<p>Cosplayers in the city are prepping for the Bengaluru Comic Con, which kicks off on January 18. They spoke to Metrolife about the city’s cosplaying scene, the characters they will be dressing as and what makes them relatable.</p>.<p>Rahul Karan Diwakar, a marketing and strategy professional with a media firm, will be playing Mayuri Kurotsuchi from the anime series ‘Bleach’. He has portrayed different versions of the character in 2014 and 2016 and will be portraying another version of the character this year. A founding member of Bangalore Anime Club (BAC), Diwakar connects with the character as both love research. “Pop culture icons like Superman, Batman, Marvel characters, and even Harry Potter are favoured by those who are above 40. In Bengaluru, anime and gaming characters are trending,” he notes.</p>.<p><strong>Relatable character traits</strong></p>.<p>Electronics City resident Pravinkumar Ilangovan will be cosplaying Magma Almudron from the ‘Monster Hunter’ game, and is competing at the Indian Cosplay Championship, which is a part of Comic Con. “My costume took me around six months to create. I always choose characters that have hunting skills and use different weapons. Magma Almudron hunts big monsters,” explains the software architect. </p>.Affordable artworks at four-day show.<p>He adds: “Cosplay brings together arts — from fabrication to problem solving. It boosts my creativity.”</p>.<p>Christina David, who lives in Kalyan Nagar, will be dressing up as Furina de Fontaine from the game ‘Genshin Impact’ on Day 1 and as Tecna from the cartoon ‘Winx Club’ on Day 2 (for a group cosplay event with other BAC members). “Furina is a leader and she selflessly sacrifices herself to free the people in her land,” she says. Christina likes portraying “strong female characters who break stereotypes”.</p>.<p>Cosplaying for three years, Prerana Bagrecha will be portraying Ochako Uraraka aka Uravity from the anime ‘My Hero Academia’. “Uraraka and I have common personality traits along with the love for the pink crime fighting suit (which she wears),” adds the Rajajinagar resident. She took a day to create her suit and two weeks to make the props. </p>.<p>Kevin Bobby, a data engineer, will be playing Wriothesley (from ‘Genshin Impact’), who is a prison administrator. “The character has about 90% black hair, like me. This will make it easy for me,” he says. Talking about their similarities he says: “We both love tea, and believe in second chances.” </p>.<p>Prisha Srinivasan whose cosplay name is Cosplola, has been cosplaying for a little over a year. She will be playing Navia from the video game ‘Genshin Impact’. “The character is cheerful but struggles to fit into society, which I can relate to,” she says. The 22-year-old started working on her costume in March 2024. </p>.<p>She attended around 15 cosplaying events (in Bengaluru and Mumbai) last year.</p>.<p><strong>Bengaluru: cosplay haven</strong> </p>.<p>Arvind R Menon whose cosplay name is Cosdemon, will be playing the character Okarun this year. “I love to portray gritty and out-of-the-box characters. I cosplayed it for Japan Habba last weekend, and will be going as the same character this weekend too,” says the Chennai resident, who visits Bengaluru often for such events. </p>.<p>Prisha says the city has seen an increase in the number of people making their own costumes. “Purchasing these costumes isn’t easy in India. There are groups for sharing ideas and props, and for helping each other out with construction of the costumes,” she adds. </p>.<p>Ilangovan vouches that the cosplay scene is peaking. “We now have a lot more anime cosplayers,” he says. </p>.<p>Christina, who has been cosplaying since 2014, says it was a “fairly new concept” in Bengaluru then, but has picked up now. “There is easy access to tutorials and raw materials now. Workshops are also conducted at such cosplaying events and gatherings,” says the 29-year-old. </p>.<p><strong>Comic Con: Looking back</strong></p>.<p>Comic Con began in San Diego, California, US, in 1970, where a group of 300 comics, movie, and science fiction fans gathered. Comic Con India started in 2011, and its first edition was held in Delhi. </p>.<p>This year’s Bengaluru edition will be held at KTPO, Whitefield, on January 18 and 19, 11 am to 7 pm. The pop-culture event will host panel discussions, merchandise stalls, cosplay competitions and more. Tickets available online.</p>
