Hello everyone, we are starting a new series on Otaku Mantra called The Cosplayers of India, where we interview some of India’s most talented, creative, and amazing cosplayers. Today, we have a special guest, who won the Indian championship of cosplay 2024 in the armor category at the Hyderabad Comic Con on his first try. Meet Rahul, who did Varu Cosplay from Monster Hunter. Let’s get to know him better and learn how he pulled off this amazing feat.
Cosplayers of India Issue #1:
Q: Hello Rahul welcome to the interview, First and foremost Congratulations on winning the Championship. So what was your emotion when you won the championship in the armour category?
A: Hi, thank you for having me. I felt delighted and overjoyed to win the cosplay championship in the armour category, this was my first time doing cosplay in this category so winning the championship for me was like a dream come true, the experience and the support I received from everyone, and I am thankful for that to everyone
Q: So Rahul tell us more about your cosplay and how you chose Varu as the character to cosplay.
A: I am a person who loves taking on complicated and complex challenges and when I first saw the Varu armour from Hunter Hunter, I was instantly attracted to it, it felt like the devil himself had come alive with the intimidating yet mesmerizing design of the armour with numerous spikes and scale covering it had me in the first look, I knew that this was the perfect match for as it was a challenging yet rewarding choice for me.
Q: wow that’s amazing moving towards the next question I bet our readers would love to know the amazing process behind building such a beautiful armour.
A: Building the armour was quite difficult for me as I was a beginner however after doing some research and getting help from my friends I started working on my armour, I used EVA foam as the main material for the armour. I created spikes and scales with the help of foam as It is light, easy to cut and flexible to shape.
As for joining all the different parts of my armour, I used contact cement, magnets and velcro.
For the colouring of the armour, I used acrylic paint to give the scaly natural spikes to the armour.
Q: What challenges did you face while getting your armour ready?
A: As for challenge my main Foe was time, I am a software developer so I didn’t have much time left on the weekdays to work on my armour, I am always busy with club(Hyderabad Anime Club) activities movie meetups and nurturing my hobbies during the weekend, so I had to work on my cosplay whenever I got some free time either waking up early or being awake till night.
The second challenge I faced was being inexperienced, as I mentioned previously this was the first time I was doing an armour cosplay so I had to learn everything from scratch and for this, I watched tutorials, read blogs, got some advice and experimented with various materials and techniques, and in the I did make a lot of mistakes and had to redo some parts several time, this sometimes made me feel like giving up but I overcame the challenge with my will power.
Q: That’s amazing you overcame all the difficulties so how did you pack the armour and take it to the Comic-Con venue?
A: So on the day of Comic-Con I was feeling both excited and nervous for numerous reasons but I just got up packed my armour in 3 boxes and reached the venue on time.
Q: As you said this was your first time doing this, so how was your overall experience?
A: It was my first time attending the event and I didn’t know much, but I had a wonderful time at the comic con, after reaching the venue it was easy for me as the volunteers were friendly and helped me a lot, they guided me to the changing room where they helped me to put on the armour as the armour was dense and heavy and I had to make sure that I didn’t damage them in the process of putting them on
Q: What was the crowd’s reaction when they first saw the cosplay?
A: As I left the changing room and moved out into the main hall I found myself surrounded by a bunch of people, their astonished expressions were telling me that I did a great job on the armour and the crowd started asking me for photos so I tried my best to act similar to the character and took photos with everyone. The compliments and praises from everyone made me feel confident and self-assured.
During the event, I also saw other people who cosplayed characters from various games and anime and I also made some new friends from the event.
Q: What was the most memorable moment at the Comic-Con for you?
A: The most memorable moment was when I won the cosplay championship in the armour category. I received a gift hamper from the judges and thanked the organizers, the judges, the volunteers, and the audience for their support. It was a dream come true for me.
Q: After completing such a successful cosplay have you decided on the next cosplay yet?
A:
For now, I haven’t decided on any particular cosplay that I would like to do but I do have some ideas I would like to do in the future. However, as for my preference, I want to cosplay similar characters like Varu but increase the complexity and difficulty with every cosplay, for which I am considering one of the cosplays from my favourite anime Digimon.
Q: Thank you for your time, Rahul. It was a pleasure to talk to you and learn more about your cosplaying journey. Do you have any final words for our readers?
A: Thank you Team Otaku Mantra for giving me this opportunity to showcase my journey here, to the audience I hope you enjoyed my first armour cosplay armour journey and I hope to see you again at the next Comic Con, remember cosplay is not just a hobby, it’s a way of life.
Special thanks to my friends, anime club members , admins, comic con and anime club volunteers along with the old cosplayers of Hyderabad who were always there for me throughout the journey and supported me till the end
–Rahul
