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Philippine competitive cosplay just got a huge boost and much needed support as GICOF held its Philippine qualifier through TORCH Reborn at Anime and Cosplay Expo 2019. Through a very intense tournament, GICOF got to name the Philippine Representatives for the Gyeonggi International Cosplay Festival this August.
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GICOF is the official event partner of ACX, and it is one of the biggest international cosplay competitions in the world where cosplayers from Korea and abroad compete for huge prizes. It has become a huge event hosted alongside the Bucheon International Comics Festival. And this year, TORCH Reborn was the stage where the Philippine Representatives to the Gicof Final in Bucheon, South Korea was to be selected.
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Serving as judges for the qualifier were Marko Villaluz , former TORCH Champion, coach, and event manager; Gicof Korea organizer and Cosis Director, Kong; and international cosplayer, COS CORP Director, as well as Gicof Philippines Manager and Ambassador, Liui Aquino.
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In TORCH Reborn, pairs of contestants will be performing on stage in their cosplays within three minutes. Any form of on-stage assistant is not allowed. The criteria included Performance 40%, Craftsmanship 40%, and Audience Impact 20%.
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Four teams battled it out in full, detailed and exciting performances that showcased the talents and skills of our local cosplayers.
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After careful and difficult deliberation by the panel of judges, the GICOF Philippines Runner Up was Team INA NEO, and the winning team of TORCH Reborn 2019 was Z Warriors. They will be flying to South Korea to compete against other participating countries as the Philippine representative. They will stay in South Korea for 8 days, with free round trip tickets and hotel accommodation for the duration of the Gyeonggi International Cosplay Championship hosted alongside the Bucheon International Comics Festival. Let us all wish them the best of luck.
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