After the introduction to the show and the characters last week at Wizard Con, this week the focus of the show changes to Emerald City Comic Con. After the first week of the show I had some preconceived notions about this show, but after this week I can see that this show actually has a bit more depth than I thought that it would. This episode included the introduction of three new cast members - Riki, Monika and Chloe. In a sense it is an reintroduction ti the world of cosplay for all of them. Chloe is more of a reporter, Riki has visited a special effects artist to figure out how to take cosplay to a new level, and Monika is being influenced by a colleague to go for more sex appeal.

Most of the show focuses on the latter, with the industry veterans such as Riki and Yaya Han trying to influence the younger cosplayer to more meaning to the pursuits. It is evocative of a lot of questions which are pertinent to women in the industry as a whole, such as whether to sell out with sexiness or to go with a character and look that is more in line with what a character might actually look realistically look like. There is a somewhat staged meeting between the older characters and Chloe where this is talked about in greater detail. As a side story and one which highlights the questions about Monika's character, Chloe wonders whether cosplay is not just for fun, or if there is something more (with the question of whether a 300 pound man should go as Superman?) I thought in terms of the amount of gravity that this show had, that I was not expecting as much actual conversation about the industry. As the show bills itself beside the purely competition based Face Off, I was expecting a lot more of direct competition, so I was happy to see some discussion here in terms of bigger issues.