You can't have a Comic Con without cosplay, and this year's edition of the Bengaluru Comic Con saw its share of cosplayers bring their favourite characters to life. Disney princesses and villains, comic book heroes and their nemeses, The Justice League and even Captain-class deathgods turned up to liven up the event and leave fans in awe. In between marvelling at all the costumes being shown off, we managed to sneak in a few words with some of the cosplayers.
Tripa as Juuzou Suzuya ( Tokyo Ghoul anime)
A makeup artist by profession, Tripa decided to take up the cosplay challenge by playing a genderbent (where a person cosplays a character from the opposite gender) Juuzou Suzuya, complete with scythe and stitches. "It took some time putting the costume together, and I had to work for about three days," she says, adding that the scythe was also her own creation.
Rohit Kailashiya as Scizor ( Pokemon )
For Rohit, this year's Comic Con was about evolution. Having attended last year as the Pokemon Scyther, he decided to return as a gijinka (humanoid) version of its evolved form Scizor this year. "Putting the costume together was a five-month journey. After weeks of research I came up with an original design that I wanted to turn into an actual 3D costume. I started saving up money and making costumes for others. The painting and electronics took a full month."
Avika Sipani as Princess Rapunzel
All of five years old, Avika Sipani was all grace and poise as Princess Rapunzel, quickly becoming centre of attention of Con-goers and even other cosplayers. "She has attended Comic Con before, and this is our third time at the event, but this is her first time dressing up," says her father, Abhishek. "She's always been into fairy tales and comics, and since she just grew into the Princess dress my brother had procured for her from abroad, we felt it would be a good time to provide her the experience of dressing up and attending the event," he adds.
Rahul Karan Diwakar as Kurotsuchi Mayuri ( Bleach anime)
The eccentric Captain of the 12th Squad of Soul Society's Gotei 13 was also present at Comic Con, accompanied by a few other Captains and the lovable badass Espada Nel. " Bleach is one of the 'Big Three' anime along with Naruto and One Piece , and it is coming to an end, so our Bleach group cosplay was a way of paying tribute to the show," says Rahul. Often seen with elaborate facial makeup and headgear, Mayuri is one of the harder characters to play, but Rahul went with him anyway, "He is quirky and intriguing, and has some really cool outfits, so it is fun to cosplay as him. Getting the costume stitched and getting props took time, but preparation on event day was tough, as makeup takes hours."
