CQ Magazine #6 English Version by Cosplayers Quito

Issue

Year 2 www.facebook.com/cosplayersquito n

INTERNATIONAL INTERVIEW:

ED HOFF / DANYAEL / MĂ&#x2030;XICO CQ INTERVIEW:

Gigi Goldstein Tips & Tricks

Shopping in eBay

Next Stop

Dante in Buenos Aires

Get to Know...

Small profile of International Cosplayers

EDITORIAL TEAM

General Edition: Guillermo Guevara Style Correction: Ana María Guevara / Marlina Sánchez Translations: Annie Jiménez / Andrea Parra / Ana María Guevara / Marlina Sánchez Design and Layout: Guillermo Guevara Writers: <International Interview> Andrea Parra / Ana Jiménez <Get to Know...> Annie Jiménez <Metronome> Fernando Zurita <Tips & Tricks> Kiren Lidell (Mexico) <Achievement Unlocked> Leticia Naranjo <Next Stop> Daniel Quezada <Photo Gallery> Ana Jiménez <CQ Interview> Andrea Parra <Random Question> Andrea Parra Contact: cosplayersquito@gmail.com Web: www.facebook.com/cosplayersquito Cover Photo by Jana Tillmann A Publication by CQ MAGAZINE

INDEX INTERNATIONAL INTERVIEW 4 GET TO KNOW

14 NEXT STOP 18 METRONOME 22 TIPS & TRICKS 26 CQ INTERVIEW 30 PHOTO GALLERY ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED 42 44 RANDOM QUESTION CQ MAGAZINE

INTERNATIONAL INTERVIEW In this section you will meet many personalities in the cosplay world

ED HOFF

“THE DREAM OF THE WORLD COSPLAY SUMMIT”

n the past editions we have interviewed lots of cosplayers that have participated at the World Cosplay Summit (WCS), like Api and Paty (issue N°1), Yuki Godbless (issue n°4) and Elffi (issue n°5). But what is the World Cosplay Summit? And why is it so important for the cosplay community? On this occasion we have the honor to interview a person that has being directly involved with this international event from the very beginning, his name, Ed Hoff.

influence for the global exhibition. After the stage event was over in 2005 there were great expectations from cosplayers and event organizers from around the world for the event to continue and it has been growing year to year since then.

The WCS is an international cosplay event that promotes global interrelations through the hobby of cosplay. As it is predominantly an amateur activity, it’s near impossible for young cosplayers from, say, Mexico to meet cosplayers from Malaysia or Russia. The WCS is a venue for this kind of meeting in the birthplace of anime and manga - Japan. The WCS started with the event founder, Tokumaru Oguri, some staff and future sponsors who traveled to France for Japan Expo in 2002. They were surprised at how foreigners were enjoying Japanese contents, in particular how some went to the extent of creating their own costumes of the characters they love. They noticed the lack of similar events in Japan and thought they may be able to change that. The idea was formulated with an eye on the 2005 Aichi Expo and creating a stage, displaying youth culture and Japan’s

“He has always been a very active person with new and innovative ideas and pulls people together giving them opportunities to perform within projects that he creates”.

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When Ed started living in 1998 at Nagoya-Japan, one of his first friends was Tokumaru Oguri, he gave him the opportunity to work at Aichi TV with him.

When plans for the World Cosplay Summit came up in 2003, Oguri called him to help with translation and interpretation (Ed speaks six languages to a greater or lesser extent). Since 2006, his responsibilities started to increase and now he takes care of international communications with current and past cosplay representatives, prospective and participating organizers from organizations around the world, online communications on Twitter and Facebook as well as being an advisor for the WCS event producer, Takahiro Mori.

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When we asked him what he likes the most about working for the WCS organisation he said that there are so many things but the main one is having the chance to meet the friends that he has made in many countries around the world.

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It’s hard to say exactly how many people work for the WCS all year round as it is a yearly event so the number is very high during the event itself and lower during the rest of the year. There are about 10 members of the core staff who are in charge all year round like Ed. During the event itself, there are staff members that have specific responsibilities to certain events such as the Osu parade where the

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this takes place particularly between September and April. The cosplay event company ‘Cossan’ organizes the 5 or 6 regional rounds each year in Japan, however, as they are in Japan international organizers will be there to take in the stage. They will also have booths at events like Tokyo Anime Fair or a stage at other exhibition events so they are pretty busy all year round. By May, they start gearing up for the main event in earnest and collect information of the arrival and departure times for each team, make sure everyone has passports and visas if necessary. They are in contact with the hotel everyone is staying at and the various venues that events take place at to ensure everything will go as planned. “We are very busy in the 3 months leading up to the event but really are working all year round”.

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W E L C O M I N G C O N T E S TA N T S <WCS 2013> P HOTO BY P R I N C E P HOTO G R A P H Y

E D I N H I S E VA N G E L I O N 0 0 C O S P L AY < N E O N G E N E S I S E VA N G E L I O N > ED’S PERSONAL ARCHIVE

Metronome

The WCS is a year round event, all the staff on each country work through it almost every weekend with preliminary and regional rounds going on in different countries. As events come up, national organizers will have questions about the stage and representative selections and the international organizers in Japan will correspond with them about event related information. “There are about 25 countries who are interested in joining so keeping in touch with them and helping them join the event takes communicating and meetings as something necessary”. They are constantly communicating with international organizers and the event, so

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He has lived in Japan for more than 15 years now so it has become quite normal for him to show people around who are there for the first time, he can in a way see the country in a new way, “it’s a little like I am reborn each year”. Introducing Japanese culture to people through a collaboration of Japanese and international organizers with the support of events and fans around the world. It is a challenge and a unique position that he finds himself in “and there is no job quite like it anywhere in the world”.

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“With the Internet we can learn very easily about faraway places, but meeting people and talking to them is very important”.

