Cosplay, the subculture of anime and manga, which started in Japan, now has a passionate fan following all over the world. This eccentric subculture has created buzz not just among children but has also garnered interest from the young and the adults. Over the years, anime such as Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, and Pokemon among others have surfaced to the mainstream pop culture across various countries and Nepal hasn’t been far behind in following the suit. 

Otaku Next—the first anime, manga/comics, cosplay community in the country—has been organising cosplay events, where the cosplayers wear preferably handmade costumes and fashion accessories to represent certain anime or Marvel/DC characters, in the Capital, since 2015. The community is now slated to organise the third iteration of its annual comic and cosplay convention this weekend. 

Otaku Next Comic and Cosplay Convention 2017 will see a host of competitions and activities such as cosplay costume competition, Fifa tournament, VR experience, fan art competition, and Gunpla among others. 

Otaku Next, which has also been able to establish itself as the pioneering manga comic publishers in the country, is the brainchild of three zealous fans—Kavin Shah, Shalini Rana and Krishant Rana. The community was formed in 2014 out of pure fascination with the subculture. Kavin Shah, who has lived abroad and attended many cosplay events there, says, “I wanted to start my own little community that promotes manga and anime in Nepal.” He adds, “Turns out, I had underestimated the size of the fan following here in every possible way.” It was only when the community organised its first small scale event that they realised that anime lovers in Nepal are huge in number. 

Speaking to the Post about last year’s show, Shah says, “Last year was phenomenal, not just for our team but for the entire cosplay fans, as the venue was filled with more than 3,000 participants. This year too, we expect the same level of enthusiasm if not more.” 

Along with various competitions and activities, the convention will see various stalls such as Anthropose and Bhok Lagyo among others. The convention will also host musical performances by artists such as Nattu Shah, Swoopna Suman and Anuj Pradhan from The Arbitrary Group.  

The comic and cosplay convention is slated to kick off at 10 am on Saturday, at Heritage Garden, Sanepa.