He strikes mountains one after the other.

Esports and leisure hub Tier One signed three of the biggest cosplayers World in 2022 and considered one of them was Hakken.

A veteran of the cosplay group with years of expertise and tens of millions of followers on social media, his names are well-known world wide.

Whereas speaking to ONE Esports about their origin story, they advised us that their title comes from the anime Hakkenden: Touhou Hakken Ibun (Eight Canine of the East), a supernatural shonen story about gods and monsters.

“The title sounds good. I’ll use it as my cosplay title,” Hakken shared. And that is what occurred. It is easy. I nonetheless love the title and have used it for years.

Earlier than tens of millions of individuals knew them by that title, they first needed to overcome an issue we are able to all relate to: Asian dad and mom.

Hakken tells ONE Esports about his cosplay origins, which incorporates coping with Asian dad and mom

All through center and highschool, Hakken’s dad and mom needed Asian dad and mom to deal with their research, a typical expectation.

Across the identical time, they bought into cosplay simply because they needed to decorate up and “have enjoyable” like their favourite character.

Hailing from Miri, a small coastal city in Sarawak in northeast Malaysia, was one of many few cosplayers dwelling in a metropolis the place cosplay was virtually unparalleled.

“My household had no data of this. And when dad and mom do not find out about one thing, they get anxious. They had been anxious that it was a nasty factor,” they stated.

However sarcastically, they created their first cosplay because of their mom.

“My mom is a designer and tailor. I discovered my first expertise from him,” they shared. “I made my first costume with the ability it gave me with out realizing I used to be cosplaying.”

Hakken secretly labored within the bedrooms, hand-stitching and double-taping the go well with collectively – Itachi Uchiha’s gown from Naruto.

“My mother did not know till she noticed the photographs on-line. And he was like, what’s that!?” Hakken remembered. “He could have been embarrassed on the time, however now he is very pleased with me.”

When requested in the event that they’re nonetheless doing their first cosplay, she replied, “No, in fact not! burned. I don’t want this.

However after graduating from highschool, their dad and mom gave them the liberty to cosplay. From 2015 to 2016, once they had been round 18 years outdated, they began taking plenty of photographs and posting them on the web, and over time they gained increasingly recognition.

This led to them receiving conference invitations and finally turning cosplay right into a full-time profession.

Throughout their first sojourn of their residence nation of Malaysia, Hakken’s mom accompanied them to the conference, which opened their eyes to “how this group works,” in addition to to their change of thoughts.

“He realized it was nothing dangerous. Hakken stated, “I am doing one thing that makes me joyful, so go forward – simply do not commit crimes.”

Comply with Hakken instagram, Facebook and twitter to help their work. Comply with AN Esports For extra cosplay, esports and anime information on Fb.

READ MORE: Behind the glory, Tier One cosplayers struggled with their self-image