Mumbai Comic Con brings the final part of Anime and Cosplay craze to India

It was an exhilarating weekend for anime geeks as Mumbai Comic Con brought the final part of the anime and cosplay craze to India. While Comic Con has been taking place in the country since 2011, the event has finally expanded into an experience that can compete with ones in the West.

Anime has been popular in India for quite some time now. However, it seems like the industry has finally laid out a strong foundation across the country in the last two years. A major credit for this goes to Crunchyroll India, which has been actively trying to expand its market in India.

This is very evident from the increase in anime broadcasts, early screenings, movie releases, merchandise distribution, regional language dubbing, and advertisement campaigns. Additionally, one mustn't forget that Indian actress and Crunchyroll Ambassador Rashmika Mandanna presented an anime award at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards in Tokyo, Japan.

With the events that took place at Mumbai Comic Con, one can say with certainty that the anime and cosplay craze will only increase in the next few years.

Crunchyroll brings the world of anime to the next level in India at Mumbai Comic Con

Natsuki Hanae and Yuma Takahashi at Mumbai Comic Con (Image via Crunchyroll)

Just like last year, the world of anime had a major representation at Mumbai Comic Con. However, this time, the hype for the same surged to new heights as Crunchyroll India took a historical step to promote anime in India.

In association with Aniplex, Crunchyroll brought Demon Slayer voice actor Natsuki Hanae and the anime's Aniplex producer Yuma Takahashi to India as part of the Demon Slayer World Tour. This saw the two guests grace the main stage at Mumbai Comic Con as well for a meet and greet.

Natsuki Hanae at Mumbai Comic Con (Image via Sportskeeda)

Both Natsuki Hanae and Yuma Takahashi were overwhelmed by the support shown by anime fans in India. Hanae shared that he had yet to travel much within the country, but he was already starting to love Mumbai. He even shared how he tried and loved Indian food. He further connected with fans, joking that they can expect to see the Hashiras dancing to the "Naatu Naatu" song from the Indian movie RRR.

As for Yuma Takahashi, he was proud of being part of the historic day for anime in India. This is because Natsuki Hanae was the first Japanese anime voice actor to appear as part of an event in India. He further promoted the anime, hoping to bring more voice actors from Demon Slayer anime to India in the future.

Yuma Takahashi and Natsuki Hanae at Mumbai Comic Con (Image via Sportskeeda)

The audience loved this experience. However, that wasn't all, as Crunchyroll also conducted several contests to allow fans to interact and compete with each other, testing their knowledge about anime and winning exciting goodies. This was followed by performances by DJ Kazu on both days. He had anime fans grooving to the most popular anime songs at Crunchyroll's experience booth.

This was further backed up by Muse India, which conducted giveaways and quizzes, allowing fans to win some promotional anime merchandise from series like Demon Slayer, Dandadan, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.

Mobile Suit Gundam displayed at Mumbai Comic Con (Image via Sportskeeda)

Even Bandai Namco had a major impact on bringing anime experiences to fans, as they allowed fans to build Mobile Suit Gundams and test their luck with Gashapon. The Gashanon allowed fans to win merchandise from anime like Blue Lock, Oshi no Ko, Undead Unluck, One Piece, and others.

Additionally, the number of stores selling anime merchandise was simply off the charts this year. Unlike the previous years, when anime clothing took center stage when it came to merchandise, this year one could notice an increase in figurine stores. Lastly, the number of cosplayers who cosplayed as anime characters was huge. One could see fans portraying their favorite characters from One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, Bleach, Chainsaw Man, and much more.

What else happened at Mumbai Comic Con?

Suppandi Animated series announcement at Mumbai Comic Con (Image via Sportskeeda)

Several key events took place at the Mumbai Comic Con. This included special sessions with cartoonist and animator Guy Delisle and artist Jason Loo. Both individual sessions allowed fans to glimpse their brilliant minds as they shared their experiences from the past and what they wished to achieve in the future.

Other than those, fans also witnessed several comic book launches from Abhijeet Kini, Vimanika Comics, Indusverse, Corporat, and others. Even Tinkle had several major announcements.

As part of Suppandi's Special Birthday Announcement, Tinkle announced an animated series for Suppandi by Zebu Animation. They further hinted at an animated series for Wingstar in the future. In addition, the company also announced a graphic novel for Minnal Murali in collaboration with Indian actor Rana Daggubati’s Spirit Media.

Art Guy Rob at Mumbai Comic Con (Image via Sportskeeda)

Fans also got a huge blast from the past as Art Guy Rob graced the stage at Mumbai Comic Con. While the artist is currently making waves on social media, he is most popularly known for his show M.A.D. (Music, Art, and Dance). Seemingly, fans loved interacting with him, as some thanked him for inspiring them to pursue art, while others asked him for advice and pictures. One fan even presented him with a gift as a token of thanks.

In addition, there were also performances by Geek Fruit and MC Altaf, which saw fans grooving to their music. Lastly, the event was signed off for both days with the Indian Championship of Cosplay—Mumbai Qualifier. The contest qualifiers saw fans witness cosplayers don the costumes of their favorite characters from the world of fiction. Fans can hope for a lot more cool events to take place at next year's event.