Malappuram resident Aadil Muhammed, travelled eight hours to attend a meet-up for anime enthusiasts in Thiruvananthapuram. He was among 35 fans of anime who participated in the gathering held at Eve’s Coffee in May.
The popularity of Japanese graphic novels, animated movies and series has escalated as multiple anime-themed events have popped up across Kerala.
“Anime has a lot of reality for me. I see real faces instead of animated characters; they have been sources of motivation and have taught me valuable lessons of life,” says 18-year-old Aadil, who works in an ad agency.
Having attended similar meet-ups in Kochi, he was invited to the one in the capital city by Sahil S, founder of Shinigami Studios and organiser of the event. The event in May received enormous traction with registrations exhausting the stipulated number in a matter of days.
Sahil recalls that it was in his high-school years that he began to watch a popular anime series on the persuasion of a friend.
Initially, however, anime was often dismissed as ‘cartoon for grown ups’. It was during the pandemic that the narrative took a different turn. “Public receptivity towards new forms of entertainment improved greatly during the pandemic. People discarded their preconceptions and started watching and appreciating anime. Now, it has gone as far as to spark conversations about politics and society,” he contends.
The enthusiasm for manga and anime has also been translated virtually as Malayalam anime social media pages and YouTube channels garner views on social media platforms. Exploring the possibilities of the virtual space is Studio Mocktale, a passion project by friends Sooraj Surendran, Surya Suresh and Arjun Jeevakumar Nair, which dubs Japanese anime scenes and trailers into Malayalam.
The team has already racked up a following with over 18,000 subscribers on YouTube and over 1,500 followers on Instagram from when they began in late 2020. “We started off by making funny dubs, and later decided to delve into dubbing anime into Malayalam when we noticed a surge in regional interest and the content being created on it,” says Surya. Having dubbed over 15 animes into Malayalam, their work on iconic series such as Attack on Titan, Chainsaw Man and animated movie, A Silent Voice has launched the group into the limelight.
“Operating online, we have received a lot of support and encouragement and the reason, I believe, is the accessibility which comes along with it,” adds Arjun.
Committed to the art, the dubbing artists strive to preserve the authenticity by recreating the tonality and enunciations of the original work.
The event in Thiruvananthapuram started with an ice-breaking session involving a quiz and screenings, followed by a session by a stand-up comic, interactive games and sale of merchandise.
The events are avenues for expression and exposure for local artists and performers, who are invited onboard to sell anime-themed work and hold insightful segments.
Sharing his sentiment, Arjun says: “We consider our user-base to be family; it has always been our goal to grow the anime community.”
As for the future, the investment in anime and manga is only expected to rise. “There’s a lot of potential for growth. The biggest testament would be the popularity of Japanese animated films in theatres; it has become difficult to find seats to these shows on weekends,” says the organiser from Kochi, who wishes to remain anonymous.
With efforts to conduct larger events, which can accommodate over triple the previous capacity, being already underway in Thiruvananthapuram; the rave about Japanese comics and animation within the state is all set to grow louder in the years to come.
