Team Canada Takes 2nd Place at World Cosplay Championship 2026 with Tokyo Aliens Cosplay — Interview

World Cosplay Summit 2026 was held in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, from Friday, July 31 to Sunday, August 2, bringing together cosplayers from 40 countries and regions. On DAY 2, August 2, the World Cosplay Championship 2026 — contested for the title of the world's top cosplayer — took place at the Aichi Prefectural Art Theater, Main Hall.

Each competing cosplayer wears a costume they made themselves and performs a two-minute-thirty-second stage act using props and screen visuals. Rankings were decided by combining scores from an advance costume assessment with points awarded on the day by a judging panel that included voice actor Toshio Furukawa and singer/TV personality Shoko Nakagawa.

Second place went to Team Canada, made up of Autumn's Cosplay and CNR-Cosplay, who delivered a highly polished stage performance. Their meticulously recreated costumes of Akira Gunji and Sho Tenkubashi, the protagonists of the space action manga Tokyo Aliens, also earned them the Brother Award (Sewn Costume Division), a special prize.

Speaking with tears in her eyes at the post-competition press conference, Autumn's Cosplay said, "I'm so moved I honestly can't put it into words. I still can't quite believe it... This has never happened to me before, but this is the first time in my life I've been too moved to speak."

On the day's performance, CNR-Cosplay reflected, "It's hard to pick just one thing we're proud of, but if I had to choose, I'd say it was our passion for the original work. We wanted our staging and performance to stay as faithful to the source material as possible, and I think putting in the effort to stay true to the original in the choreography, video footage, and music really paid off," showing deep respect for the source material.

Starting next year, World Cosplay Summit 2027 will move to a November schedule. It will be exciting to see which overseas cosplayers take the stage in Nagoya next.

World Cosplay Summit 2026
Dates: July 31 (Fri) – August 2 (Sun), 2026
Venues: Oasis 21 / Aichi Arts Center (Main Hall) / Hisaya-odori Park / Osu Shopping District / Hisaya-odori Teien Flarie / Central Park / Chubu Electric Power MIRAI TOWER / SLOW ART CENTER NAGOYA

(C) 2026 World Cosplay Summit. All rights reserved.