7th of June 2007
After 14 hours of flight I arrived to Brazil for the first time in my life. I always dreamd about visiting that country as cosplayer and JBC Editora gave me the chance to do it, they invited me to be special guest at "WCS ETAPA JBC BRAZIL", the most important cosplay event for brazilian qualification to the world cosplay championship, "World Cosplay Summit".
It was a very long flight, but I enjoyed it, I love to flight, I'm one of thos people that takes the seat next to the window and stay hours to stare at the world that flow below. Arrived at São Paulo airport I met two guys from JBC's staff and the guys who runs the website cosplaybr.com.br, that did a quick interview for their website and some photos. The welcome has been one of the best and after the usual introductions and handshakes they took me to the amazing hotel where I could recover from my countless hours of flight: I'm getting used to the continuous jet-lags, it's becoming almost fun! :D

8th of June 2007
Wake up in the early morning, watching outside the window of my hotel room I realize that São Paulo is really an amazing city. I quickly dress up and come down to the hotel lobby where people are waiting me to do an interview for JBC Editora's magazine and website. The interviewer asks me a lot of questions concerning my private life and my cosplayer career while the photographer was asking me if he could take some photos of me in "normal" clothes and of the things that I took with me in my luggage: wow, I didn't think that people was so much interested to my private life!
After the interview was over they took me to the hotel where all the brazilian cosplayers in the contest were staying and together with the organizators we did a meeting to discuss about some details of the event, and the cosplayers asked me a lot of questions. They were very nice and very good cosplayers, I couldn't wait to see their performances. Looking to the costumes that they carried with them to the meeting room I had the sensation that the day after I was going to take place one of the best cosplay contest I ever attended! Between the participants there were also Mauricio and Monica, winners of the 2006 "World Cosplay Summit" and it was a real pleasure to meet them again after almost one year.
Right after the meeting we went to "Casa Das Caldeiras", the place where the event was going to take place. The guys had time to do a quick reaharsal about their entrance on stage while there was still people working to prepare all the equipment for the event. It wasn't my turn yet, I would have tried my performance the day after just some hours before the beginning of the event but I was very nervous already, as it always happens!
In the evening they took us to a sushi restaurant where they organized a theme dinner, with me, all the cosplayers, the event's crew and some journalists. During the dinner obviously served some delicious sushi and later I had a small autograph session and some interviews. It was a very pleasant night and I had good time meeting live many cosplayers that before I only saw on the web in photos.
After that they took me back to the hotel, it was quite late and I just layed on the bed and in few seconds I felt in the deepest of sleeps: the life of an "international cosplayer" is amazing but very tough at the same time. Who has something to say? ;)

9th of June 2007
... and here we come to the big day! Wake up on late morning, quick lunch in the hotel's restaurant and crazy run to my room to prepare all that I need to bring with me to do my performance that would open the event. In the early afternoon they took me to "Casa Das Caldeiras", (a place that I love) and, before opening the gates to the audience and during cosplayers rehearsals on stage I was called for tons of TV interviews for websites and magazines: I never did so many interviews all together!
After the interview rush I went backstage waiting for my moment repeating the performance in my mind again and again with my iPod in my ears...
When I've been contacted by event organizators, they explained me that at the same time at "WCS Etapa JBC Brazil" they planned to present to the brazilian audience a new manga book: "Death Note", my favourite manga at the moment! What a lucky coincidence! So they asked me to prepare a performance based on that manga and I couldn't be more lucky, cause it was a long time I was thinking to realize a Misa Amane cosplay, the blonde girl of the manga that so many people say I look exactly like!
After the cosplayer groups rehearsals it was my turn, and I went on stage to do a basic tryout and to talk with sound and light technicians to find out the best solutions for my performance.

My rehearsal lasted about 30 minutes while I had the opportunity to try it entirely for the first time with lights, music and on the actual stage. I was quite satisfied (I'm never 100% satisfied) and I came back to the dressing room for a while to relax. Later, one of the staff guys came to call me: the event was starting and I was going to be the opening performance.

