Article by Uddipana Chowdhury, The North-Eastern Chronicle
Visual by: Kunal Kaustav Duwarah
“Anime” is a term that people rarely know about in INDIA. Which often makes them confused between these two words-
First “ANIME” and second “CARTOON”. Although, these are two different terms but are always considered the same. For most of the Indian parents, it was all a cartoon, while the concepts the shows were based on, were not for “only kids”.And this is the reason why most children couldn’t understand what was happening on the TV.
Is there any weebs in India?
The answer is yes, and after the pandemic, more people have started watching anime out of boredom. Back when the websites like KissAnime, Kisscartoon, Gogoanime used to air anime, most people ignored it by calling it cartoon and currently Anime is as popular as k-pop in India.
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This is a huge success to the otakus of India whose dream has always been to make people realise how one can get life lessons from characters who don’t exist in the real world but affect directly reality. This is the influence of Anime that holds the capability to change the entire world. But in India, it was still not a popular topic to be published in a newspaper or discussed in a talk show until corona came into existence and people were forced to try new things because of lockdown.
Now the question is when did it actually start?
It all started with the introduction of Kiteretsu, Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, Doraemon, Shinchan and a few other battle shounen animes that was available in the Indian Cartoon channels. When YouTube became a thing, Some Indian Anime Youtubers like Indian Otaku, Anime Mirchi, Pokeverse X, etc has hyped Anime in India to another level with all types of updates that includes Anime related news, reviews, spoilers, discussions and much more.
The language was never a barrier for the anime fans; subtitles have been a loyal companion to them. In fact, anime lovers try to retain as much Japanese flavour as possible. Pure weebs always go by the dictum,“Thou Shall Not Dub.” This also gave birth to a fresh conflict between the new Anime watchers and the old ones.
What do you think a cosplay is ?
July 9-10, 4th edition of annual Nagaland Anime Junkies Cosfest in Kohima
The Japanese term kosupure, known as Cosplay in English is a form of art where a participant dresses in costumes and make-up, representing characters from anime, video games, television and film. And Nagaland from the Northeast celebrates one of the biggest cosplay festivals in the month of July at Kohima district.
Japan caravan in Radisson Blu Hotel, Guwahati,10th November 2019
Who is the Origami artists from Nagaland?
Wapangsang Aier, the 14-year old is a self-taught Origami artist from Mopungchuket village, Mokokchung who was introduced to the Japan Foundation and the Origami Oritai India club at the Japan Caravan in 2019.
Weebcon in Guwahati –
WeebCon in Keiko ultra lounge was another successful event in Guwahati for anime and manga fans. The Cosplay Competition saw a lot of enthusiastic participants which was a proud moment for each weeb who once dreamt of having their own 2D world where no people would judge them for overdressing and putting on makeup.
Weebs also showed up with their handmade earrings and sketches of anime characters. The exhibition was full of creativity. Even the servants of the restaurant wore maid outfits to entertain the crowd. After two successful WEEBCONS, it is so obvious that the anime fans will wait for another such event to take place in the city.
Last year was hard and you’ve tried every other stay-at-home fad, such as making reels, whisking up Dalgona coffee and even workouts to quell your boredom. But did you ever think about watching anime?
Alright, here are some Anime series/movies you can start your weeb journey with –
- Tokyo ghoul
- Kimi no na wa
- Noragami
- March comes in like a lion
- Kimi ni todoke
- Black clover
- Fairy tail
- Horimiya
- Angel Beats!
- Guilty crown