C O N T E S TA N T S O N S TA G E <WCS 2011> WCS ARCHIVE

Osu Festival volunteer group of about 30 people are helping, organizing and guiding the parade. During the championship stage there is a stage crew that only works on the stage over the weekend. Starting in 2012 the WCS ‘Omotenashi’ student corp. was established and they meet once a week all year round making plans for the next year and number about 30 members. Everyone is operating with an eye on the WCS itself and looking forward to when the cosplay representatives make the trip out to Japan and focus on making a fun atmosphere. In order to create a fair selection process, the WCS has a stage competition but everyone realizes that cosplay is at its heart not about competition and the staff does what they can to ensure that representatives realize that they are there to have a good time and above all else have a lot of fun and make some lifelong friends and memories. There are no firm numbers for staff who are helping putting the event together, but as a very rough figure we can say that there are

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INTERNATIONAL INTERVIEW

IN AICHI PREFECTURE ED’S PERSONAL ARCHIVE

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about 10 core people and 30 student volunteers working year round, during the event itself there are 200 or 300 volunteers and related staff who make the event happen. Until 2011 they went through a selection process selecting up to 3 countries each year. From 2012 this has been opened up with the ‘Observer Nation’ status and any country that would like to be part of it can join as they please. The observer nation status is a way for countries to ease into the event. As these regions and countries become familiar with the event they will obtain a lot of participation status and compete in the championship; right now, there are 5 countries and regions participating as observers - Vietnam, Taiwan, Portugal, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

“There are more countries who will be participating at the WCS, keep an eye on the Facebook group for announcements in the near future!” There are 2 groups of judges for the WCS championship, one is a selected group of the most knowledgeable organizers from each country who inspect the costumes up close and help determining the costume portion of the final judgement score. The panel of judges sitting at the championship itself are distinguished members of the anime, manga and cosplay community who have a vested interest in furthering cosplay and Japanese contents. Members of this panel have been Inui Tatsumi, (manager of the cosplayer social networking site ‘Cure’), Ken Ikenotani (producer of ACOS, the cosplay shop wing of the Animate anime and manga goods shop chain) and Nobuyuki Takahashi (Creator of the word

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To finish, Ed wants to send a message to all our readers “The message is simple as it should be. The WCS has a championship to select representatives in a fair manner but the heart of cosplay is just in having fun with friends. Do not forget this, have fun with whatever you consider cosplay, no matter your sex, age, nationality or background. Don’t worry about what other people The WCS became an independent company in think or say because your cosplay is yours - own 2012 and is looking at consolidating changes in it. If you ever have the opportunity to come out that regard. On the championship date the WCS for the WCS, please do. Every year we try to set event has already surpassed Comiket as the most things up so all can have fun and for cosplayers popular event for cosplayers in Japan. Continuing to deepen their cosplay experience.” this growth in Japan with not only fans of anime and manga, but also casual participants around the Having the opportunity of knowing a little bit more country is one goal. The WCS is looking towards about the World Cosplay Summit, truly was an honour its 15th anniversary celebration down the road and for everyone that works at CQ-Magazine, the WCS would like to have representatives come out from is a goal that many cosplayers want to achieve, and all counties where cosplay is enjoyed. even though we have a lot to overcome as a country to even think on having a representative in there, the “It is so important to enjoy each moment with dream continues. Thanks to all the people that work new people you meet, your time in Japan and to make the WCS as incredible as it is, we wish you the the overall experience. I think that by not living best in your future plans, and a huge thank you to Ed the moment you lose something precious”. Hoff for taking the time to talk with us.

International Interview

‘cosplay’). Elffi (WCS2012 Finland), Georgia Vecchini (WCS2005 Italy), Goldy (WCS2006 Japan) and Tasha (WCS2011 Korea) are just a few of the almost 300 alumni cosplayers of the World Cosplay Summit. Each year about 10 – 15 alumni participate at the event as support staff, advisors and take part in the parades and on the championship stage for the fun of it.

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2 0 1 1 C O N T E S TA N T S ED’S PERSONAL ARCHIVE

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DANYAEL

COSPLAYER VS DRAWER

or some of us who have shared the joy of doing cosplay, we easily notice the chaos that occurs when approaching t o t h e c o n v e n t i o n d a t e . Th e r e a r e t h o s e who manage their time well and have it ready in advance, others panic because of the lack of time or resources and there are those who ultimately decide to use a less complicated costume or even an o l d c o s p l a y. I n e i t h e r c a s e , t h e c o s p l a y e r undergoes by emotional changes, comes into despair or experiences a sudden madness that always ends up being an e x t r a d e t a i l a b o u t t h e s u i t . Yo u g e t t o t h e event, and tell your adventures, listen to others and now you can even see them reflected in drawings.

photographer, prop maker and plans to do cosplay soon. Daniel Cabrera, alias Danyael Art, has attended 10 years to different conventions, met many artists and cosplayers during that time. Found friends and colleagues who have told him their stories. Went to various events as a guest and witnessed the anecdotes that will become Cosplayer vs Dibujante (Cosplayer vs Drawer).

“It is only a ref lec tion of what happens in our lives as ar tists and cosplayers.”

Daniel began drawing as a child: “I was restless and tried to ref lec t the things I saw. In high school I st ar ted making my Th i s i s p a r t o f w h a t D a ny a e l A r t d o e s : comics about what happened to us in i l l u s t r a t e t h o s e m o m e n t s s o t h a t o t h e r s school (with severe correc tions when these c a n b e i d e n t i f i e d w i t h , s o p e o p l e c a n comics reached the teachers’ hands).” understand better and even show off some a t t i t u d e s y o u n e v e r t h o u g h t y o u h a d . E a c h After many people commented that he was good w e e k , t h i s y o u n g M e x i c a n d e l i g h t s u s i n at doing this, he decided to enter the world of C o s p l a y e r v s . D r a w e r w i t h o c c u r r e n c e s manga and comics. He began to improve his i n s p i r e d b y r e a l e v e n t s . B e s i d e s c a r t o o n i s t , techniques and make more detailed drawings h e h a s b e e n a b o y f r i e n d o f a c o s p l a y e r , in high school. He then joined a group doing 8 CQ MAGAZINE

INTERNATIONAL INTERVIEW happens or because there is a new idea. “Something always happens, always. I see things ever y day on Facebook, my friends t alk to me and comment about my drawings, their frustrations about cosplay and these gives me stuf f, ver y good stuf f.”

