THE WORLD AND WE WON'T WIN THIS YEAR EITHER BOOHOOO

Stay classy, /cgl/, stay classy.

God I hope they win so all of your heads will explode in rage. It will be the most entertaining thing on /cgl/ since dashcon!

>>7713107
I the judges are Americans, there's a good chance they're equally obese. Oops, I meant healthily curvy with some meat on dem bones.

>>7715551
Shit, this thread is so fat somebody ate the f in my if.

>>7715558
Pretty sure it was a member of Team USA.

>>7713275
All I saw was
>fat

Fat women should die.

Are there even healthy weight American cosplayers capable of making good costumes and skits interested in competing at all? Because America has been lacking one of the three since this started.

>>7715666
Why would you wish death on your own mother?

>>7715474
I think it has something to do with the fact that they aren't just shitty, they're obese. Americans are constantly dealing with the stereotype of being fat and terrible and here we are electing a couple of giant fat blobs to be our representatives in Japan. It's like one big joke.

>>7715870
no, because if you're pretty you don't have to be good, and vice-versa

>>7715888
Or if you are pretty and good, competing is just time and work that could be spent on other things with less stress without losing any cosplay fame.

Choose your next Team USA. Hard mode: Pick from people who have competed in the past. Team member mixing allowed.

>>7716063
>JNig and Yaya
Just hand them the trophy for 2015

>>7713735
>This entire post

My sides have left orbit.

>>7715880
Oh gawd, I can't stop laughing at that gif. Video source plox?

>>7716063
Envel and dustbunny. Their RG Veda stuff was beautiful and they picked a clamp series that wasn't fucking xxxHolic. Their SoulCal skit was solid and they're smart enough not to use dialogue that has to be translated. Dustbunny may be chunky but not in an overblown distracting way like Green Jello.

>>7716080
neither of them are eligible. Try again.

>>7716226
why arent they eligable?

>>7716356

Both are considered cosplay professionals, which are against the current US rules.

>>7716356
because they said previous contestants only

>>7716404
>>7716356

>>7716395
>Both are considered cosplay professionals, which are against the current US rules.

But is it against the WCS organization rules?

>>7716479
Yes

>>7716200
They are not buddy buddy with the wcs staff. They will never win no matter how awesome they can be. Plus they live on opposite coasts now.

>>7716479
>>7716553
As long as you are butt buddies with whoever organises your qualifier then nobody gives a shit. One of the members of Team Uk last year is a pro/works in the industry and nobody said anything about that.

It's impressive how everyone blames "being friends with the judges" as a excuse not to work hard. Please USA.
Everyone says the same in Europe and for me that's just a fucking excuse not to push yourself. Even for contests like Eurocosplay or ECG "Oh they won because they are "insert excuse""
JUST WORK and make something worth watching, if you're very very good no one can score you above a average/bad team.
STOP BEING LAZY AND WORK.

>>7716678
Agreed!

>>7714422

>>7713735
>US way of dominating sports
>US
>dominating international sports

>>7713015
biggest Zelda actually has the better looking costume construction wise.

>>7716678

Meh, I don't participate or have any desire to participate in WCS because I think there is fundamentally no such thing as a good masquerade skit. The 'best' ones are all like, shitty high school theater tier garbage. I'm not saying I could do any better, but I think the whole concept is embarrassing and stupid.

I get why they're such a central component though. Just looking at costumes isn't much of a crowd pleaser, but it doesn't make it any less awkward/stupid/etc.

>>7716793
Once upon a time, the skits were the only reason why I bothered with any cosplay-related activity. It used to be really creative stuff. Then they started using pre-recorded audio, sometimes coming directly from the series, and that's when it got really awkward. But I miss the days when you went it with a microphone in hands.

>>7716785
I agree. That costume looks actually quite decent, and I know we're too busy hating fatties here to saying anything nice about them, but I think it suited her really well too.

>>7716833
*went in

>>7714422
Those cups are all the way up to her collar bones while her boobs sag beneath them.
Damn I'd be one sad boob if that happened.

>>7714441
The only thing I don't like about it are those white diaper shorts, and the really cheap lace cravat.

I don't see what's so bad about the rest. I like the details? Maybe someone else can explain because I don't see what's so wrong about it.

>>7716793
>there is fundamentally no such thing as a good masquerade skit.


ACCURATE.

They all look like stuff a half assed high school production would make.
It's the nature of the hobby. These are amateurs with not that much or no stage training.
Props that have to be portable. No lighting effects or things that can obviously add to the performance.

They are always going to look like crap unless you get REALLY innovative.

>all of the judges are fat
>but is it against the rules
>craftsmanship doesn't matter

So you have bitched for 125 replies but none of you whores have bothered to actually read the rules or research the event? You can see a list of judges from finals on facebook. You can read the rules on their website. If you are going to complain at least know what the fuck you are talking about. Its not like its difficult information to find.

>>7716888
I also don't understand the hate here anon. Those girls are wearing very nice costumes.

I guess there is just a lot of (personal?) jealousy going on? Especially since there are teams with far worse costumes so it's weird to see Team Germany suddenly being singled out here.

>>7715880
I meant that this happens every year: first the whole /cgl/ plays uninterested of the whole thing, but when Team USA is finally chosen, shitstorm ensues and suddenly EVERYBODY'S concerned with how USA's gonna place in the competition (or how it's gonna be last again wah wah) and how the Japanese/world will see them. I just find the hypocrisy funny.

>>7716833

Well, considering the technical limitations of most masq setups, along with your average cosplayer's acting abilities, I'm not surprised most cons switched over to prerecorded audio. But, yeah, it doesn't really make it any less cringeworthy.