DEATH NOTE PERFORMANCE

As I said before, my performance was inspired by "Death Note" and I was going to be Misa Misa. During the months before my leaving for Brazil I was really engaged trying to act somethin that wasn't too much banal: I was tired to see this character portrayed as a silly naive girl, I have my own personal view of the character that is beyond the classic banal Misa Amane. Let's not forget that Misa kills innocent people and I would'n refer to her as a good girl. I think to her as quite a controversial character and for that reason during my performance I was playing the Death (represented as a black hood dressed figure with a skull in her hand) in order to remember how close that can be to Misa, that has to live with it every day of her life, while in the second part of the performance Misa realize what she did using the her Death Note (killing people) and this is symbolically represented by her hands stained with blood, the whole thing on the rythm of the Death Note anime OST "Low of Solipsism". No mistakes and no hesitation, everything went on and ended for the bestand an huge applause by the crows fullfilled me with joy!

... and this time we went beyond: we have been able (not easily) to make an HD video of my performance that you can download for free clicking on the banner down here.

Just time to clean almost all the fake blood leaking from my face and hands and it was time to be back, this time sitting in the first row with the other jurors: in fact I was one of the members of the jury in charge of picking the lucky group that was going to fly to Japan! What an honor! The organization was great, and they gave everyone of us a book with the names of the participants, images of the characters that they were going to play and even a brief biography of this. And everything was translated in english for me, really a great job! A+ for the staff that was able to make everything perfect, even in the smallest of details!

And those are the names in the jury:
- Atsuko Yamakawa ["TV Aichi" - World Cosplay Summit]
- Marcelo Del Greco ["Editora JBC"]
- Jum Nakao [Fashion Stylist]
- Francesca Dani [International cosplayer - World Cosplay Summit 2005 Winner]
- Pablo Miyazawa ["Rolling Stone" Magazine]
- Jo Takahashi ["Fundação Japão"]
- Victor Kubayashi ["Associação do Centenário da Imigração Japonesa no Brasil"]
- Arnaldo Oka ["Editora JBC" Manga translator]
- Masami Toku [Professor at "California State University"]
- Ricardo Cruz ["JAM Project" singer]

The event began with the entrance on stage of Mauricio e Monica, World Cosplay Summit 2006 winners, that perfectly executed a wonderful performance highly spectacular, that was worthy of the world champions. Following by the other pairs in the competition:

- Dupla 1: Maurício e Mônica Somenzari [Trinity Blood]
- Dupla 2: Pedro Hoffmann e Vivian Ribeiro [Saint Seya]
- Dupla 3: Andressa Naoko e Wellington França [Fate/Stay Night]
- Dupla 4: Marcos Paulo dos Santos e Cláudia Simão de Almeida [Wolf's Rain]
- Dupla 5: Thaís Jussim e Marcelo Fernandes [Inu-Yasha]
- Dupla 6: Mônica Velozo e Carolina Barcellos Polido [Rayearth]
- Dupla 7: Petra Leão Ramos de Andrade e ALessandra Fernandes [Captain Harlock]
- Dupla 8: Natália Saraiva Lima e Iara Maria Fernandes de Queiroz [Card Captor Sakura]
- Dupla 9: Juliana Alvez Pereira e Thiago Lopes Calças Neto [X]
- Dupla 10: Allan Lustoza e Ronaldo de Barros [Trinity Blood]
- Dupla 11: Gabriel Braz e Kátia Lima da Costa [Saint Seya]
- Dupla 12: Bruno Ribeiro e Thiemi Vital Santos [Fate/Stay Night]
- Dupla 13: Rachel Baptista e Nathalia Lelis de Moura [Soul Calibur 3]
- Dupla 14: Ariana Caiado da Rocha e Bruna Ribeiro Nascimento [Clover]
- Dupla 15: Geraldo José Cecilio Junior e Gabrielle Christine Valério [D-Gray Man]