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How I see my cosplay in the convention

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How I see my cosplay when I leave home

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“Drawings from the strips are made like that on purpose to be funny (laughs)” So cosplayers, you are an inspiration. They could even make a TV show about us ... wait, I According to Dan, at first everything was think they already did that. Finally, we expect digital: a mixture of Corel Painter, Corel Draw our readers to read all the cartoons and tell us and sometimes Photoshop. “I didn’t feel I had how many are identified with what they relate. enough mobility when making my strokes and especially to express the emotions.” Now that the project has been active for a long time, we wanted to know what kind Working on the computer it was time of positive feedback has Danyael received consuming, now he carries some sheets after publishing his work. He told us that and pencil and makes sketches ever y where: there are people who feels identified with on the bus, walking, while waiting for what he draws, he has seen people smiling someone, etc. If you see someone drawing or wondering about the scripts, which is in the middle of a convention in Mexico, it’s what he appreciates the most. probably Daniel. “I have traveled to different places and “At the end I ink using a Sign Pen and then I everyone saw me as a another cartoonist scan. For the color I use Painter and assembly (mostly cosplayers), but because of what I’ve in Corel Draw.” been drawing about, now I hear things like ‘hey, look, that’s the dude of cos vs drawer Legend tells that there is a book with over , Let’s tell our stories’. It’s very funny, and 100 strips and small scripts who have weird, been recognized for this project, but remained on st andby because something I like it.”

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comic conventions, first as staff, and now, 10 years later, is one of the leading illustrators of many conventions in his country. Artwork made and posted on DeviantArt are very different from Cosplayer vs Dibujante.

how do my photos look like Photo Gallery

... eeerh I’m ... aran Aldeb

ody I’m blo a iñ p ta

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e I’m th y might n ara Aldeb

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CQ MAGAZINE 9

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INTERNATIONAL INTERVIEW have a cosplayer girlfriend they said...

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Is this all necessary?

No... it’s just in case... and... don’t drop anything, otherwise...

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It will be fun they said...

When t alking about cosplay, from the perspective of Daniel, the environment has changed dramatically. The competitions, jealousies, growing egos, and many superficialities have divided the people in groups, rather than unite and support, the environment breaks down simply “wanting to be the best.”

“Regardless, the strips I do are a reflection of those attitudes and try to address them in a funny way. When you face a giant, it is best to see it in a funny way, so the giant loses strength and you can act against him.”

As happens to many artists, there are people that feel directly offended by the Cosplayer vs. Dibujante drawings. He has received lots Sadly, he has seen lots of friends and of claims from people that think that they are acquaint ances that have lost their road and the character represented on the comic but had left the humility aside to become a actually he always uses different characters. “CosSt ar” (cosplayer st ar). “I’ve never drawn with the intention of Luckily, there are lots of cosplayers that of fending someone and it will never be still rather participate on this hobby for fun, like that. Sometimes these comics are like without boast of been the best. a bullet that goes nowhere, but there are Dude! She’s been staring at that girl for 30 minutes. Why is that? I don’t get it Pure Hate

Does she know her?

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No That girl made the cosplay our friend is wearing tomorrow...

will they that other h it h W eac . hate ilennia.. m r o f

10 CQ MAGAZINE

So?

%$@#

girl...

INTERNATIONAL INTERVIEW Today is the day! Today i’m gonna start drawing my manga!!! No matter what happens today I’ll do it!!!

all I have d in min

us! famo es of I’ll be dr a hun ! e k a ings I’ll m draw

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What is in the future for Cosplayer vs. Dibujante?

I haven’t written a single #%@& line but I’ll start tomorrow

sure...

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facebook.com/Cosplayervsdibujante

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If you want to follow Daniel’s work, don’t forget to check his Facebook page. He has published the volume 1 of Cos vs. Dib and the second volume is about to be released. He also has other works like “Dumb Guide of the Useless Cosplayer”, “How to make a Cosplay without spending anything” and “The Cosplayer Bible”.

3 months later

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“I’ve been going to events to give conferences and besides that I’ve done small stop motion animations and some videos of conventions.”

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Most of times his drawings are criticized because there are people who use these images and put the name of people or a bad intention on them, what happens really often. A fun fact is that many times people have said to him that the characters on his drawings are ex actly the same to one person in particular, sometimes even people in other countries.

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people that run to put themselves in front of it and that is bad.”

http://lestat-danyael.deviantart.com/ facebook.com/Danyaelart.ilustrador

A photo please...

iful! Beaut

You are t!!! the bes

A photo baby!!!

us Gorgeo

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us Gorgeo

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You are t!!! the bes

A wild cosplayer (showing more) appears!!

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And suddenly...

I am a gift to the world...

GET TO KNOW... In this section of our Magazine we will have a little peak on some International Cosplayers.

ISVIEL VON EINZBERN / SABER <FATE ZERO> PHOTO BY SWEET SENSATION PHOTOGRAPHY

NAMES:

CINDY / KAREN

NICKNAME:

YUURISANS (YUURI-C / YUURI-K)

COUNTRY:

THE UNITED STATES

YEARS IN COSPLAY:

5 YEARS

FIRST COSPLAY:

MISA AMANE / SHANA

FAVORITE CHARACTER

SABER <FATE> /

FOR COSPLAY:

LIGHTNING <FFXIII>

FAVORITE ANIME:

SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN

WEBSITES:

FACEBOOK.COM/ PAGES/YUURISANSCOSPLAY/472355102808553

You can show some support visiting their websites. Share cosplay madness all over the world! 12 CQ MAGAZINE

A S U K A S H I K I N A M I / R E I AYA N A M I < N E O N G E N E S I S E VA N G E L I O N 3 . 0 > P HOTO BY B E N T P IC 5

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AMETHYST PRINCE

COUNTRY:

RUSSIA

YEARS IN COSPLAY:

7 YEARS

FIRST COSPLAY:

KOJI KUROKI <EYESHIELD 21!>

FAVORITE CHARACTER

KURURUGI SUZAKU

FOR COSPLAY:

FAVORITE ANIME:

ONE PIECE, CODE GEASS

WEBSITES:

AMETHYSTPRINCE. DEVIANTART.COM/

HARUKA NANASE <FREE!> P HOTO BY K U C H E R U K E L E N A

You can show some support visiting their websites. Share cosplay madness all over the world!

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FACEBOOK.COM/ AMETHYSTPRINCE09

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SERGEY

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NAME:

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NEXT STOP Experiences of people traveling from and to many locations of the world

DANTE H. CLOUD

Member of Cosplayers Quito and Founder of Federación Ecuatoriana de Pokémon ‘FEP’ (Ecuador’s Pokémon Federation). He has spread the Japanese culture and language since 2008 and he has helped in the organization of anime and comic events and conventions, both independently and with the clubs he belonged to. Currently he is focused on other social juvenile aspects.