>>7716893

I mean, I get it, it just always seems like a really dumb/pointless endeavor given all the limitations (also how cons are notoriously terrible about giving specific guidelines about stage setups/lighting/etc far enough in advance for anyone to really do anything with it). I've seen so many skits that people call 'good' that involve a bunch of awkward nerds who maybe took a couple ballet classes in middle school trying to dance or super cheesy, overly dramatic stuff that's meant to be 1000% serious. And don't even get me started on the sorry attempts at humor in 'funny' masq skits.

>>7716912
>So you have bitched for 125 replies
Wow, it's almost as if you're new to this board or something.

>>7714441
Hmmm, based on this pic, I'd probably dump my load into the girl on the right.

>>7714422
What is that even supposed to be? Magi?

soooooo is anybody interested in talking bout some other teams than the american landwhales?

Im always surprised on how low cosplay standards some countries have - like singapore or finland or malaysia... I mean the quality of their craftmanship is equal to what most countries had in fucking 2003.
I should move to one of those coutnries; it would make it alot easier to win the preliminaries

>>7717116
Yes WCS thread plz not just USA.
My favourite team is usually Brasil, because they always seem carefree and funny, and this years seems like the dudes are super nice.
Costume wise my favs so far are Denmark, UK, Germany
Denmark pic related, I hope the girls get the the brother awars because this is just perfection. All the gold details are by HAND!

Also 1st time my country is going - Portugal, but it's weird It's like no one knows we have a team. They are not even on the WCS site

>>7716981
>without bothering to read the rules or research the event.

Leave it to 4chan to completely ignore context. Informed bitching is far better than this sad excuse for a thread.

>>7717130
Denmark seems to always be very good at craftmanship, but their skits are always shit boring!

I didnt know portugal was going either, lol thats kinda shitty its not even on the website.
are they any good?

>>7717143
they might just be observing. I know they added two observing counties this year. I think one was Canada.

>tfw when Aussie and have no idea what my team looks like

>>7717143
>>7717179
Yes they are observing. They even haven't arrived yet.
I'm not going to say much about them because everytime you say someting negative "you're a hatter" They aren't top notch, one of the girls is ok at sewing other was kind of "dragged" in the process I might say. Their skill level is average and between the one has much better skills than one.
The selections here were very poor since it was 1st time. It was clear they were going to win, not because they were great but because there was no comp. Their skit was just dancing to a reaggaeton kind of music.

>>7717116
Finland does have better cosplayers, and there were a few impressive costumes in the preliminaries last year, but their skits weren't as good. The Finnish judges are also really really nitpicky about the smallest flaws, so the simpler costumes tend to win in almost all contests.

>>7717130
Hnnnnngh, everything seems so neat and beautiful here! I'm looking forward to their performance.

>>7716915
I can see that the sleeves had needed to be bigger, yes okay I can tell, but I quite like them.
I'm glad I'm not the only one, especially since there are worse costumes around.

>>7716105
Fuck can't find the original anymore where you hear the audience clapping awkwardly as she lies crying on stage and the curtains close.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpHGQNcMXo4

>>7717263
lol

>>7717130
>mfw they embroidered the silver by hand....

>>7717656
what are those from? Series / character?

>>7717116

I don't know what's up with "Finland's craftsmanship level is so low"-antics. Is it because the costumes they chose aren't big and/or detail-oriented? As >>7717238 said, Finnish cosplay judges value flawless excecution over wow-factors and super-detailed costumes. I understand that next to Trinity Blood's epic ballgowns with hundreds of yards of trims and pearl necklaces, neat but simple costumes look pretty plain.

It seems this year Finland chose a team that can make better performances rather than epic costumes. But really, in WCS, craftsmanship doesn't probably matter that much, it's the wow-factors and epicness (and being Japanese, Italian or Brazilian) that count.

>>7717752
angry finfag much?
The finland teams have always sucked at wcs, get over it

Why did everyone want the Chobits group to win? Their skit was over dramatic and their set was gaudy, not to mention their intro video was autistic as fuck.

>>7717926
because they are attractive and thin. Pay attention anon.

>>7717926
I'd give it merit that the construction was pretty solid and I liked some of the set pieces. I didn't like most of the skit itself though, mostly because of the overacting. In the final version of it, they added a really bizarre segment where they were almost dancing? It wasn't graceful but rather weird and corny.

I liked the costumes though. And maybe it was a bit closer to the stereotypical Oscar bait WCS skit.

>>7717135
You sound incredibly new.
Do you honestly think /cgl/ gives two fucks what the rules are when landwhales are involved?

>>7718053
you sound incredibly stupid. If you want to complain about their weight then do so, but don't just make shit up to explain to your delusions how the team was selected.

I suppose its just to much to ask to spend 2 minutes reading over the competition standards and way easier to make gross assumptions. Sorry.

>>7717130
>>7717717

>>7717778

Not angry as much as kinda agreeing with you. I think the problem is with the judging. Even if you make the best, authentic-looking school uniform cosplays ever, they are still school uniforms. It isn't that challenging to make, but you can easily make it perfect and get more points for accuracy, like the case of Edward Elric cosplayer in ECC. Other countries value the cool effects and the challenge of the costume more. Thus, always focusing on making things perfect and not challenging themselves enough and going the hard route is the weakness of Finland. Why try new things when you can just do stuff you do well and score higher?

But yeah, compared to some teams that, for example, casted their costume parts or used more high-end materials, Finland seems very meh and basic. I'll still root for them and will wait for the performance to have my final verdict.

With that said, what are your favourite WCS-performances over the years? Have there been some exceptionally good ones? Last year was a disappointment with all the fight skits which were all basically the same with different weapons and lines.

