World Cosplay Summit

WCS
World Cosplay Summit (official website)

Attention all cosplayers! Otakuthon is thrilled to be once again hosting the Canadian national preliminaries of the World Cosplay Summit, to be held on Friday, August 7, 2015. This marks Canada’s second year participating in the World Cosplay Summit. The finalist pair will win a trip to Japan in August 2016 to observe and participate in the World Cosplay Summit as Canada's cosplay representatives!

The World Cosplay Summit (WCS) started in 2003 as an invitational event hosted by TV Aichi. In 2005, it first included a cosplay competition where countries sent representatives to compete in the Cosplay Championship with the goal of promoting Japanese youth culture. Since then, the event has grown and now involves competitors from over 25 regions/nations.

*NEW THIS YEAR* This year, Otakuthon is excited to announce that the WCS organizers have promoted Canada to full participating nation status. This means the winners of this year’s WCS Canada Competition will be representing Canadian cosplay and competing against cosplayers from over 25 other countries for chance at the title of Grand Champion!

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If you have any questions, please email wcs@otakuthon.com

Schedule

Note: All times in Eastern Time

Registration opens on Saturday, April 25, 2015 at 12:01AM
Registration closes on Sunday, May 31, 2015 at 11:59PM
Teams selected to participate will be notified by Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Selected teams must submit:
- a description of their presentation by Friday, July 10, 2015
- their presentation audio file by Friday, July 24, 2015
The 2015 WCS Canada Competition will take place on Friday, August 7, 2015
- Stage rehearsal time: 8:00am to 11:00am
- Costume construction judging time: 3:00pm to 7:00pm
- Stage competition time: 8:30pm to 10:30pm
- Times are subject to change
Winners will be announced on Sunday, August 9, 2015 at (TBA)

Registration

To participate in the competition, your team must complete the WCS Canada 2015 Registration Form during the registration period as specified above. In the form you will be asked for the following:

Team Information: name, short biography
Contact Information: name, date of birth, gender, postal address, telephone, email address
Cosplay History: paragraph about why you love cosplay, short history of major costumes and awards, descriptions and photos of you in four of your favourite costumes
Alternate Member: name, email, date of birth
Acknowledgement that each member has read and agrees to follow the rules of the competition as outlined below

General Rules

Only teams of two (2) people are permitted to enter.
Teams are NOT allowed to bring their own helpers or stage ninjas on stage with them.
We will be allowing twenty (20) teams to participate. This is subject to change.
Winners of the 2015 WCS Canada Competition will represent Canada in the 2016 WCS Championship in Japan.

Eligibility Rules

Each team member must be a registered attendee of Otakuthon. You will be asked to present your badge (or proof of registration) when you arrive for the competition.
Each team member must be at least 18 years of age on July 1, 2016.
Each team member must either be a citizen or permanent resident of Canada possessing a valid passport or permanent resident card.
Each team member must be eligible to travel to Japan during the months of July and August, 2016, and must possess a valid passport for that period of time.
No team member may have participated in another country's preliminaries nor finals for the 2016 WCS Championship in Japan.
No team member may have judged another country's preliminaries nor finals for the 2016 WCS Championship in Japan.
No team member may have been a member of Team Canada in the previous year. Example: Members of Team Canada for the 2015 WCS Championship in Japan may not compete again until the competition for the 2017 WCS Championship in Japan.

Costumes and Props Rules

Costumes are to be constructed by the entrants. Assembling a costume from store bought pieces is not allowed.
Costumes worn by the team must be for characters from the same source material.
Teams must abide by the Otakuthon's Convention Rules and Weapon Policy.
Costumes must be from Japanese anime, manga, video games, or tokusatsu. The following sources are not allowed:
- coterie/theater works, fan art, doujinshi, and live-action movies based on manga, anime, or games
- games with non-Japanese source material, for example, Disney or Star Wars, even if the game may have been made in Japan
- any work unfit to be sold to persons under the age of 18 years
- costumes derived from Shueisha series (ie: Bleach, One Piece, Naruto, etc.) are not permitted at the World Cosplay Summit in Japan. Exception: These characters may be used for the Canadian Finals.
All costumes, props, and equipment for both team members combined is limited to a maximum of 40 kilograms (88 pounds).
All props need to be self-contained. Items which require external power sources are not be permitted. The use of any convention property as a prop will also not be permitted.
It is not permitted to use unrelated trademarked illustrations or logos on equipment or props.
When in doubt, contact wcs@otakuthon.com with images of the costume in question.

Presentation Rules

The performance time limit is 2 minutes 30 seconds.
Only the two team members are allowed on stage during the presentation. Stage ninjas are NOT allowed to participate in any way during the performance.
Stage ninjas will be available to place items on the stage prior to the presentation and remove items from the stage after the presentation. In both cases, a maximum of three (3) large stage props where setup and/or removal can each be done in at most 40 seconds is allowed.
It is prohibited to enter the audience area as part of the presentation.
The use of fire, water, lasers, strobe devices, and smoke related special effects is prohibited.
Staining, marking, or damaging the stage, or the props or costumes of other competitors, is prohibited.

Audio Rules

All audio used in the presentation must be recorded in advance of the competition. Speaking from the stage is not allowed.
Audio must be recorded in a common format such as mp3, wav, or wma.
A performance sheet describing what will be performed must be submitted as well.
Original voice tracks from the source material are NOT allowed.
Audio must be submitted by July 24, 2015.
Teams are expected to bring a backup copy to the event in the form of a CD and/or USB device.

Media Rules

Resume information, such as cosplay alias, photos, experiences, etc., may be used for press. Real names and personal contact information will be kept private. If you want to use your real name for press, please note this in your submission.
Media such as TV programs, websites, newspapers, magazines, etc., may use photos and images of the Canadian Finals. By submitting your resume, you agree that no compensation will be provided should your likeness be used.
After the World Cosplay Summit Canada, all media, including but not limited to images, photographs, footage, programs broadcast, DVDs, etc. of the contestants will become property of the WCS Canada organizational team and Otakuthon. No compensation will be provided should your likeness be used.

Cancellations

All cancellations must be made at least 72 hours prior to the competition. Failure to do so will result in exclusion from the following year's competition.

Alternates

In addition to the two members, teams can specify an alternate member. This individual can replace an original team member if one individual has to step down for some reason. Please note the following:

Alternates must be listed on the resume submission and cannot be changed after the fact.
If no alternate is specified on the resume and one member has to step down, the team must withdraw from the competition.
If the alternate competes as a team member and the team wins, the original partner who stepped down may no longer participate further in that competition year.
Exceptions may be made in the case of a medical emergency.

Judging

Teams will be scored out of 25 points as follows:

Performance - 10 points - quality of performance, inventiveness, entertainment value on stage
Costume - 10 points - design, faithfulness to the original costume design, craftsmanship
Fidelity - 5 points - faithfulness to the original character's personality during performance

For costume construction judging, teams will have a total of ten (10) minutes. Teams will have five (5) minutes to present their costumes to the judges. The judges will then have five (5) minutes to ask questions.

If you have any questions, please email wcs@otakuthon.com.