Get away to Buenos Aires Hi my fellow readers!

I’

<OBELISCO> ll make a small interruption on my anecdotes from Japan to tell you about my last trip to is winter at the north hemisphere is summer at a popular destination in South America: Buenos the south. Winters are cold because of the polar Aires. winds and even though, in Buenos Aires does not snow often and the summer is pretty hot, it is Buenos Aires is the capital city of Argentina and better to visit it at spring or fall, but if the budget has a population of about 2,965,000 habitants. is limited, on winter there are bargains on plane It is one of the biggest urban centers of America tickets as well cheaper accommodation fees. Of and the occidental hemisphere. course, one just dies of cold but the large amount of coffee shops compensate it. There are many reasons to travel to Buenos Aires and its popularity continues to grow, because it is <W H E R E T O G O> not as expensive as other cities in the Americas and it is ideal for everyone for being a cultural, Being such a touristic destination there are literary, athletic, spiritual, and amusement lots of places to visit. At the old Buenos Aires destination. one can admire the European architecture of the streets “Corrientes” and “Florida” <WHEN TO GO> including “La Casa Rosada “(the headquarters of the Argentinean government), the mythic Argentina’s 4 seasons are opposed to the ones “Plaza de Mayo” and the “Catedral”. It’s a must that the north hemisphere has, for example when to visit some of the neighborhoods, like “San

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To finish and also to the north over Belgrano area you can find the Chinese Town. If you are looking for Chinese food, groceries and Asian <MAFALDA PLAQUE IN SAN TELMO> objects, this is the right place to go. I even Telmo” crowded with visitants on Sunday for found Pockys® and Japanese curry. its outdoor fair and where Mafalda (the popular protagonist of the comic books with the same <W H A T T O E A T> name was created by Quino) has a privilege place. The other one is “La Boca”, where you I’ll be always on favor on eating the traditional can find “Caminito” , a colorful place where the food of ever y countr y. The Argentinian roasts main essence of Argentina remains: soccer, (roast beef) are great; there are places of all tango, and good food. quantities and prices. Buenos Aires is also known for its It alian background, for this Close to the cover of heritage downtown is the reason it is a good option to tr y its past as modernity of “Puerto Madero”. This sector is and pizzas. Coffee shops are also pretty full of modern buildings, commercial areas, good, they offer coffee of great quality places to eat and drink, as well as luxury hotels. with alfajores (dough candies with diverse fillings, although probably this is not the To the north we can find “La Recoleta” , known best description for something so delicious). for its cemetery, the one is worth to visit

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because of its mythic and gothic aura ( and has lots of cats :3). Continuing to the North you can find “Palermo”, that besides offering an attractive environment at night, has a Japanese garden (the entrance is paid), one of the few in South America, beautiful for its water fountains and ponds; also you can visit the souvenir shops and restaurants.

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Most events take place from spring to summer. Vacations of the austral hemisphere are from October to February; however there are small events on the rest of the year. Buenos Aires is an expensive city in some things like clothing, even though, you can find some clothes on a convenient price. Books and Cds have a lower cost in contrast to other countries on Latin America and there’s a lot of variety. This city has many bookstores and theaters. Forget on trying to buy something of technology on this country, is without a doubt the most expensive thing I’ve seen.

<A COSPLAYER DESTINATION> I think that Buenos Aires has a privilege that not many cities possess, has an infrastructure with a huge stage for cosplay. Modern European/ American architecture and a Japanese gardens, I’ll say there are really few places in the world that can offer such variety.

I hope I’ve informed you a little bit about this city, the favorite of many for its diversity and for its openness to tourists. Hope to go back with more adventures on the next issue. Until next time!

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If you are interested on having a photoshoot in the Japanese garden according to what I heard you have to ask for permission.

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< J A PA N E S E G A R D E N >

PRĂ&#x201C;XIMA PARADA

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CQ MAGAZINE 17

METRONOME Read the news about Asian artists and music and their representatives around the world

On the Nippon country, one of the musical groups that has achieved great fame is PERFUME. Its three members Aa-chan, Nocchi and Kashiyuka, have emerged as the queens of techno-pop in Japan through their great amount of choreographies, together with an array of technology and an 11-year career. Their performances in recent years have begun to spread over the culture of this country worldwide. In this brief review, we will let you know about their career and how they managed to position themselves as the number one in the country of the rising sun. On 2000, at the talents academy “Actors School Hiroshima”, the merge between Ayaka Nishiwaki (“Aa-chan”), Yuka Kashino (“Kashiyuka”) and Yūka Kawashima (“Kawayuka”) began, the origin of the name’s group proceeds from the Japanese character (香) that means fragrance and that is present on each one of the three girl’s names.

Hiroshima with a simple “Omajinai Perori” the one was followed by the launching of “Kareshi Boshūchū”. On this year, Mikiko joins the group and becomes its choreographer. In 2003, after finishing their studies at the actors school the trio moved to Tokyo, where they signed a contract with the record label Amuse Inc., met Yasutaka Nakata their main producer and part of the CAPSULE group and with him their big journey to the unexpected fame began. The same year Perfume releases nationally they first single, “Sweet Donuts” and in 2005 signed a contract with the record label Toukuma Japan Communications to release the new single “Linear Motor Girl”, which will follow “Computer City” and “Electro World”. Their first concert “Fan Service: Bitter” is converted to a DVD.