>>7718197

US: 2013
Non-US: Brazil 2010

>>7718197
Another finnfag here, I don't mind the Finnish way of doing simple things well. We should do what we do best, leave the elaborate clusterfucks to other countries. This year I even have hope for a good performance so if the level of skits in Finland goes up, I don't think there is anything to br ashamed of.

>>7718917

Yep, positive about the skits, too. Their qualification skit was good, so I'm excited about their final performance. We haven't seen their stage props yet so can't say anything about that. And I like their character choices for the finals as well. Usually Finland is known for having neat costumes but boring skits, it's nice to see maybe something else this year!

>>7718408

Oh yes, US last year performance was awesome! I loved the stage props and how the story was easy to follow. Australia's Madoka performance last year was also great.

Does anyone know if there was a Wild Card team for the AnimeNext qualifier since there were only three teams competiting?

>>7717109
It's Magi. In terms of craftmanship the Dutch team really is the worst.

everyone talking bout how fat and ugly the usa team is..... look at this beast from the netherlands

>>7714422
I feel a bit embarassed for team NL, they're lovely girls and their qualifying skit was really nice (think they're reusing it with improvements for the final?). But they're coming across really badly in these costumes. I'm all for cosplaying what you want, but not when you're going to official press events, you should at least try to wear something that suits you.

>>7719716
Nope. The winners took both Best Resume and first place, neither of the other teams won anything. They probably eliminated Wild Card because there were only three teams competing, but the other two must have sucked pretty hard for the Kuroshitsuji team to sweep all the awards.

>>7719910
Oh my god. That's horrific. The one on the left is pretty cute, though.

>>7713302
>The only times the US has ever sent good looking contestants to WCS was back in the early days when the producers controlled judging.

Have you ever actually SEEN a picture of the US team the producers cobbled together back in 2005? They weren't obese, but they definitely ranged from thick-boned to heavyset. And they were uuuuuuuuuuugly. Painful to look at, even. HoneyBunny (the solo entry) actually won on talent, but she was luckily gorgeous enough to make up for the US group entry being disappointing uggos.

All that said, I think our other previous teams selected by American judges have all been pretty cute. Dia and Elizabeth, anyone?

>>7721055
Dia and FWD were probably the best looking contestants/best craftsmen we could possibly send. Cupcakes were uglier, but had a better skit.

>>7717217
>you're a hatter
>hatter

>>7716888
also don't understand the amount of hate, but the shorts are truly ugly and as far as I can see the whole costume has a bad fitting, but there are far worse costumes out there. plus she should have choosen an older character but since almost noone at WCS chooses a costume based on how closely he or she looks to the character it's kind of unfair to single her out even though they have a point here

are there more pics yet? I guess everything is said about those which were posted and I am interested in other contestants or other costumes of the same contestants

>>7713015
I actually like how the bigger Zelda constructed her costume so it fits her figure quite nicely. of course she looks like Zelda ate too much while waiting for the rescue but considering the craftmanship she did well making it into a dress for an overweight woman.
Link on the other hand should have known better than wearing skintight leggins

>>7717656
that's not hand embroidered is it? looks like done by machine to me. still awesome costumes. I would put my money on them for Brother award. or are there better ones out there?

is there nowhere to find decent pictures not taken with the contestants shitty phone cameras?

Almost finals time. only 21 hours left. Any favourite teams that might make it to the top 3 this year?

It would be hilarious if the 3 teams that we bitched about here became the top 3. I can sort of see that happen since they're all 3 talented teams.

>>7725290
Good pic of team germany. I really love them and they did one of my favourite CLAMP series CCS.
I also vote for net denmark!

>>7725338
forgot pic

>>7725340
So these are the same girls as >>7714441 ?
Not bad!!

>>7725348
yes! I really like their final costumes the wig is amazing and the sakura is so cute!

>>7725290
Got any pictures of UK? They haven't posted anything on their Facebook page about their finals outfits.

>>7725355
The wig looks as if she has an alien egg head. Sorry but it seems to be well done but lacks final adjustment which makes everything weird.
and isn't this supposed to be earthy? Why the fuck did she just go for a stony look! And why is there no extraordinary make up. Don't get me wrong it is not a bad cosplay but it really seems to be rushed and as if she did not overthink details

>>7725340
can someone please teach that sakura cosplayer how to style a wig? Her seth wig looked nothing like the character and this one makes her face look so tiny it is scary

>>7725340
The obviously put no effort in their costme. Why is that so? Even the bad costumes of other contries are at least done with all they could give but I know the germany could have done better and now look at these average costumes. Sure nicely done, yes not bad, but nothing special

>>7725536
don't talk bad about them this only results in a shitload of whiteknighting because they have so much friends who are anon bitches. So give it a rest everyone can see that one of those girls is talented and the other one is a clusterfuck in every way possible

>>7712730
>>7712767
At least we know this year's US team wasn't chosen based on looks.

>>7725340
Su,ch a simple costume and she isn't able to do proper sleeves... First this ugly diaper now this. what's her third costume?

>>7725536
What part of that is no effort?

>>7725525
Yes it's hte earthy and you're complaining about the stones? I think the stones are an eyecatching and much more difficult trim than just putting in feathers or bark.

looks like typical american women to me

>>7725340
>7725498
Those costumes are nice. Can't really understand the hate. Is it some vendetta going on ?
I smell mad jelly.

>>7725579
what? I was the one who posted, I love the costumes! they are one of my favourite teams!
Why do people only read the hate comments
>WTF

>>7725594
Other anon here, I'm really weirded out by this hate for the German team. Even if they're not the best cosplayers ever, they look pretty and nicely finished in all the pictures, and their general standard is pretty high for WCS... Especially compared to the other team.

