NAIROBI:Cosplay has taken hold in Kenya, where fans must often get creative to dress up as their fantasy heroes. Thousands attended the latest edition of the Otamatsuri anime and manga convention in the Kenyan capital this weekend — described as one of the largest in Africa — with many wearing extravagant costumes inspired by hits such as ‘One Piece’ and ‘Naruto’.
Sourcing the materials can be a challenge. Julius Mokaya, a building caretaker who has twice won the event’s costume competition, does not have the money to import expensive costumes and relies instead on cardboard and other material he salvages from recycling bins. His modest apartment is full of homemade weapons, masks and accessories.
Cosplayer Yvonne Chockey crafts a mask for her cosplay ahead of the Otamatsuri convention at her home in Kutus on August 17, 2026. Enthusiasm for the cosplay world is growing in Kenya, where more than 4,000 people attended the Otamatsuri convention in the capital on August 22, 2026. The annual gathering, held since 2019, brings together fans of anime, video games and manga and culminates in a cosplay competition.The event is a parade of characters from manga series such as One Piece and Naruto, among others, whose character arcs inspire cosplayers with themes of ìperseveranceî and ìrebirthî, they explain, while noting that their community is still often misunderstood in Kenya. — AFP
Mokaya spent months designing this year’s costume, based on Enjin from the manga ‘Gachiakuta’, a story about an exile in a dumping ground. Fittingly, he said, the message of the story is “that trash and things thrown out aren’t really bad”. The hobby remains an expensive one. “I’m broke half the time, but… I love the creative aspect, the deep dive into research and understanding the character,” he said.
This year’s winner, 24-year-old Yvonne Chockey, dressed as Angewomon, an angel character from a Japanese franchise. She too had to get her hands dirty, using a hot-sand technique to heat and bend PVC pipes that became the frame for eight massive white wings. “I had to cut each feather one by one and then attach them to the base. That was the most difficult part,” she said.
Even in a highly globalized country like Kenya, the hobby can still raise a few eyebrows. “Relatives saw what I was doing on social media and asked my father if I had joined a cult,” Mokaya said.
The convention’s organizer Jotham Micah, co-founder of the Movie Jabber company, said more than 4,000 people had attended this weekend’s event and that “the beauty of anime and manga has transcended the borders of culture”. “It gives you life. It gives you inspiration,” he said