It is not until 2007, that the seventh single was out and was chosen for the station NHK as theme song for their recycle campaign, receiving more national recognition. After the success received Perfume obtained a lot of attention inside the Japanese market. Before the group made its debut, Kawashima Their next live performance was completely sold out decides to step aside from the project to continue and with that; they became the first idol group to her studies and Ayano Omoto (Nocchi) becomes perform at the “Summer Sonic Music Festival”. the third member of the aggrupation. In 2008 they released their first original album named In March 2002, Perfume makes its debut inside “GAME” that reached the first place at the Oricon 18 CQ MAGAZINE

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charts, becoming the first techno-pop group to To celebrate their 10th anniversary Perfume made a reach such place since the Yellow Magic Orchestra’s unique performance at the Tokyo Dome, which made Naughty Boys in 1983. them the second feminine group to do it since the SPEED aggrupation. The tickets for this presentation With the launching of this album, they began their first were sold out the same day in which they were put national tour that took them through 10 cities of sold on sale and because of the great demand, they had out concerts. At their last presentation, they made a to increase the locations, reaching a total of 50.000 big announcement that proved the great success that attendees. At the end of this performance it was they were having at the moment, a performance of announced the participation of PERFUME at the Mnet two days at the prestigious stage of Noppon Budokan, Asian Music Awards in South Korea, taking them to followed later by the presentation of their special their first show overseas and where they received an concert “DISCO DISCO DISCO” that took place at the award as “Best Asian Artist” National Arena of Yoyogi. For the animated PIXAR movie “Cars 2” it was chosen After their consolidation phase between 2008 and one of their most known songs, Polyrhythm, as part 2009, the fame became bigger and bigger thanks to of the soundtrack and were invited to Los Angeles the singles “Dream Fighter” and “One Room Disco”. for its premier. After their recognition at the MAMA In 2009, Perfume released its new album “TRIANGLE” in Korea, they were invited to the Asia Song Festival with an 80’s music style, the one sold over 300.000 also in South Korea, where they performed alongside copies and reached again the number one place at Korean celebrities as Super Junior, Girl’s generation, the charts. This album is the first step to promote their Beast, and Lee Seung-gi, China artists as Zhuo Bichang second national tour and Leo Ku, the singer Peter Ho from Taiwan and Tata Young from Thailand. The fame grows day by day and is the main reason for the girls to become the image of important brands. The biggest accomplishment of the band occurs in PEPSI was one of them; they made a series of ads for 2012, with their record label change, because since the PEPSI NEXT campaign; performing the cover song that moment they became part of the Universal Music “love fool” by the group “The Cardigans”. Their single Japan, the ones helped them to become a more “VOICE” was also used for the NISSAN campaigns. international projected aggrupation. Because of this they launch their 3rth album “JPN” the one besides

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CQ MAGAZINE 19

being distributed at Japan is released on its digital form through iTunes over 50 countries.

time have managed to show us that the fame is not all without perseverance, simplicity and willing to show that an aggrupation is not only formed by their With their established presence inside the musical members but their fans. industry, they are selected to become the main hosts of the Japan MTV Video Music Awards of 2012 and Who are PERFUME? in this important event they make the announcement of their first world tour that took place at Hong Kong, Aa-Chan Taiwan, Korea and Singapore, been this the main step to consolidate themselves worldwide.

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They are invited to the electronic music festival ULTRA in Korea, released the DVD version of their 1rst World Tour and participated at the Cannes Festival, in which they performed together with Daito Manabe their “Global Site Project” the one is awarded with the silver lion. Perfume made its second world tour in Germany, Ayaka Nishiwaki better known as Aa- chan was France and the UK. born at Hiroshima the 15th of February of 1989. She is the youngest of the three and is also known The last projects that the group has made over this year as the most chatty one, feature that makes her are: The presentation of their exposition “Rhizomatiks stand as the group leader, as she always makes inspired by PERFUME” in which the group of creative the longest speeches on the performances and and engineers in charge of the technological on the interaction with the public. She is also production of the trio exposes their work allowing the characterized by her sensibility because she assistants to interact with the technology. Perfume often cries at concerts. releases their 4th album in October of 2013 under the name of LEVEL3 the same is performed at a world Born Date: 15/02/1989 tour in Japan, The UK, Germany and France. Blood type: A Likes: Pick up flowers, laces, lip-gloss, mascara, pink Now, we just have to wait and see what other surprises Pajamas they will bring in the future, that even with the past of Special ability: Health Obsessed 20 CQ MAGAZINE

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Kashiyuka

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Ayano Omoto better known as Noochi, was born the 20th of September of 1988 at Hiroshima. She is the oldest of the three and she is the only one who doesn’t belong to the original group. For her particular personality she defines herself as tomboy and shameful with her short Because of her sweetness is the one that hair and because she doesn’t wear skirts, which the fans attracts more looks. She always wears skirts, don’t agree. She loves the alpacas more than anything the ones combine with her beauty and long hair and she prefers calm vacations in her own country. make her the most attractive for their fans. Birth date: 20/09/1988 Her personality always shows her beauty and Blood type: A delicacy. She loves animals in general from Likes: anime, watch movies, read manga, make snakes to tigers but what she loves the most perfumes, prepare onigiris and sleep are hamsters and hates vegetables especially Special Ability: Puzzles tomatoes. PERFUME TEAM Born date: 23/12/1988 Music and lyrics: Yasutaka Nakata Blood type: A Choreography: Mikiko Mizuno Likes: Ice-cream, repeat ads scripts, the hair, lip Video and visualization director: Kazuaki Seki gloss and photography Visualization and technology implementation: Daito Manabe Special ability: Answer Emails Stage director: Masahiko Uchiyama.

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Yuka Kashino better known as Kashiyuka was born the 23rd of December of 1988 at Hiroshima and is one of the founder members of the group as Aa- chan on 2000.

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HOW TO BUY WIGS ON EBAY A

s we all know, wigs have become WIGS ON EBAY something really import ant for all cosplayers, as they add something really Ebay is one of the favorite places to buy import ant in the performance of a character wigs, but there are so many sellers and many that we love. options that it’s easy to feel over whelmed. To avoid this, we need to be ver y specific so we The importance of these items is such, that can obt ain fewer results in our search. they are on the top of our lists of things to obtain for our new cosplay, but it’s not always If we are searching for a pink wig, for ex ample, easy to find what we really need. There are we will have thousands of results and in some people who don’t know where to search some cases; many of the options won’t have for a good quality product. anything to do with what we are searching for. But, if we add the name of a character Here you’ll find some tips that I’d like to share or the characteristics of what we want in our with you all, that may help you in your search wig, the results will be limited and it would and will make things easier, so all these be easier to search in the stores. process may be enjoyable for ever ybody.

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O ne o f t h e t h i n g s t h a t a r e r e a lly im port ant while b u y i n g a wig is t h e p r ice . We will alwa y s w an t t o t a ke a d v a n t a g e o f a s a le, but we ne e d t o b e e x t r e m e ly ca r e f ul wit h this. As yo u k n o w , t he r e is a p r o v e r b t h a t say s: “cheap t h i n g s tur n o ut t o b e e x p e nsive” , not o n l y f o r t h e r is k o f r e ce iv in g s o m ething with a p o o r q u alit y, b ut a ls o b e ca use y ou ca n c o n f u s e t h e p r ice o f a n it e m with the biddi n g p r i c e .