So far I've liked the costumes worn by UK, Germany, and Russia. Looking forward to their performances!

>>7725566
i have seen other costumes of this cosplayer and she did so well and I really dislike this costume. Can't tell exactly maybe I miss the love for the character because this costume seema to be made just to win a contest but she totally missed out nice details or special effects or something like that

>>7725579
Nah no jelly i just can't stand the thin one because she once bitched about benedict and she is really annoying. Met her in netherlands on anime and she is always talking about how good she can do everything
so yes I am butthurt but besides that she is a average cosplayer at best and People just like her friend who is quite good at sewing and so when someone talks good about her as it is only a side effect

what is team russia going to perform as in the finals?

>>7725498
They're doing Sakura and Syaoran again. Very few progress photos are up and it's mostly of the Sakura cosplay, as that's the outfit with the most details.
Picture related, it's so beautiful so far. There's also a video up showing off the skirt in action. Can't really find it but I think it's on their page.

Both girls are so talented so I'm really excited to see the finished product for both of them. They're definitely in my top teams along with Denmark - Which is nice cause the danish teams are usually pretty mediocre.

>>7725849
They aren't both talented. At best the Sakura cosplayer is talented.

>>7725849
More of the skirt

>>7725864
you say that but afaik most of the work on finals outfits has been done by the syaoran cosplayer.
I think their costumes might be secret from how little they've put forward. costume change maybe? we've seen lots of sakura but not much of syaoran so far. interested to see their performance.

>>7725887
I'm reserving judgement till I've seen their performance.

>>7725579
>>7725638
Different anon, I don't get it either. They have some of the nicer costumes of the western teams that I've seen thus far.

I'm laughing at all you poor assholes who will never get to this even and how raw all your butts are.

>>7726389
You're not laughing. You're seething in frustration that fat people are being made fun of. Probably because you're fat too.

>>7726395
No, it's a straight up pile of butthurt in this thread. I don't care if fat or thin people are being made fun off. You all don't get to do this trip and all these people do. The stench of bleeding ass hangs heavy in the air tonight.

>>7726426
I dunno, Ive been to japan plenty of times and WCS is not even a real competition, its just japan trying to pretend that they like other countries even though they don't... WCS is just one big shady formality - I wouldn't want to enter a cosplay competition where the result is based on politics.
Also most people iv'e heard who've been there has talked negative about everything except for the other contestant... I'm not sure I need a whole trip to japan just to meet a few other people from other countries.
Also, being fat is always a huge disadvantage when cosplaying, period. Having fat cosplayers "representing" (using that word very loosely) your country sucks pretty hard.

Now the ECG is a competition id like to enter, and I could be jealous of not going!
That's an actual competition on COSPLAYING, not just being japans best political friend or biggest money sponsor!
If you wanna go to a big international competition, go to the ECG or some other big event... if you wanna go to wcs, spare yourself the trouble and just buy a vacation to japan, in the end the only reason why people wanna go is for the trip.

>>7726426
I'm good friends with a couple of the people who are there this year. Sure, they've made it sound like a super fun and cool experience, but fuck no I wouldn't want to participate.
I get super stressed easily, so the pressure of making a ton of costumes that will be on the spotlight nonstop while I'm over there in an unbearable heat is just too much. I also hate performing.
The good thing about it is meeting new cosplayers, people who I'd never see again afterwards, being treated like a VIP and taken to places for free.
I'm going to Japan next summer and am gonna be there during WCS, so if I want to check it out I can just go and check it out. Sure could be cool to win the trip to Japan, but with everything that comes with it I'm gonna say no thanks.

However, I'm not really among any of the people who have bitched about any of the teams so I guess I don't count.

>>7727192
Youre too honest and polite for this board!

>>7727166
ECG?

>>7727363
europeen cosplay gathering

awesome huge con with awesome cosplay competition!
Well you kinda need to be european

>>7727363
European cosplay gathering

Results for you guys:
3rd place - Indonesia
2nd place - Italy
1st place - Russia

Brother award - Denmark

>>7727166
Yeah.... but ecg is kind a shitty when it comes to choosing countries to competition... They won't invite North-Europe because the one who makes ecg don't like North-Europe. Not so "unpolitical" competition for you.

what the best con to enter for cosplay contest in the US?

>>7727482
I missed it cause of work, is there a recording somewhere?

Best Wig: Spain
Docomo Award: Korea
Best Audio: Indonesia
Best Costume: Denmark Crowd Fav: Mexico
Live Sam: Italy

>>7727499
Someone seems to be uploading videos here: https://www.youtube.com/user/keikokun/videos

>>7713559
Am I the only one who has considered the foreign judges sabotaging the american team to give their home country a better chance?

I am the only one who think that 1st Price to Russia was unfair? I mean, skit was good, but there were teams much better than them :/

Anyone have a list of series/characters of competitors? Specifically Spain?

>>7727611
Spain was Princess Knight I think. No list to give you though. I'm hoping they release one with the overall rankings, they normally do that right?

>>7727588
I don't think anyone takes the 1-3rd place seriously. I always think the side awards are a better representation.

>>7727583
Maybe they'd do better if they weren't fat and ugly.

>>7727588
Bad things happen to judges who do not acknowledge the glory of Mother Russia.

>>7727588
I wasn't expecting Russia to win, I think it was unfair.
Denmark was by far the best.
UK should have won something.

Murrica, fuck yeah!

>>7727640
Wasn't the UK entry kind of boring though?
I feel like you have to pull of something really special to win these kind of events

I expected more from Team Brazil. Diemer has done such amazing things in the past, this was a big let down.

