Defiantly inventive and rooted in vivid imagery, Japan’s traditional handdrawn animation is all the rage in Bengaluru, reigning cosplays and merchandise stores to pop culture.
One of the fondest childhood memories of Melvin Mathew, a city-based journalist and
anime
enthusiast, is watching Pokémon on Animax India channel. “I would then draw the characters in my notebook”, he says.
This was, of course, in the heydays of one of the most enduring anime shows globally, before the art form itself became a cultural phenomenon.
A lot has changed since then. Popularly known for its vibrant style and captivating stories, anime has found a strong fanbase in Bengaluru, after years of being in the shadows of fringe subculture. The credit, in part, goes to the ease of internet access and more significantly, streaming platforms abound with a massive catalogue of
Japanese
titles and live-action adaptations of graphic lores, or manga. What was once considered a ‘kids’ genre’ has now found itself creeping into the mainstream, with many finding comfort in the folklore fantasyland, and others in the minutiae of everyday life, captured in striking visuals.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
The premiere of Jungle Book Shonen Mowgli in 1993 on Doordarshan marked the introduction to anime for many, although dubbed versions of popular shows like Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z had a more significant influence, spanning years. As the internet started taking over cable television, an array of shows and movies were made available to
fans
here, and with that were born several fandoms and communities for Bengalureans to connect with fellow anime enthusiasts and discover new titles. The Bangalore Anime Club is one of them. Starting off as an Orkut page in 2006 and currently active on channels like WhatsApp, Telegram and Discord, it serves as a platform for anime fans to converse and organise meetups like Reikai and Anime Movie Screenings.
Bengaluru’s cosmopolitan nature has further influenced the growth of the anime culture, according to Jayanth S, a member of Anime Adda, a community in Bengaluru. “Thanks to a large influx of people from all over the country, this culture in the city has really taken off,” he says.
A CULTURAL EXPERIENCE
The audience and community of Anime Adda is not limited to Bengaluru, but is spread across all of Karnataka, says Jayanth. “When it comes to anime, I think Kannadigas are yet to catch up, compared to other states. We hope to change that,” he says. The community has in the past hosted a contest for people to make anime edits using only Kannada songs. “This promotes the culture, while also giving importance to our own,” he adds.
Japan Habba is a volunteer-run non-profit cultural exchange program, with active endorsem*nt by the Japanese Consulate in Bengaluru, The Japan Foundation, Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) and others, to showcase the eastern culture in the city. The first segment is the flagship event, with performances by people from all walks of life who are interested in Japanese culture. Traditionally, Indians perform in Japanese, and the Japanese perform in Indian languages.
The other two segments consist of stalls selling licensed Japanese merchandise, as well as miscellaneous events like karaoke,
cosplay
, workshops, contests etc.
“There are also a lot of fan-made artworks, and we make sure that none of it is mass-produced,” says Nivi Pal, a member of Japan Habba. It aims to help artistes showcase their art as easily as possible, without the high costs associated with most large-scale events. “We are very conscious about this being a grassrootslevel, community-based event,” she adds. The city has also hosted several arts festivals like Atsumaru Euphoria and ANIGMA in recent times, giving people a platform to engage with fellow anime fans while also indulging in Japanese culture.
MERCH & COSPLAY
One trip to Church Street or Commercial, and the anime influence is more than obvious. Merchandise like T-Shirts, costumes and posters support the culture greatly. And based on business trends, many shops that used to specialise in superhero merchandise from Marvel and DC Comics have now shifted their focus to anime. “As the market is changing, we’re also going with public opinion, what they like and don’t like. I think many are slowly turning into anime fans,” says Anirudh Limbu, who works at The Entertainment Store, Church Street.
Fans can browse through rows of meticulously crafted figurines, each capturing the essence of their favourite characters with remarkable detail. Many merchandise stores also offer a diverse selection of apparel, including T-shirts, hoodies, and accessories adorned with iconic anime artworks.
In the off chance that the merchandise they are looking for is not available in the country, many sellers provide the option of customisation. “With our in-house printing unit, we’re able to provide the customers what they want,” says Zuri Sait, owner of LaBamba Fashions.
The customisation often comes in handy for cosplay, an integral part of the anime community in Bengaluru, where cosplayers devote a considerable amount of time and effort to craft their outfits, recreating the iconic looks from their favourite anime, manga orvideogame.
“There’s this whole process, getting into the character and putting on the makeup and wig, it’s very fascinating — a lot of people flock to take pictures, even the ones that are not really into anime or cosplay,” says Samannay Majumder, a cosplayer in Bengaluru. “But there is this happiness on the cosplayer’s face when they see their favourite character come to life, it’s another aspect of cosplay that interests me,” he says, adding when cosplayers build the costume from a scratch, it has much more of an emotional impact on the wearer. Praveen Kumar, a creative artist, prop maker and cosplayer, builds his costumes from a scratch, specialising in VFX, weaving lighting effects and animatronics into his costumes.
“I start with a lot of reference pictures, observing screenplays of the character,” says Kumar, adding that the frame of the costume must withhold the movement of the cosplayer as well. “If we are going to add effects, we need to also understand lighting and power consumption, if you have a lot of lights running around. “There’s a wide spectrum of things that we need to learn, depending on what kind of cosplay we choose,” he says.
