CHENNAI: The trill of a koto, a Japanese veena, fills the air. The dancers on stage snap open their hand fans and sway along with the music gently. Their mellow performance in the night is starkly different from the power-packed show in the evening, where they donned brightly coloured costumes from videogames and anime.
For the Bengaluru-based cosplay dance group Kyarakuta, songs from well-known animes and other Japanese music is a way to express their passion and love for dance.
“In Tokyo, cosplayers wear costumes and walk about the streets. They would dance, too. I realised that there was no such dance group in India. So, I decided to form this band, which means ‘Character’ in Japanese,” said Sultan Mohammed Adnaan. Interestingly, Adnaan is the only otaku (Japan pop-culture fan) of the four members.
“He’s the only anime fan of us. We are doing it for the passion of dance. It’s challenging because we need to know what the song means before we can choreograph for it, but it’s also very rewarding,” said Reddy Pravalika.
Their costumes are made by Adnaan, and the group has performed at the Manga Cosplay Walk held earlier this year in Bengaluru, as well as at the Japanese Consulate in Bengaluru. The group hopes to be able to represent India in Japan in the future.