CHENNAI: Donning the traditional Saiyan armour, a dark blue suit and black hair that spikes upwards, the prince of Saiyan speaks, “My motivation was to be the best, as I always have been.” The quote by Vegeta, a fictional character from Dragon Ball Z, shows his courage and commitment not to give up.
This attitude drew SP Praveen Raj, an architect from Chennai, closer to the character and further into the world of anime. From childhood, he resorted to this world and eventually, he built a community that shared the same interest. Now, he is the founder of the Instagram page @anime_nadu which has come up with the country’s first anime newspaper, Anime Nadu.
“Anime is an escape from reality. The fictional characters not only keep us entertained but also teach us life lessons,” shares Praveen aka Pvnstarlet, founder of Anime Nadu.
What’s the news?
With the motto ‘For the WEEBS, By the WEEBS’, (Weeb refers to someone who is enamoured by Japanese culture, especially anime and manga) Anime Nadu, the newspaper has launched three editions already since July. “In the anime Psycho-Pass S1, Shoga Makishina says that the physical medium of content can have a different impact on people than the digital medium. We thought it would be apt to launch a newspaper dedicated to sharing the anime news around the world,” shares Pvnstarlet.
In 2014, when he joined with people to build a community of anime lovers, it was just a start. He created WhatsApp and Facebook groups and interacted with a lot of people gaining and sharing information about anime. Entering into content creation, Pvnstarlet was an active member of Otaku Nadu, an Instagram page sharing anime content, but stepped down due to personal reasons. With Anime Nadu, his vision was clear — to create a strong community and even launch events like Comic-Con in Chennai.
With information about the latest comics, merchandise, games, series and much more, the A3-sized 100 GSM colour newspaper is currently available as a monthly edition. While Pvnstarlet and his friend Harrish take care of content and editing, proofreading is done by Weebmachi. “Spread over 14 pages, Anime Nadu newspaper accommodates sections like anime, manga, live action, events happening in India, cosplayers’ interviews, artists’ profiles, Japanese learning, fun puzzles, and advertisement space. We also list out the birthdays of different anime characters of that month,” shares Praveen.
Currently, it is only a monthly edition funded by Praveen alone but the team hopes to expand it to a fortnightly newspaper and also get more advertisements and investments. After about eight editions, they also want to create another magazine that gives detailed interviews and profiles of anime artists, mangakas, cosplayers, filmmakers etc.
A Nadu of possibilities
Apart from the newspaper, Instagram page and merchandise store, Pvnstarlet hopes to conduct events almost every month for the growth of the community. “We have conducted movie screenings. We want to expand it further and do screenings for new movies by obtaining their legal rights and getting permission. We also want cosplay, art expos and Comic-Con events. There are also plans for conducting Anime Awards,” shares Pvnstarlet, adding that Anime-themed Maid cafes and concerts are also in the cards. Anime Nadu also hopes to collaborate with regional artistes who want to create comics in their languages. Stating the example of Nirvana, an original English-language Indian manga, Pvnstarlet hopes that more people will come forward to create comics. The team also has a merchandise store www.weebshop.in
Praveen is also the founder of the Instagram page @Meme Nadu, which is for series, movies and non-anime content. Sharing his future vision, Pvnstarlet says, “Nadu is the community group that I’m trying to develop. Like our state name Tamil Nadu, nadu is a place for community people. I am also planning to have K-drama Nadu, Music Nadu, Art Nadu, and Gamer Nadu for the people to express their love towards their specific interests.”
To order and subscribe to ‘Anime Nadu’, DM on Instagram pages @anime_nadu_x & @anime_nadu .For other details, contact: animenaduu@gmail.com, animenadunews@gmail.com
SUGGESTIONS FOR BEGINNERS
Anime: Code Geass, Death Note, Attack on Titan, Parasyte: The Maxim, Grave of the Fireflies, Your Name, Tokyo Ghoul, Highschool DxD, Bleach, Highschool of the Dead, Monster.
Manga: One Piece, Vagabond, Berserk, Kingdom, Hajime no Ippo, Junji Ito collections, 20th Century Boys.