>>7727640
>unfair
>WCS

Why do we have to have this conversation every year? WCS standards are weird, and if you look at the results from the wrong angle they never make sense.

>>7727640
Skit was too drama based. They basically got best overall costumes, and they deserved that. Rest of the skit wasn't WCS enough, although it was really well acted the pace wasn't there.

>>7727718
UK was a nice all rounder. Nothing too wrong with it, costumes were nice. But no wow factor again either.

Just look at Russia in comparison: dramatic premise, fighting with LOTS of movement like Link doing the splits, lots of stuff going on. I didn't find their comedy funny but it had the crowd laughing and made the skit feel like it had a lot of content. Probably scored high on character likeness and costumes in general too.

Russia were far from my favourites and I was a bit surprised, but overall I really enjoyed the show this year. Highlights for me were Australia's great audio track and scene setting, Kaleido Star being done well and genuinely feeling like a circus act, Mexico's The Cat Returns skit being a really nice hommage, and Spain's Princess Knight with the lovely costume change at the end.

I'm not a fan of the asian countries who always pull out big mecha costumes but end up having weird/nonsensical skits.

The Philippines had gorgeous costumes and I hope their competitors next year are as good.

>>7727588
Were they funny?

>>7727718
>https://www.youtube.com/user/keikokun/videos
The UK skit wasn't exactly boring, it did tell a story relevant to the characters and easy to follow. There was a nice amount of movement, especially the trust drop, that looked particularly effective with the big dress. Though she wasn't wearing shoes which I think made her much more mobile.

Nice, well finished costumes but I guess if you call mediocre boring then it was boring.

All in all it was a lot of nice and not a lot of wow.

Especially if you watch Denmark's entry right after it. Another big dress and in fact similar clothes on Cesare as on Syaoran. Equally mobile during the skit but the costumes were much more details (a well deserved prize there) and the skit was more dramatic. The tension in the skit visibly escalated.

By comparison the UK skit looks 'padded out'.

>>7727831
The two are remarkably similar but I would've said the opposite, the UK team were more fluid, less just pacing around, and the quickchange was very dramatic.

Would've preferred better acting with their sword though.

I liked Denmark's mirror smash, and their use of paper trails but I couldn't tell if they were meant to be tangled in them the whole time or if they just messed up.

>>7727531
>https://www.youtube.com/user/keikokun/videos
Mexico was definitely my favourite. It made me smile so hard I nearly got tears in my eyes from the nostalgia, even though I think it wasn't exactly WCS material, I still really loved it.
Same with Spain.
Italy was so beautiful as well, though you could tell they're not exactly pros. Still, all three deserved their wins.

I prefer UKs skit over Denmarks I'll admit, though I will agree that Denmark definitely deserved the brother award. Those costumes are really pretty.

I want to like Australia, but I never really enjoyed G.U as much as the original .Hack series so I had a hard time liking the skit. It was well-made, I'll give them that.

I don't really care for any of the asian countries, and I haven't seen the other western teams yet.

>>7712987
No

I thought Denmarks skit was a mixture of many things ive seen a hundred times before.... maybe its just because im from Denmark and ive seen this particular cosplayers perform exactly like this sooo many times and the walking through the picture/mirror is so fucking overused now.
Too boring.

>>7713223

But did you pay attention, there was 2 German 2012 team and 2012 Netherland team judging finals

>>7713275
last year was 2013. 2012 is the comissioned costumes for team japan

>>7713317
guilty gear is cringy??

>>7713408

At first i thought you were krystal, but then you have the whole process wrong.

>>7716793

oh that explains why you suck

>>7727854
Streamers are notoriously hard to control. Obviously they weren't meant to get caught up like they did but I think the team did very well to just keep going and Cesare waited to shake it off at a point when it wouldn't detract from his interaction with Lucretzia.

I liked elements of both and I agree that there was some unnecessary flouncing in the Denamrk skit too but overall they presented something very similar in a better way.

Despite the dramatic costume change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTuPTD74p64
I have to admit that their fighting was pretty impressive

I am okay with the results but had other favorites. Does anyone know how the judging rules are and how many points one can get?

>>7729160
They explained it at the beginning of the stream - I can't remember exactly, but there were 3 categories: costume, character likeness, and performance. I think the points were something like 15, 5, 10 but that's probably wrong.

>>7729192
http://www.worldcosplaysummit.jp/en/about/regulations.html it's on there towards the bottom. Last time I looked at that page they explained how they weight the performance vs construction stuff better, and it ended up that the performance score was 2/3 of the final score and craftsmanship 1/3.

>>7727993
What place did USA come in?

>>7729225
That's stupid. If the majority of points come from the skit then it isn't so much a cosplay contest as it is just a performing arts contest.

>>7729269
...Well yeah. That's WCS. Seriously, it's been like this for years!! It's an entertainment show, not a "who has the nicest seams" show. The finals are broadcast, so the aim is for you to actually do something that's fun to watch. That's why doing drama and story heavy stuff that the audience doesn't get is stupid.

You have to be as flashy and impressive on stage as possible.

>>7729289
Addendum, that's also why Italy did really well this year I reckon. Their costumes were probably pretty accurate, and their stage performance included loads of technique and movement, as well as good use of the lights and stage in general.

>>7729269
With WCS it's more likely that you score higher for your costume in the qualifiers and then the finals is about putting on a show. As a complete stage package both aspects are important and the sheer variety of what you can do on stage is one of the things that makes cosplay so appealing.

