U.S. team clad in game characters wins World Cosplay Summit in Japan
"I have no words. We've been working for this for so many years, so many hours...You keep working and dreams can come true," said a U.S. team member dressed as a character from "Fire Emblem Engage" after bagging the first prize at the city's Aichi Arts Center.
The event wrapped up the three-day festival that gathered cosplayers from 41 countries and regions.
The representatives, in pairs, were judged for the level of precision in the costumes and for their stage performance within a given time of 2 minutes and 30 seconds, during which they recreated scenes from anime or games by using props.
The event, held for the 23rd time, kicked off on Friday with a parade by costume role players, or "cosplayers" on a red carpet, dressed as characters from Studio Ghibli's animation movie "Howl's Moving Castle" and animation series "Neon Genesis Evangelion."
On the second day, the delegates and cosplayers from the public marched around the Osu shopping street in Nagoya, around where the inaugural event was held in 2003.
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SoraNews24
5 hours ago
- SoraNews24
There are now zero Japanese live-action films in the country's top 10 highest earning movies, but why?
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It's broken both Japan's all-time opening day and single-day box office records, and took only 8 days to surpass 10 billion yen (US$67.57 million), also a Japanese record. After just 17 days, it's total earnings reached approximately 17.64 billion yen, and Infinity Caslte has now ascended into the top 10 highest-grossing movies ever in Japan. ▼ Preview video for Infinity Castle In reaching the top 10, Infinity Castle has pushed 2003's Bayside Shakedown 2 , part of the Odoru Daisosasen franchise, down to number 11 on the list. Bayside Shakedown 2 is a police story, but more significantly, it's a live-action film, and it was the final Japanese live-action movie in the top 10 earners at Japanese theaters. With Infinity Castle now taking its place, the 10 highest-grossing movies at Japanese theaters are all either anime or foreign films. 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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba–The Movie: Infinity Castle: 17.64 billion yen Not only are there no longer any Japanese live-action movies in the top 10, there are only three in to the top 50: Bayside Shakedown 2 at number 11, 1983's Antarctica at number 38, and the original Bayside Shakedown movie, from 1998, at number 47. Filtering out the non-Japanese films in the top 50 leaves 21 Japanese productions, with anime occupying all of the top 7 spots and 17 of the top 19, with the first Bayside Shakedown bringing up the rear. ▼ It's also worth noting that though Antarctica (titled Nankyoku Monogatari in Japanese) is live-action, in the eyes of many Japanese fans it's the dogs that are the real stars of the picture, not the humans. The lack of domestically made live-action works amongst the top 10 highest-grossing movies in Japan isn't necessarily a sign that Japan has no interest in the format, so much as a reflection of market and societal conditions that make it difficult for Japan to produce live-action blockbusters or epics. In the modern era, Japanese moviegoers have never had any widespread aversion to foreign films, and the difference in market sizes mean that Japan's live-action movie industry generally can't compete with Hollywood studios in terms of budgets and production values in crafting fantasy realms or sci-fi worlds for live-action movies. As for grounded movies set in the present day, Japan's low crime levels and generally peaceful, stable day-to-day life don't lend themselves to thrilling action and suspense. 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Meanwhile, the top 10 list for theaters in the U.S. and Canada is dominated by the science-fiction genre (assuming we include superhero movies in the category), with four Marvel movies, two from the Avatar franchise, one each from Star Wars and Jurassic Park , and the list rounded out by Top Gun: Maverick and Titanic , the latter being the only movie on both the Japan and U.S./Canada lists. ▼ Making the iceberg one of the most hated movie villains of all time It remains to be seen if Infinity Castle will have the legs to pass Mugen Train , but it's already selling tickets as a faster pace than the previous Demon Slayer did, and with its seat-jacking promotion helping it along, it just might end up becoming Japan's biggest movie ever. Source: Oricon News via Livedoor News via Jin Top image: YouTube/アニプレックス チャンネル Insert image: Pakutaso ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
The Mainichi
3 days ago
- The Mainichi
US team clad in game characters wins World Cosplay Summit in Japan
NAGOYA (Kyodo) -- A team representing the United States clad in popular game characters won the championship of the World Cosplay Summit 2025 in central Japan's Nagoya on Sunday. "I have no words. We've been working for this for so many years, so many keep working and dreams can come true," said a U.S. team member dressed as a character from "Fire Emblem Engage" after bagging the first prize at the city's Aichi Arts Center. The event wrapped up the three-day festival that gathered cosplayers from 41 countries and regions. The representatives, in pairs, were judged for the level of precision in the costumes and for their stage performance within a given time of 2 minutes and 30 seconds, during which they recreated scenes from anime or games by using props. The event, held for the 23rd time, kicked off on Friday with a parade by costume role players, or "cosplayers" on a red carpet, dressed as characters from Studio Ghibli's animation movie "Howl's Moving Castle" and animation series "Neon Genesis Evangelion." On the second day, the delegates and cosplayers from the public marched around the Osu shopping street in Nagoya, around where the inaugural event was held in 2003.
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Japan Today
U.S. team wins World Cosplay Summit championship in Japan
Representatives from the United States rejoice after winning the championship at the World Cosplay Summit 2025 at Aichi Arts Center in Nagoya on Sunday. A team representing the United States clad in popular game characters won the championship of the World Cosplay Summit 2025 in central Japan's Nagoya on Sunday. "I have no words. We've been working for this for so many years, so many keep working and dreams can come true," said a U.S. team member dressed as a character from "Fire Emblem Engage" after bagging the first prize at the city's Aichi Arts Center. The event wrapped up the three-day festival that gathered cosplayers from 41 countries and regions. The representatives, in pairs, were judged for the level of precision in the costumes and for their stage performance within a given time of 2 minutes and 30 seconds, during which they recreated scenes from anime or games by using props. The event, held for the 23rd time, kicked off on Friday with a parade by costume role players, or "cosplayers" on a red carpet, dressed as characters from Studio Ghibli's animation movie "Howl's Moving Castle" and animation series "Neon Genesis Evangelion." On the second day, the delegates and cosplayers from the public marched around the Osu shopping street in Nagoya, around where the inaugural event was held in 2003. © KYODO
