Do you remember dressing up as a pizza or ice cream or Gandhiji for a fancy-dress competition in school? It was such memories during her formative years that led city-based stylist and model Ratikha Venugopal to pursue cosplaying full-time. At Chennai’s first ever Anime Con happening on a large scale — where a cultural and educational celebration of anime, Manga, toys and cinema will take place — she will be representing Chennai to show the participants our city’s involvement and love for cosplay.

Donning a costume that is six-and-a-half-feet tall, which took nearly 15 days to build, she says she’ll be taking part in the cosplay competition that will be held at the event too. “I’ll be coming as Auriel and this costume is special to me because it helped me win a Comic Con in 2016.” Auriel, aka Archangel of Hope, is a ranged support hero from the Diablo franchise. Her eternal light is said to illuminate even the darkest souls and when need arises, she turns into a fearless warrior.

While she can’t specify what exactly it’s made from, she tells us that most of her costumes are an amalgam of rubber, plastic, chains, cardboard, papier-mâché, etc. and she mostly creates them on her own.

“It’s the first time I’m attending a Con in Chennai, so it is exciting,” says Ratikha, who has taken part in and won several such events in other cities in India, as well as abroad. Apart from the competition, she says she might make an appearance on Saturday as Harley Quinn. “This city hasn’t seen me in such elaborate costumes, so whether I win in the competition or not, I’ll be there to create a hullabaloo and show people what Chennai’s got!” she smiles.