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Personally, I prefer the “buy it now” option, even though it might be a little bit more expensive to pay, I’d save my time in checking if I won the bid or not. Also, there are many stores that offer the shipping for free. You should use this option ever y time you can.

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CHOOSING A WIG

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The f i r s t t h i n g th a t a p p e a r s , it ’s o b v iously , the p i c t u r e s t h at t h e s t o r e m a y us e t o show their p r o d u c t . I t’s a lwa ys g o o d t o ch e c k the pictu r e s , i f t h e y h a v e s o m e t h in g d if ferent, like t h e b a c k g r o un d , o r t h e m a n n equin. Howe v e r , n o t alwa ys we ca n b e s u re of some t h i n g , f o r e x a m p le : t h e ch a n g e of the color d u e t o o u r s cr e e n m o n it o r , s o there’s alwa y s r i s k , at le a s t t h a t yo u h a v e bought from t h a t s h o p m a n y o t h e r t im e s . S o, only like t h a t y o u ’ l l b e s ur e if t h e co lo r s may be lig h t e r , w h et h e r o r n o t t h e le n g t h may chang e , t h e s t y le s o r t h e q ua lit y in g eneral will b e d i f f e r e n t o r n o t .

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Once you get the results of your search, it’s time to choose between the options. It’s important to check not only the price, but also, the details of the stores.

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As s u g g e s t i o n , it ’s b e t t e r t o a v o id the seller s t h a t h av e s im ila r p ict ur e s wit h other shops , i t ma y b e p o s s ib le t h a t t h e p roduc t ma y n o t b e t h e s a m e a n d we will b e ver y disa p p o i n t e d w he n o ur wig a r r iv e s . < E B AY. C O M >

CQ MAGAZINE 23

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After checking the pictures of the shop, t h e n e x t t h i n g i s t h e f e e d b a c k . I t ’s r e a l l y important to pay attention to the score that other buyers have given to that store, not only by checking the final percentage, but a l s o i t ’s i m p o r t a n t t o c h e c k t h e c o m m e n t s that they have received till that moment. With this, we can get an idea of the reputation of the store: if their products are similar to the pictures, if the package arrives on time, if the communication between buyer and seller is good, etc.

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know the details that may not appear in the description or that aren’t really that c l e a r. T h a n k s t o t h i s , y o u ’ l l a l s o g e t t o know the attitude of the seller towards helping and giving the information to possible buyers. In case that the buy made by eBay doesn’t a r r i v e , i t ’s a d v i s a b l e t o g e t i n t o u c h with the seller to know the options of compensation. If the seller doesn’t answer the messages, then you can precede with a claim with which eBay demands the store the immediate refund of the money and gives you the right of putting a negative score to the store, which will affect the final score of the store.

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Once you have checked all the previous points and you are ready to buy, the process for ordering a wig is very simple:

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T h i s i s s o m e t h i n g t h a t u s u a l l y i t ’s n o t even checked, especially if you don’t s p e a k E n g l i s h v e r y w e l l . H o w e v e r , i t ’s recommendable to use a translator just in case you have that inconvenience, as i t ’s v e r y i m p o r t a n t t o g e t t o k n o w t h e details of the product and the store.

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Yo u c a n f i n d s o m e r e s t r i c t i o n s , w a r n i n g s , contact information, etc., in the description of the product. It takes some t i m e , b u t i t ’s b e t t e r t o p r e v e n t t h a n b e i n g sorry and waste money in something that doesn’t fulfill your expectations. T h e m o s t r e c o m m e n d a b l e i t ’s t o c l a r i f y all your doubts with the seller and get to 24 CQ MAGAZINE

< E B AY. C O M >

First, it’s necessar y to have an account in eBay and PayPal. For those who aren’t familiar with PayPal, it is the safest and fastest ser vice for buying online and you’ll need a valid credit card or to do a bank deposit. In this way, the seller will never have your credit card number.

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Now, it’ll appear the page in which you can see your address, the way of payment a n d t h e t o t a l o f y o u r b u y. I n s o m e c a s e s , you can also choose the way of shipping. Once you click on “Continue”, you’ll be s e n t t o P a y P a l ’s w e b s i t e i n w h i c h y o u r information will appear and you’ll be able to authorize the payment.

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A f t e r c h e c k i n g y o u r p r o d u c t , i t ’s i m p o r t a n t to rate the store by commenting your experience with eBay and the quality of your product.

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P a y w i t h P a y P a l a n d t h a t ’s i t ! Yo u ’ l l receive a couple of emails immediately or in the following days in which your buy may be confirmed. A couple of weeks after, or depending on the type of shipment that you chose, your wig will arrive to your house.

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We c h o o s e t h e w i g t h a t w e w a n t a n d w e click on “Buy it now”, If you decide on buying anything else in the same store, y o u c a n c h o o s e t h e o p t i o n “A d d t o c a r t ”

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CQ MAGAZINE 25

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Getting to know the members of Cosplayers Quito

One of the features that we like the most about Cosplayers Quito is the cultural diversity that has in it, we have members that come from Ecuador to Singapore, today we are going to talk about one talented Ecuadorian - Chilean cosplayer, her name, Gigi Goldstein and today she is going to tell us a little bit more about her and her love for this hobby. Gigi’s family arrived to Ecuador 37 years ago from Chile, and being the youngest of five brothers is not an easy task but she has shown us that is not impossible, because we can witness on her daily basis the strong unity and support that she receives from her family, the one that has also guide her to grow numerous values, as the importance of hard work, loyalty and family love. Her love for cosplay begins as consequence of other hobbies that she has as reading mangas and comics; she used to watch anime since she was very young. She also used to attend a lot of conventions to make small interviews and videos putting her interest on the details of the costumes, which has driven her to falling even more in love with this topic. At the beginning she wouldn’t dare to wear a cosplay, but thanks to the boosting of her sister Betsy she did her first one in 2011 it was the Sexy no Jutsu version of Naruto.

“I really thank her, if it wasn’t for her I would have never done cosplay”

GIGI 26 CQ MAGAZINE

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From the beginning, Gigi caught our attention for the quality and precision of her costumes, besides the effort that she portraits on every character that she has done, but we are going to let her tell you about how she became part of Cosplayers Quito.

