While London enjoyed last week's Olympic opening ceremony, 27th July saw the start of a very different international competition in Japan - the World Cosplay Summit! Taking place annually in Nagoya, Japan and now celebrating its 10th anniversary - WCS is the world's most prestigious cosplay event and this year the UK joins them for the first time!
Alexandra Rutter and Laura Sindall were chosen as the UK's first WCS representatives when they entered the preliminary round at HYPER JAPAN - the UK's largest J-culture event. Their impressive costumes and performance inspired by the anime Vampire Hunter D won them a trip to Japan as well as the chance to represent their country at the world's most prestigious cosplay gathering and compete for the title of World Cosplay Summit Champion.
This week, they travelled to Japan to join cosplayers from 19 other countries and participate in events including parades, parties, a trip to visit government officials in Tokyo and of course the World Cosplay Summit Championship - broadcast live on TV to an audience of 10 million. Team UK are keeping a blog of their adventures in Japan - so please visit http://hyperjapancosplay.wordpress.com for a full report of their trip. Cosplayers who are interested to take part in WCS 2013 should check out HYPER JAPAN's website for more details. Full rules and entry forms can be found online at http://hyperjapan.co.uk/whats-on/cosplay.html
The next World Cosplay Summit UK preliminary will take place at HYPER JAPAN Christmas 2012, taking place at Earl's Court, London on November 23rd-25th.