>>7729293
I feel like the US would send better reps if they judged by the same system. I also wonder if by having prelims for team USA selections, it isn't hurting the winners a bit, because they have to bring their A game three times in one year instead of just twice, like most other countries.

In wcs you should just do things as easily understandable as possible... drama, complex storyline and lots of speaking/lines is usually a very bad idea to have in your skit, as the performance is judged on pure entertainment value.
So doing some big props, big "surprises", something funny and huge costumes are the way to win - even if your costumes/props arent done very well, its about the overall look more than the details.
Lame/basic jokes have before worked very well.... just make something stupid the japanese are gonna laugh at or make a meccha fight scene then you should be good to go.
Oh and come from a big country with lots of political/Money influence on Japan in general, that helps alot too.

Basically, save all your long complex storyline for competitions in your own country and just focus on making it straightforward and easily appealing, and youre good to go.

>>7729343
Some actually helpful advice in here, how refreshing.
This is probably why some European teams always score low (including Germany) - they tend to overthink it and try to be as original and complex as possible.

>>7727482
>Team Italy is once again NadiaSK and Mogu Cosplay
Holy shit I don't know them personally or anything but I've lost count of how many times these two have been chosen as reps for international competition. Does anyone just don't give a fuck anymore about WCS in this country, is this why we get the same people every other year?
Their skit was also really underwhelming. I respect them for trying to do what they did but I'm surprised they got second place.

>>7713230
It was really nicely made, someone posted pictures here of close-up and the ebroidery and beading on their main girl's dress was luscious.
Their skit made no sense, though, and the male character they had actually had an inaccurate costume and wig color, but I guess nobody cared?
I think it's a little silly to pick a team with poor stage presence for the sake of construction when nobody is going to be able to see it on tv.

>>7729499
Itally almost always scores in wcs
Itally also scores and does well in European Contests
Itally has great cosplayers in general, good skits, and nice costumes

Itally anon or something rants about the team,
Well fuck you,
I wish our cosplayers were like yours.

>>7729528
Woah there dude calm down.

I sure as heck don't want to badmouth the cosplayers in question because, again, I don't know them personally. I'm just saying that exactly because there is a good number of talented people in this country's scene, it's a bit weird that these two get to represent Italy eight times out of ten.

I was wondering if it's because the other good cosplayers don't care enough to enter the selections for WCS so the judges just fall back on these two. I don't want to be that asshole yelling conspiracy but it is weird unless no one else really doesn't give a damn.

As for the skit, it is underwhelming. If you enjoyed it, then good for you. I think picking a different bgm and making the thing more fast paced and in time with the music would have improved it loads, but to each their own.

I'm glad if my country places but I can also be objective regarding their performance and have my own opinion. Weird that someone on /cgl/ would get mad at me for it, considering how there's talk of Italy winning only because WCS is rigged basically every summer.

>>7729481
Germany's skit this year was really basic but they totally failed the BGM which was so boring the skit would have been better without music at all. I had high hopes when I heared they wanted to do something without voices because long lasting text was always a german problem not because it is bad in general but because the WCS jury seems to not like it in at all But no voice and absolutely no fitting audio was a very bad decision

>>7727878
comissioned costumes?

>>7729545
Discussing a skit of a team who only were selected as WCS participants because one of them was very ill and the judges wanted to fulfill her wish because she might have never been able to participant is not fair at all.

>>7729547
Japan's team were pro performers who competed in bought costumes, or something similar.

>>7729544
The italian skit was not very good but compared to at least 70% of the skits it deserved the result

>>7729551
but aren't professionals usually not allowed?

Can we just agree that noones liked Team Germany and stop the permanent mentioning of it? I am totally on everyones side but bringing it up every damn time really starts to get annoying.

>>7729550
What? Deets please

>>7729560
just this one. Even though I think the wig was an ugly clusterfuck because it made her head look like shit the Earthy cosplayer sure put more time and effort in it than anyone else so why didn't Germany won the wig award? I am saying I am really no fan of the looks of it but even I would have guessed they would win in this category due to lack of someone doing better

>>7729556
One of Team Italy's representatives is also a professional, making costumes for stage productions and such. One of the guys competing for Brazil multiple times in the past is a professional as well. They don't seem to care for that rule at all.

>>7729573
>One of the guys competing for Brazil multiple times in the past is a professional as well.
Just for information sake, if the rules are specifically about costume-making, Maurício wouldn't be breaking them though. He is a fashion designer for a very normalfag high end clothing brand.

>>7729544
I do think it's weird that Itally always or almost always places.
As for the skit, it was not one of my favourites. I agree with you the girls were to slow. Very good intro but the rest was just to toned down like you said.
But looking at the rest of the skits theirs was different and something you would remember.
I actually prefer drama/history skits like UK or Denmark but I don't Japanese audience enjoys it.
Itally was good because they made something visually strong.

anyone have any of the team thailand cosplayers page to follow?

Australia skit was powerful.. I really liked it but not entertaining enough to be rewarded with anything. Change of costume is so basic thing nowadays

>>7713275
What kind of shitty acting and ungraceful movement is this? As a performer, this is embarrassing. The only impressive parts were the costumes.

>>7730612

I notice when a particular element goes over really well with the judges, the next year a bunch of people mimic it.

>USA didn't place this year or win the Brother award
/cgl/, how do we fix the USA team and the selection process so that they win next year? Have a pool of America's top cosplayers and have them compete in private away from anime conventions? Follow other countries' blueprint for winning (i.e. Russia or Italy)? Send former contestants and shower them with sponsorships to make that dream cosplay (because other teams have sponsors yet the US doesn't)?

>>7730778
All sound like valid ideas that I think would help.
Another possibility is increase the amount of places you can go to try and qualify for the spot.

