Japan Habba 2023 Anime & Games Report
After two years of online-only events, Japan Habba returned to its original in-person format at the Indian Institute of Science. The wait seemed to be worth it, with the event witnessing an unprecedented footfall of over 8,000 visitors. In exciting news for otaku and pop culture enthusiasts, an entire hall (Satish Dhawan Auditorium) was set aside for anime/manga and video game events.
Anime Events
The anime/manga events kicked off with a seminar titled "The Greatest Artistic Movement in Anime". In this talk, the speaker sought to point out the many conflations and fallacies the manga and anime fandom tends to fall into when discussing genres, demographics, and styles, and then drew attention to the role of magazines in birthing and fostering art movements in manga. This led into the crux of the talk: moe, termed "the most influential art movement in anime and manga". Drawing on academic work by the likes of Patrick Galbraith and Eiji Ootsuka, the speaker defined the concept and touched on the misconceptions surrounding it as well as its overall influence on the mediums as well as their fandoms. Attendees expressed surprise at the revelations presented in this seminar, and overall reported having learned new things after listening to it.
The seminar was followed by the Central Anime/manga event of the day: Animathon, the open quiz. Questions came in from a diverse range of anime and manga, from popular shows like Fullmetal Alchemist, to niche cult favorites like Revue Starlight, to classics like The Rose of Versailles. The preliminary round of the quiz drew in over 100 teams of two, of which only 6 were left standing to make it into the finals. Rounds in the finals took on unique forms, such as a commemorative round dedicated to recent industry deaths, and a stamp-rally-esque round revolving around demographics. At the end, team "Cardcaptor Sakuga" took home the grand prize of 5000 INR. All finalists also received official Bocchi the Rock! keychains.
The anime/manga events were a great success. Not only did they provide the city's fandom with much entertainment and a space of belonging, they also demonstrated a degree of depth and diversity when it comes to appreciating the mediums. If this Japan Habba was anything to go by, the future of anime and manga in India looks bright.
Smash Bros. Ultimate
This was the first time that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was featured at Japan Habba. With a total of 102 entrants, including around 34 on-the-spot registrations, the competition was fierce right from the start.
The tournament was co-sponsored by the Indian LAN Gaming tournament series, and as a result the tournament attracted several participants who traveled from Nagpur, Hyderabad, Bhopal and Indore. The finals were intense, featuring DDIS and FLOR - two participants currently living in Bangalore. FLOR, who plays the character Min Min initially showed incredible resilience by resetting the bracket, setting the event for a thrilling conclusion. However, in an intensely close match, DDIS, who plays the character Snake, managed to secure a 2-1 victory in the Grand Finals, emerging as the very first Japan Habba Smash Bros. Ultimate Champion.
The Japan Habba Grand Finals captivated the online audience, and the excitement extended beyond the event itself. The Grand Finals reupload on the Smash Bros India YouTube channel had amassed over 178 views. The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament at Japan Habba 2023 left a lasting impression, to both those who attended and spectated online, and the community is looking forward to attending Japan Habba once again in the future.
GRAND FINALS VOD -
Japan Habba 2023 - GRAND FINALS - DDIS (Kazuya/Snake) vs FLOR (Min Min) Pokémon Go
The Pokémon GO Bengaluru (PoGoBlr) community was thrilled to bring the spirit of Pokémon, unquestionably one of the greatest franchises from Japan, to the event! Pokémon GO is an augmented reality (AR) game developed by Niantic, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company wherein the players (Trainers) can catch Pokémon in the real world. The mobile game uses GPS to locate, catch, train and battle Pokémon which appear in real-world locations. Moreover, the AR feature enables Trainers to click eye-catching pictures of Pokémon in the real world! The cosplayers at Japan Habba were thrilled to pose and click pictures with their favorite Pokémon from their childhood and the Pokémon that matched their beautifully-crafted costumes!
Pokémon GO Bengaluru focuses on building a close knit community of Trainers across Bengaluru to come together for raid battles, PvP tournaments, community days and a lot more. At Japan Habba, PoGoBlr organized some challenging events, such as Catch Mastery, Shiny Hunter, a PvP tournament to name a few, in which newcomers as well as veterans could participate and try to be the best like no one ever was. The cuteness of Pikachu plushies and the fierceness of hardcore Trainers at the venue took a lot of attendees down memory lane and motivated them to start their own Pokémon Go journey or return to their accounts to pick up from where they had left off. PoGoBlr hosts multiple meet-ups every month, a great platform for Trainers across Bengaluru to meet, trade and battle together to showcase their skills and show off their exotic collection of legendary and shiny Pokémon! PoGoBlr wishes to express their deep and sincere gratitude to the organizers and volunteers of Japan Habba 2023 for their support and encouragement. It was indeed an honor to be a part and contribute to the success of such a magnificent event!
