CHENNAI: The Bengaluru edition of Comic Con is inarguably one of the biggest pop culture events in the country. Thousands of artistes, propmasters, cosplayers, gamers, fanboys and fangirls from every fandom, thronged the city for the three-day event, held from November 17 to 19. However, the second day stole the show, according to cosplayer Rara. “Due to the cricket World Cup, which was happening simultaneously, there was a lesser crowd this year. However, Saturday saw a number of great cosplayer turnouts. I thoroughly enjoyed witnessing the cosplay competition. The space and crowd management were way better this year. Overall, it was a great experience and I cannot wait to attend it next year,” says Rara.
Comic Cons are pulse points to get a sense of what popular culture dominates the global consciousness around that time. For example, the 2018 Bengaluru Comic Con had a higher presence of Marvel and DC-related content, considering how both the comic book giants had big releases lined up that year. There was Infinity War and Black Panther from Marvel while DC had the first Aquaman film with the promise of a whole new cinematic universe on the horizon (Oh, to be young, stupid, and full of hope). Five years later, the caped heroes prevailed but there was a new dominant force in town: Anime. While anime and manga-related content have always been a huge part of Comic Cons all over the world, this edition was swept away by the sheer magnitude of anime this year.
At the venue, everywhere you turned, your field of vision was dominated by cosplayers or merchandise representing either One Piece, Naruto, Jujutsu Kaisen or Demon Slayer. The most popular cosplaying choices were the Straw Hat pirate crew (One Piece), Team 7, Akatsuki (Naruto), and Nanami (Jujustsu Kaisen). While there were some professional cosplayers who looked like they leapt straight out of the anime, we could also hear wholesome stories of how regular fans poured weeks (some even months) of labour to craft homemade cosplay suits.
Raghul is well known among the Indian cosplaying community for making cosplay suits and props. While he agrees that the turnout was lesser, he says that the quality of cosplays had gone up. “You could see a lot of effort and thought process that went into the cosplays this year. Interestingly, we could spot a lot of quality cosplay from the gaming community this year. Even the ones who won the cosplay competition were gaming cosplays,” he says.
Musician Dikshith R reflects on the evolution of the Comic Con scene in India over the years. “I attended my first Comic Con in Mumbai in 2013. Back then the entry was free and I was delighted to know that there were a lot of people with similar interests in our country. I’ve been attending Comic Con every year since. I cosplayed as Garp from One Piece in Bangalore this year.” Talking about the difference between this year’s Comic Con and the previous ones, he says, “I was happy to see a lot of anime-related content this year. Last year, we saw a lot of Star Wars-related cosplays. They were present this year as well, but One Piece absolutely dominated the event, and as a fan, I’m happy about it.”
Stories have the immaculate power to make you connect with anyone from across the world. Myths of old have taught us the way of life through the extraordinary tales of heroes. And if imitation is a form of celebration, then maybe dressing up as your favourite character is an ode to not just a fictional
character but everything it stands for, both on a psychological, philosophical, and personal level.