Also, now that 2014 has concluded, and we talk about what the fuck is up with 2015?

>qualifiers held at shitty, several-hundred people cons
>Saboten recently sends out an email begging to WCS entries because only two people applied
>location of finals still not announced
>only three entries at AnimeNext, which is arguably the biggest con on 2015 circuit

>>7730778
We fire Laura Butler and her fat acceptance cunt ways.

Any sponsor with a right mind would pull her funding after this bullshit. She and her crew are dining high on the hog while making contestants deal with bullshit interviews and hand picking the winners as her personal wcs staff.

>>7731365
The reason the turnout has been small for anext and saboten probably isnt size, but time of year. Last year katsu had the most entries and anime st louis managed to get 4 even with only 2 months notice. People just don't want to compete when the finals are going to be so far down the line.

How did the current people in charge of the US team become in charge anyway? Were they just the first people to find out about WCS and put in for a US team or something? Change would probably benefit us if they don't even try to get sponsors considering how mainstream cosplay has become lately.

>>7731458
> were they just the first people to find out about wcs

Bingo. Laura is in charge because she was on the first us team to go over there. They could benifit greatly from someone with event management experience, not just former teams. Going over there doesnt make you good at planning events

US needs new staff. Ever notice how they have to hold the US preliminaries at a different convention every year? That's not by design, it's because the person in charge burns bridges with every con who takes a chance on her.

>>7731490
>>7731507
How do we get a new staff? Even if someone better has an interest in it, can they overthrow the current management? Or do they somehow have to get in a small position and work their way up. Could someone competent just get a hold of the japanese WCS organizers say, " here's my resume" and see if WCS is up for firing/replacing existing management? It's just confusing how this even is determined is there a committee to vote out/in a countries management or do they just leave that up to each country after inducting them in the beginning.

>>7731507

I'd always heard it was the other way around. Cons being poorly run and whatnot.

Have the rest of the skits been uploaded anywhere? >>7727531 is missing a number of them.

>>7731541
acparadise has all of them I think, but haven't tagged winners and countries.

>>7731554

Oh, thanks.

>>7731507
This. This. This.

Laura has burned so many fucking bridges that cons do talk to each other to avoid WCS USA like the massive plague infestation it has become.

Eve is not helping either by shitting on everyone she can.

If WCS USA wants to be taken seriously it needs to have people who know how the fuck to work with cons.

>>7731365
A lot of the cons are having trouble getting entries because nobody wants to pull an award winning costume together in three months time.

>>7731613

It'd make a lot more sense if they had a set con circuit that they did every year so people could actually plan things.

>>7731616
Cons rarely want to work with WCS USA again after one year of bullshit.

>>7731638

What do they even do that causes so much trouble though?

>>7731642
In general they act like WCS is the most important thing at the con and expect the con to just give them whatever they ask for. Like programming rooms during peak hours without articulating why and having fits when it doesn't happen. Add to this that the cons have to sign all sorts of paperwork and pay for shit for WCS (like typically the prelim con is responsible for paying the prelim winner's trip to final US selections) and it just doesn't pay off.

>>7731581
>Laura Butler
>Person who runs WCS USA is a fatty herself

Well... this makes a lot of sense.

>>7731662
Hahahaha

>>7731365
Also a lot of the typical seasoned participants who have been trying to get there for years haven't been selected despite that a good amount of them are actually pretty good overall for potential representatives. But it costs them moneyeery year after year to try making a costume again on the risk that hey nay or may not get selected, and tk put forth the committment to travel and make a cosplay that will show up their previous one.

I know some teams that have tried regularly but didn't get picked despite that they were good. Now they can't afford every year to come back and take the risk to do it all again and not get picked. So it discourages them to keep trying for good reason. My friend and I are waiting for the next year to save up to travel to a qualifier to try. Hopefully Portland or some other Pacific qualifier is available by then. I wish it was at Fanime like before.
Then for newcomers, WCS isn't heavily promoted among cosplayers in the recent generations, especially given with how most cosplayers thrive off of Facebook and e-famous attention than necessarily joining a cosplay competition that implies that you are going to be sewing something elaborate.

>>7731659
>like typically the prelim con is responsible for paying the prelim winner's trip to final US selections

Wait, why isn't WCS paying for that shit?

>>7731677
I'm not entirely sure what's up with sponsorship and stuff, but I know in the US a lot of the winners costs come directly out of the con's pocket. At Japan Expo in France it hurts less because their cosplay guy is the French WCS rep, no prelims for final selection, and a shitton of sponsorship, so compared to them (and presumably most other countries) US cons have a lot more financial burden. The idea of prelims to give everyone a shot at it somewhere semi-local sounds good, but I don't know why they don't have online selections for finals based on portfolio of costumes and performances, a video statement/introduction, and an interview here. It would solve the travel and hosting problems.

>>7731671
>Hopefully Portland or some other Pacific qualifier is available by then. I wish it was at Fanime like before.

NewCon PDX is hosting a qualifier at the end of the year, if you're looking for something close to home, but don't let that deter you from good planning.

>>7731671

WCS is turning into an American Ninja Warrior course.

Doesn't help that serious hardcore US cosplayers don't bother with WCS since they know the finals only care about flashy showmanship and skits and they would spend a lot to get to each prelim con. Anyone think they should go back to one qualifier con? I think an online prescreen with videos and portfolios like >>7731719 mentioned. I think people would definitely bitch about people being picked based on popularity but basedo n what I've seen with Arda banner polls, the best stuff generally gets the most votes with a few hyperpops.

>>7731581
>Eve is not helping either by shitting on everyone she can.

Who's eve?

