MALAYSIANSKINI | The animation, comics and games (ACG) subculture has tended to be a niche community in the past, but with the industry burgeoning in Malaysia in recent years, more events and conventions are being held.

One of the hallmarks of the community is “cosplay” – a portmanteau of costume play – where people dress up in costumes of fictional characters.

While cosplay has often been seen as merely a hobby, 24-year-old Hakken, who prefers to go by her stage name, has broken that common perception with her booming career as a professional cosplayer and model.

With over five million followers across her social media, Hakken has made a name for herself in the ACG community worldwide for cosplaying characters from a variety of animation, comics and games.

She is well-known for t striking cosplays of “pretty boy” characters, with superb attention to detail and accuracy, not only with the costumes or make-up but also with the locations of the photoshoots and so on.

“For me, I want to bring the characters out from the animation or manga...