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She likes to go to conventions, and she had had the opportunity to attend to several outside Quito, her residence city; “Yes, I’ve been to other cities for conventions, the two that I loved were the “Riomatsuri” in Riobamba, the people In charge were really kind with us and in general all the people were like that,

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The cosplay that took her more time to make and plan was the one of Grell from Kuroshitsuji, because of work and studies she didn’t have too much time to finish it, she kept postponed it specially the saw, she had to sand it and paint it a lot of times, it took her 4 to 5 months to finish it “But it was worth it, because the results were incredible!”

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Depending on the character that she plans to make it can take her weeks to finish and even months, if she could she would use her favorite material on each one of her costumes, lace, she loves seeing her cosplays all puffy and with lots of laces, but as we all know not all characters are like that, and this could limit her future projects. Her other interests are studying a lot to get her degree, and she would like to study abroad. All the abilities that she has are from Youtube, but the patting details were taught from her sister Inge.

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What she likes the most about being a cosplayer is all the fun that she gets with her friends. To choose a character she pays lots of attention on the details of the costume and also the personality that has to be along with her tastes. That importance that she gives to details it has been the reason of many nights without sleep which also are involved with her work and studies; but this never stops her and the results are totally rewarding for her and for the people that can admire her work.

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“It was because of an interview I made to them, I thought they were fantastic, from that moment I became friends with Andre (Andre Cosplay), and after that bond we created they invited me to take part of the group. What I like of been part of CQ is the friends I’ve made with each one of them, creating a linkage that I can hardly explain with words, I love them with all my heart and we have lots of fun on each activity that we make.”

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my life, the comparison is huge to the ones from Ecuador, I mean everything was bigger, people were more polite with cosplayer and there were lots of activities”.

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Before ending this interview, Gigi wants to give a message to all our readers: “With perseverance and lots of effort She also had the chance to go to Colombia with us you can accomplish anything you set in your mind to the convention SOFA 2013, “I loved the SOFA, it regarding how many times you fall, the important was amazing, truly one of the best experiences of thing to know is how to get up and move forward.”

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and because of the way that they treated us, they inspired me to become even better in my cosplays. At Guayaquil I was also very excited because it was the first convention outside the city that I went with CQ people. They were very polite and they appreciated our work as cosplayers“.

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CQ MAGAZINE 29

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CQ-MAGAZINE has made an invitation for its 6th edition with a ver y well known topic in our Cosplay World. We hope you enjoy it!

okĂŠmon is a videogame that from the very beginning had a global impact reaching grownups and children alike. The cartoon has been on air for more than 10 years, The animated series has been on the air for over 10 years continuously, plus the Pokedex now has more than 600 PokĂŠmon from different generations and regions. This has driven to a large number of cosplayers wear adaptations from these pokemons, on conventional costumes or even with cultural differences based on the creativity of each one of them. This time, we share with you the wonderful work of different cosplayers on their Gijinkas (personifications.)

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Cosplayer: KURAI OF ANAGURA Country: GERMANY

Character: ARTICUNO Photographer: LAVERNA COSPLAY CQ MAGAZINE 31

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Cosplayer: MIKAN Country: SINGAPORE 32 CQ MAGAZINE

Characters: ARMALDO Photographer: KHAIKHAI

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Cosplayer: AINLINA Country: FRANCE

Character: AXOLOTO Photographer: HEAVENLYDAYS CQ MAGAZINE 33

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Cosplayer: YUUPEWPEW Country: SINGAPORE 34 CQ MAGAZINE

Character: EEVEE Photographer: KKZ

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Cosplayer: DREADES Country: AUSTRALIA

Character: ENTEI Photographer: FIATHRIEL CQ MAGAZINE 35

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Cosplayer: KO COSPLAY Country: THE UNITED STATES 36 CQ MAGAZINE

Character: RAYQUAZA Photographer: OHHEYITSSK

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Cosplayer: ENVOYSOLDIER Country: THE NETHERLANDS

Character: BLAZIKEN Photographer: CHRIS HONDERS CQ MAGAZINE 37

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Cosplayer: TAA DAAH Country: GERMANY 38 CQ MAGAZINE

Character: TRAINER RED (MODIFIED) Photographer: DNOMNETTASH

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Cosplayer: VICIOUS COSPLAY Country: THE UNITED STATES

Character: HO-OH Photographer: LIONBOOGY CQ MAGAZINE 39

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Cosplayer: FLAME TORCHIC Country: GERMANY 40 CQ MAGAZINE

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Character: YVELTAL Photographer: FLAME TORCHIC CQ MAGAZINE 41

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED Gamer section with opinions, news and more! Greetings Earthlings!

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• Accessories, pets, objects, and other benefits available for collection and My name is Leticia and in order to improve the ability of the this time I had the chance character in the game. to take control over this section and I’ll tell you about gamer girls in MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Roll Playing Game). I hope you had as much fun as me when I wrote this article.

MMORPG and its Attractive

his game genre has gained considerably territory among Gamers since its emergence in the 1970s with Moria. Its appeal comes mainly in maintaining the following general characteristics (Although some games don’t have them all): • A stor y line-based game where you go through missions that offer rewards while discovering the plot. • A st atistical system that allows players to compete. (Who doesn’t like to prove being better than someone else?) . • An in-game economy where exchanges are allowed. This includes, in the majority of games, an auction house besides vendors. • Socialization between players through houses, associations, chats, messages and teams formed to aid the resolution of high-level goals (Known as Parties). Some games even allow the characters to get married. • A virtual world where you can interact not only with the activities of the game, but also with other players. • Custom design for the character that you interact with.

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The MMORPG experience from the female perspective It i s c ur r entl y esti mated that 45 % o f t h e member s of an onl i ne game ar e women , 65% ar e mar r i ed or have a fami l y and 62% o f al l pl ay er s ar e ac c ompani ed dur i ng gen er al pl ay. Wi th bei ng so numer ous, and es p ec i al l y bei ng women who mostl y k eep a st ead y par tner or ar e mar r i ed, y ou woul d th i n k t h ey woul d be hi ghl y r egar ded, however d u r i n g c onver sati ons we often fi nd c ommen t s l i k e: • Gi r l s i n onl i ne games ar e a my t h ; t h ey ar e mal e pl ay er s who seek ad d i t i o n al benefi ts.