<p>Cosplayers in the city are prepping for the Bengaluru Comic Con, which kicks off on January 18. They spoke to Metrolife about the city’s cosplaying scene, the characters they will be dressing as and what makes them relatable.</p>.<p>Rahul Karan Diwakar, a marketing and strategy professional with a media firm, will be playing Mayuri Kurotsuchi from the anime series ‘Bleach’. He has portrayed different versions of the character in 2014 and 2016 and will be portraying another version of the character this year. A founding member of Bangalore Anime Club (BAC), Diwakar connects with the character as both love research. “Pop culture icons like Superman, Batman, Marvel characters, and even Harry Potter are favoured by those who are above 40. In Bengaluru, anime and gaming characters are trending,” he notes.</p>.<p><strong>Relatable character traits</strong></p>.<p>Electronics City resident Pravinkumar Ilangovan will be cosplaying Magma Almudron from the ‘Monster Hunter’ game, and is competing at the Indian Cosplay Championship, which is a part of Comic Con. “My costume took me around six months to create. I always choose characters that have hunting skills and use different weapons. Magma Almudron hunts big monsters,” explains the software architect. </p>.Affordable artworks at four-day show.<p>He adds: “Cosplay brings together arts — from fabrication to problem solving. It boosts my creativity.”</p>.<p>Christina David, who lives in Kalyan Nagar, will be dressing up as Furina de Fontaine from the game ‘Genshin Impact’ on Day 1 and as Tecna from the cartoon ‘Winx Club’ on Day 2 (for a group cosplay event with other BAC members). “Furina is a leader and she selflessly sacrifices herself to free the people in her land,” she says. Christina likes portraying “strong female characters who break stereotypes”.</p>.<p>Cosplaying for three years, Prerana Bagrecha will be portraying Ochako Uraraka aka Uravity from the anime ‘My Hero Academia’. “Uraraka and I have common personality traits along with the love for the pink crime fighting suit (which she wears),” adds the Rajajinagar resident. She took a day to create her suit and two weeks to make the props. </p>.<p>Kevin Bobby, a data engineer, will be playing Wriothesley (from ‘Genshin Impact’), who is a prison administrator. “The character has about 90% black hair, like me. This will make it easy for me,” he says. Talking about their similarities he says: “We both love tea, and believe in second chances.” </p>.<p>Prisha Srinivasan whose cosplay name is Cosplola, has been cosplaying for a little over a year. She will be playing Navia from the video game ‘Genshin Impact’. “The character is cheerful but struggles to fit into society, which I can relate to,” she says. The 22-year-old started working on her costume in March 2024. </p>.<p>She attended around 15 cosplaying events (in Bengaluru and Mumbai) last year.</p>.<p><strong>Bengaluru: cosplay haven</strong> </p>.<p>Arvind R Menon whose cosplay name is Cosdemon, will be playing the character Okarun this year. “I love to portray gritty and out-of-the-box characters. I cosplayed it for Japan Habba last weekend, and will be going as the same character this weekend too,” says the Chennai resident, who visits Bengaluru often for such events. </p>.<p>Prisha says the city has seen an increase in the number of people making their own costumes. “Purchasing these costumes isn’t easy in India. There are groups for sharing ideas and props, and for helping each other out with construction of the costumes,” she adds. </p>.<p>Ilangovan vouches that the cosplay scene is peaking. “We now have a lot more anime cosplayers,” he says. </p>.<p>Christina, who has been cosplaying since 2014, says it was a “fairly new concept” in Bengaluru then, but has picked up now. “There is easy access to tutorials and raw materials now. Workshops are also conducted at such cosplaying events and gatherings,” says the 29-year-old. </p>.<p><strong>Comic Con: Looking back</strong></p>.<p>Comic Con began in San Diego, California, US, in 1970, where a group of 300 comics, movie, and science fiction fans gathered. Comic Con India started in 2011, and its first edition was held in Delhi. </p>.<p>This year’s Bengaluru edition will be held at KTPO, Whitefield, on January 18 and 19, 11 am to 7 pm. The pop-culture event will host panel discussions, merchandise stalls, cosplay competitions and more. Tickets available online.</p>