Getting Candid with The Super Woman Behind Super Sugoii - Rachita Saha

Anil Karthik
Sep 26, 2020
6 min read

Before getting started, we need to understand a few things that can come up in between. What is Jpop? Japanese pop culture or most commonly knowns as Jpop includes Japanese Cinema, television, anime, manga, video games, music and their cuisine, all of which retain their traditional presentation of their art forms. Otakus are people who have strong interests with Japanese pop culture, their products and aesthetics. Indians are just starting to get influenced by Jpop. As of now, Indian otakus are interested in Anime Manga and comic cons, however, we are drawing their art forms every day and soon enough we’ll start liking their music and cuisine too. Art form and food are the things that express a country’s culture and we already started liking their Art.

Cosplays: There are many mediums through which we connect. But the most effective medium would be a stage where we can interact freely with people with similar interests and people who know about Jpop more than us. Cosplay is one such activity. This is where people come up dressed in costumes of their favourite characters. Cosplay or Costume play is generally the main event of comic-con. We get to see people dressed up as our favourite characters, and we can go and talk to them as if we are interacting with the animated character in Reality.

Otaku In Town aims to make the cosplay culture which is an integral part of Jpop culture acceptable and popular in India. There are many famous cosplayers from India right now. These people are in this occupation for a very long time and they know what they’re doing. Cosplayers are all fabulous and artistic people. Their dedication towards their work is something that any art-loving person would look up to. They put lots of efforts, time, money and every ounce of their energy into this. They make their own costumes, plan everything months ahead and all this consumes a lot of time and money. They’re doing it since ages, only because of the love towards the culture and to encourage more and more people to join this wonderful journey. Today I feel privileged to interview one such famous artist, Rachita Saha.

A little about Rachita that we know: Rachita is one of the most talented cosplayers in the industry. She cosplayed as Hawkgirl, Jolteon Valkyrie and many more. However, her talent doesn’t just lie in Cosplaying. She worked in multiple MNCs based on US and Japan, has a degree in applied arts and has extensive knowledge in digital media. All these feats achieved at a very young age. She’s an excellent sitar artist, a Mother, cosplayer, entrepreneur and social activist. She participates in causes like awareness about health and fitness. She herself stays fit and energetic all the time and still manages to check her social media every day and keep us updated about her life which is totally cool. In 2016 she founded Super Sugoii. She plays a key role in Indo Japanese cultural exchange. Let’s know more about her plans, objectives, ideals and much more from herself. We prepared a questionnaire for her and she answered them like a champion.

What are your thoughts on Jpop’s influence on India?

“I believe that Japanese Pop-culture content has a really strong influence in India, considering the limitation in the availability of legal and licensed content in India.”

What is Super Sugoii?

“Hiroko Izumi and I started Super Sugoii together in 2017 to promote Japanese Pop-culture content in India. We love to find unique ways of bringing Japan close to our country!”

Where do you want Super Sugoii to stand 5 years away from now?

“We have a long term goal that we are constantly working towards achieving. We wish to be the brand that lends a hand in bringing Japan close to India through the power of Japanese Pop-culture!”

What is Super Sugoii Con about?

“In 2020, due to the impact of COVID-19, physical Pop-culture events have been restricted in India. Super Sugoii believes that now, more than ever, we need to find ways of uniting Indian Otakus from various cities of India. We have worked hard to create a Sugoii digital experience for the pop-culture enthusiasts from all across. Super Sugoii understands an Indian Otaku’s need for accessing legal and licensed Japanese pop-culture experiences. Through this event, fans can now connect with Anime, Manga, J-Pop, Cosplay, Games and more on a special online platform.”

What can we expect from Super Sugoii Con and are there any chief guests that we can expect?

“Super Sugoii-con will be hosted on our website supersugoii-con.com with a dedicated Discord Channel for interaction. Many guests from India and Japan have agreed to be a part of this event. MORISAKI WIN, Popular Actor and singer from Japan will be promoting his worldwide musical debut at our event. ASIANZ, a J-Pop band who loves India has something special in store for us. Also, Yoshiagi Koga from KODANSHA will share a unique vision that utilises the power of Japanese manga in relation to social empowerment in India. Apart from that we also have major Japanese manga digital subscription service MANGA PLANET as a part of the event. Indian Pop-culture enthusiasts, artists, performers and cosplayers have all supported us wholeheartedly to make this event a possibility.”

Any Major plans after Super Sugoii Con?

“We have been working hard day and night for this event. After this is over, we wish to take some rest. Good sleep will do us all some good after the effort everyone has put in these past few months. We will then continue working on some exciting ideas we have in our pipeline. Do keep supporting us!”

Who is your real-life role model and who is your anime life role model?

“Strong women personalities really inspire me. Personally, my biggest inspiration in life is my mother. She believes that one must look beyond an ‘8-hour work’ routine and be confident in making a creative mark in this world. The first anime character that inspired me was Sakura Kinomoto from Cardcaptor Sakura that I used to watch during my childhood.”

If you have to pick one among the following, what would you pick and why?

A) Cosplay B) Manga C) Ramen D) Video games.

“I would love to eat a bowl of ramen in my cosplay while reading a manga. I am weak at video games though. My husband is into games. I love watching his game!”

You are an exceptional mother, an artist and a wife and yet you achieve so much professionally, how do you manage everything? How do you bring a balance between work and personal life?

“Thank you so much! Super Sugoii is run by two women who have their own motivation factor. For me, it is the unyielding support from my family. Being a mother is not easy when you have to balance it with work. But I love doing what I do. That’s why I was able to restart my focus on work as early as a week after giving birth to Ariya. I have been pushing myself a lot recently and 24 hours has started to seem less. I believe everything in life has a separate priority and needs its respective attention, including physical and mental health. I also believe a lot in the power of positivity.”

Please tell us something about the side of yourself that nobody knows.

“I have a massive sweet tooth! That is the Bengali girl in me, I believe.”

What message would you give to Indian Otaku?

“There are Japanese brands who would love to enter the Indian market. The journey is long, therefore let us support each other! Together we can make it happen. Also, please do not forget to take positivity from all the anime or manga you love! Ganbarimasu!”

Well, that’s about the things we wanted to learn from her. I know I know. She’s amazing and Super Sugoii seems awesome. Do you want to know her and about Super Sugoii more? Make sure to check out their Instagram page and website. They are engaging and very informative. Also, there is a lot of work being put on Super Sugoii con, so please be there on 27th September to support them. For more information and updates on Anime and our community, please make sure to follow us everywhere, Otaku In Town! Peace out people!