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What do you think? Do you feel that you can profit on the game by expressing your gender? Hypothesis Have you ever felt the need to demonstrate the genre to which you belong? It is likely that the trend created by traditional What is your favorite M MORPG? media, expressing uninformed opinions about the community, often implying that population We want to hear your comments! you may refer consists almost exclusively male has created bias them to: judgment even among players. This has been an https://www.facebook.com/cosplayersquito

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It is my opinion, therefore, that within the MMORPG it´s important to generate open communication, where we can trust each other, and so it’s always best to keep discussions respectful towards other players. In my opinion great part of the appeal of an online game is its community, and this is formed by all of us.

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• Since there is a high percentage of female players they can be discarded from the list of mythical creatures (Although it is flattering to be considered as such). • If the majority of players in real life maintain a stable relationship or a marriage, the probability of entering a game just to get a date is minimal, regardless whether you are a man or a woman. • If the statistics show that the majority of players prefer to enter a game accompanied by someone who they already know, it is not surprising that there are players who entered with a partner which does not necessarily imply that they are being forced to do so.

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Considering the aforementioned statistics and comparing them to the comments we can see that:

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Comments like such have led many to write their discontent in blogs, forums, social networks and even within games.

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It is also possible that the female population within the MMORPG is hidden in the eyes of other players since the goal of many will be to improve in the game, compete, learn about the history and develop a character. Not the need to find a partner or get extra benefits because of your gender (Although I do not doubt that like everything in life this happens occasionally and contributes to the appeal of the game).

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• I f a g i r l en t e rs an online g ame she i s issue over the years because it generates deeply ce r t a i n l y l o o king for a couple . rooted prejudices that reach even the feedback • Gi r l s w h o p l a y are mos t like ly be ing f or c ed from the community itself. to d o s o b y a hus band or boyfrie nd. Just remember the stereotype for “Nerd”: weak, unfriendly, somewhat awkward and uncommunicative that we had since a couple of decades ago.

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Learn a little more about cosplay and what it represents for many young people in the world; the activities and opinions that help us carry out this colorful and cheerful hobby lately, there has been a lot of controversy, due to some of the outfits that female cosplayers wear, that shows lots of skin; is it bad to wear this kind of outfits specially in conventions?

evealing costumes have been there ever since cosplay appeared. Normally, there is nothing wrong with it, because we all know, that a great number of popular female characters do not wear clothes from top-to-toe. If someone is brave enough to wear those outfits with pride, I can only admire their confidence. Even though, the appearance of the social networking sites disfigured the whole cosplay scene. There is a harsh fight for ‘likes’, and most of the times, cosplayers are judged by the number of ‘followers’ or ‘fans’. Showing a lot of skin is the easiest way to become a popular cosplayer on the Internet... and lots of girls tread this path for obtaining ‘fame’. This phenomenon has lots of bad effects on cosplay and its audience. For instance, those, who are not familiar with cosplay and its reasons, might misunderstand us, cosplayer girls. This way, we are often treated as sexual objects, not real humans, who are only trying to show enthusiasm for the chosen character. Still, I do not reject revealing costumes, but we have to find the right balance.

Bibichu Cosplay <France> 44 CQ MAGAZINE

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irst of all, everyone is free to wear what he wants. But I think we have to respect the visitors in a convention. A minimum of decency is necessary to avoid offending people. In conventions it is more difficult to wear certain kind of suits because one is not alone, while in a photoshoot you can wear any kind of cosplay because is just between the cosplayer and photographer. This is my personal opinion, we should not be forbidden of wearing something, but have a minimum of respect for the rest of the people.

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think that everyone has the right to use whatever they want, we shouldn’t judge if cosplayers can or not wear costumes that show too much or less body. There are cosplays that for their characteristics have very little clothing, like Ivy from Soul Calibur. For that reason, I don’t consider a bad thing to wear costumes that show too much skin, everyone has to have the freedom to wear the cosplay that they want, as they want.

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don’t think it’s bad that cosplayers wear costumes that show lots of skin, either if they’re male or female. Most cosplayers that show skin are being accurate to the character they are portraying; I have a lot of respect for the people that are comfort able enough with their body. The only time it could be seen as inappropriate is when people are just going for an allout ‘sexy’ version of a more covered character.

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Ryun - ‘Stark’ Cosplay <England>

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But still I would never judge someone badly just because they have put a twist on something. There is not any sexual nudity involved in this medium, so in my opinion it can all be arranged to be shown for all public.

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Dark Rinoa Cosplay <Italy>

People of one way or another have to use their intelligence and realize that some costumes are not meant to be at a convention, at the end there must also be respect for the other people that are in there! I’ve never made a costume that shows too much skin, maybe just a little bit sexy, and I think I’ll never made one in the future.

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’m not completely against costumes that show too much skin or are sexy. There are girls that made this kind of costumes because they love the character that they are portraying, but there are others that used them just to show off their body. I think that the last ones are completely wrong, because cosplay is not a runway show, is an opportunity to portray the characters that you like.

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Mike Valo <Spain>

here is so much controversy these days in regards to women choosing to cosplay riskier characters.

I feel that any cosplayer, male or female, should be able to pick their costume regardless of what others deem controversial or not. At the end of the day, it’s a personal interpretation of a character that isn’t always realistic and wouldn’t be worn on a daily basis. Cosplay should always be fun and if you are comfortable and confident in your costume, I say wear it!

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If it’s not harming anyone- why not? There’s a lot of accurate costumes that show a lot of skin, that t ake a lot of effort, time and dedication to make- and even if they’re not accurate, who are we to say that someone shouldn’t put their own spin on things if that’s what they want to do?

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Ladee Danger <USA> ’m a guy- so there’s going to be a bit of bias about this response- I can assure people I’m not saying this because I like scantily clad cosplayers, moreover I honestly believe we have no right to say what people do or do not cosplay based on personal beliefs.

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I don’t believe it’s bad to wear a costume that shows a lot of skin. However, I personally make an effort to be mindful of convention rules and then plan to wear costumes that are sensitive to the age and demographic group the convention caters to.

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Nathan DeLuca <Canada> 46 CQ MAGAZINE

Long as costumes are ok ay by convention rules- by all means, anyone that wants to put a costume they like on, they should have ever y right to and we shouldn’t have the right to tell them other wise. I believe people should wear what they want to.

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CQ MAGAZINE 47

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