>>7731381
how come katsucon is not a qualifier anymore?

>>7729318
this.

>Going to have the biggest cosplay contest this October with my girlfriend
>If we win the 1st place we will be the new Italian representatives
I'm not sure if i like this

By the way, as an Italian I didn't like Italy exibition at all, the costumes were quite bad and during the skit they were both uncoordinated.

>>7729499
I don't know if it's true, but one of my friends said that one of them (Mogu i think) is famous just because of one of her many skills that don't have anything to do with cosplay but let her always win the first place.

>>7732128
>one of my friends said that one of them (Mogu i think) is famous just because of one of her many skills that don't have anything to do with cosplay but let her always win the first place.
What do you mean? If it's about showmanship skills it's still relevant at least, if not... well, dumb rumors of sexual favors always pop up in similar situations and there's never any basis for them except for the pettiness of whoever came up with them. Still, there is something weird going on: iirc, the first time Mogu went to WCS it was bc one of the two girls originally selected dropped out (it was the year the Fukushima accident happened and she was afraid of nuclear radiations lol), but it was never clear why exactly they picked her. As for Nadia, I've been going to cons for ten years and she's always been there, being a guest at cons, cosplaying to advertise comics and going to the WCS. She's a pro on top of it all so I don't get how she's still allowed in. Now the thing is, is it that no other decent people show up at selections so the judges have no choice, or what? From what I remember of all the times I've attended Romics (and the times I haven't, I've watched the masquerade online), the level's pretty high, probably the best out of all big cons in Italy, so why? How?

I've always wanted to give the preliminaries a shot myself but I've had people flake out on me for three years and I don't know anyone with the dedication for it and there's no way I can ask my gf.

What are you and your girlfriend planning on making if I may ask? I understand if you don't want to tell of course. Good luck in any case, amico.

>>7732188
Yeah yeah, I don't know her personally, but the ex of a friend of mine did and told us that she was really mean with everyone and she spend a lot of money for cosplay when the results are quite "meh" (especially after seeing the wcs). Obv, the blowjobs rumors are, in fact, rumors, but as you said they ALWAYS choose her as a winner.

Eh, me and my gf won the major cosplay event in our region (lol Sardegna) so we were chosen as the representative couple and we will have to partecipate in the preselection.
Lol no problem, we're bringing two armors from monster hunter, the Rhopessa one with the Arko Nulo and the carving knife from MH3U for her and the Goa Magara with his Insect Staff and the Insect from the 4 for me. We're working a bit everyday with my armor and did the majority of it in foam, but i ordered a sheet of worbla for some of the hardest/most breakable parts

>>7731846
The US is so huge, qualifiers make sense. They just need someone that can plan them out and keep cons interested in continued support. Either that or they need a rotating schedule that would put Finals in a different geographic location every year (ie: West Cost, Midwest, South, East Coast back to West Cost & repeat)

>>7731365
How were the aNext teams?

one of the american girl at the parade..... those boobs look like they are crying for help

I take back my comment on usa... this is netherlands at the parade. jesus christ.

>>7731379
Agree her shit has to stop

>>7731529

Every country pays to send their own team. So someone in the US would need to approach WCS and tell them that they're interested in hosting (paying for) and organizing the selections and paying for the team to travel to Japan.

The US competition is weak because the US side has made it impossible for anyone to plan to compete. They never announce where they're going to hold the event until a few months before, sometimes they cancel events the week before they're supposed to happen. A couple years ago they said they were going to hold finals at one place and then a couple months before moved them to a different con. They'd have more contestants if they had better planning.

>>7732450

>>7732441
Seriously, how could the judges in the USA look at this girl and think, "Yep, she's just right to represent us"?

The really sad thing is that from what I'm reading these girls had to win three different contests to represent the USA. How??? Were all the judges blind or just stupid?

Japanese take in account the physical similarities with the characters the cosplayers are cosplaying. This is why the fat ones didn't win anything. Also, super tall and too old Sakuras lost for the same reason.
If you want to win WCS at Japan, cosplay withing your bodytype. If you are fat, don't cosplay skinny characters. If you are tall and near 30, don't cosplay children.

>>7735067
isnt that a normal rule for every single cosplay competition ever though?

>>7735067
word

>>7735527
Nope. Some give it to whoever had the best audience reaction. Some to best craftsmanship despite how little of it shows on stage. At least in the USA you don't deduct points for having the wrong body type, gender or race. In Japan to be considered a good cosplayer you either have to be pretty, photoshopped really pretty or just pick characters that suit you and do them well.

Publicly, most US cosplayers are fine with anyone cosplaying whatever they want. Internally we think all the fat girls cosplaying tall, skinny bishounen, bearded guys cosplaying Touhou characters and middle aged women cosplaying children looks ridiculous and stupid. But at the end of the day it's your money, do what you want.

>>7736504
I dunno I like the Touhou guys. But it is weird how guys with beards dressed as Cirno is funny while girls trying to be Tony Stark is sad. I can't think of a time where a girl cosplaying a guy character has been funny.

>>7736513
This. All my fat cosplay friends are like OMG WE SHOULD ALL COSPLAY GIRLY GIRLY PRECURE WOULDN'T THAT BE FUNNY.

No.

It wouldn't.

>>7736504
i am surprised to find some words of wisdom on this board
of course you might look ridicoulos in some cosplays and others might not like the way you do this hobby but in the end it's you who have to be satisfied. just don't expect people to think of you as a skilled good looking person and everything is fine. If you get it it'll be a nice surprise

so what characters would you have choosen for the WCS teams based in their looks and body types? I really am interested which one you think would have been fitting. Hard mode: being serious and nice not hateful and sarcastic