Nothing to say on the costume's manufacture that was extremely detailed or on the performances, really amazing, everybody deserved a seat on that plane towards Nagoya, but unfortunately only two would have been the winners and the final virdict would be arrived in few minutes. In the meantime, during the break I spent some time with the audience: so many people was huddled behind me asking for autographs and photos and it was so nice to chat and have fun with them.
I would have spent some time more with them to make everybody happy but in this kind of situations time is so short, in fact I was called backstage for other interviews (finally I met Ahobaka! <3) and to be introduced to someone like the crowd loved Edu Falaschi (last picture below), famous lead voice of the metal band Angra, special guest of the event. He was so kind with me, we spent some time talking about our lives "on the road" (he too travels a lot for work) and as a good fangirl I made him autograph my Death Note! :D *groan* Sometimes it happens to me too! LOL!

One of the staff guys calls me back to reality: it was time to announce the winner! Quickly I went on stage to watch the awards assignation... and as always happens, in order to raise the level of suspance they started with the third place!

3rd place:
Gabriel Braz e Kátia Lima da Costa [Saint Seya]

2nd place:
Geraldo José Cecilio Junior e Gabrielle Christine Valério [D-Gray Man]

1st place:
Thaís Jussim e Marcelo Fernandes
[Inu-Yasha]

And so the lucky ones that will fly to Japan to represent Brazile at World Cosplay Summit 2007 will be Thais e Marcelo, fifth pair in contest, that made a great performance based on Inu-Yasha playing the homonym character and Sesshomaru.
I was very happy to see the award going to Thais e Marcelo: they are two great cosplayers, two veterans and I always admired them behind my monitor. During all those years they made so many amazing costumes (Thais' Sesshomaru is by far beautiful!) and I feel in due to say that they really deserved this qualification to WCS07 finals. My best wishes to both of them! Sometimes dreams became true!
After some photos for the press and many other interviews the night ends with many applauses by the audience: between the joy of the winners and mine, to have been invited to such an important event, really great in any aspect, I went back to the dressing room. In less than five minutes I undressed Misa clothes and went back to be the usual "Francesca Dani" with a bit of melancholy mixed with happiness I get on the car that took me back at the hotel and as I lean exhausted on the bed (it was about 2 am) I felt asleep so happy to be at the other side of the world doing what I really like to do, meeting so many new friends and sharing with them joy and fun for a dream becoming true and this is something priceless...

10/11th of June 2007
Last two days in São Paulo, one (10 June) spent hanging out around the city and the other (11 June) at JBC Editora offices: on that evening I had the flight back to Italy, but in the morning I was doing a promotional photo session for the brazilian release of  "Death Note" by JBC (and so I was wearing again Misa's attire) while later, during lunch, I did my last very long interview for the official magazine.
Last jobs done: back in my jeans and t-shirt packing last things in my baggage. The plane that was going to bring me back to Italy was waiting for me and while I was looking trough car's window going to the airport, São Paulo streets looked so familiar to me and a piece of my heart remains here, hoping I will have a chance to come back one day.
My amazing experience at WCS ETAPA JBC BRAZIL was over, I was coming back home with so many great memories and another flag stick on my globe: who knows next time where will I end up! World is so huge and my will to do cosplay is as large as!
Thanks from the bottom of my heart to everyone that was behind me in those wonderful days: I'll never forget! *kisu*

Thanks to:
Jùlio Moreno, Douglas Eiji, Patricia, Edi Carlos, Akemi, Paula, Masami Toku, Edu Falaschi, Fabio Mori, Ahobaka, Gabi Sawyer and her cousin, Yuki & Vingaard for their immense sweetness (I hope to meet you again! And good luck in Japan!), all the guys that attended to WCS selections, the photographer Caio, Animax staff, the light guys who did a great job during my performance and all the wonderful audience of WCS ETAPA JBC BRAZIL! Thank you very much for all you did for me!
And last but not least Paolo: without you I wouldn't be ever arrived so far, in any sense! I u!
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