Get Ready for TRIO: India's First Long-Form Multi-Volume Manga!
- ananya saha
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Hello there, my lovely otakus!
Long time no see!
But I am back with a bang!
***Read all about TRIO, India's First Long-Form Multi-Volume Manga!!!***
It was the end of 2023. I had been invited to deliver a guest lecture at the Kolkata Komics Carnival 2023 at the Dhana Dhanya Auditorium. Therein, by sheer fate, I had discovered the marvel that is TRIO. After relocating to Ranchi for work in 2024, I began working on a book chapter that explores the nascent genre of Indomanga/ManBha, also known as manga produced in India/Bharat. For that purpose, I reached out to several artists, storytellers, and creators who dabble in the mangaesque mode. In the process, I met Mr Sourav Roychowdhury, the mastermind behind TRIO, the first long-form, volume-based manga series produced by an Indian team of creators. I am grateful for the kindness extended by him, along with the other practitioners, who had consented to the use of certain images from their texts, making the chapter a success. The edited volume to be published by Leuven University Press is in the final stage of production.
Hailing from Jamshedpur and currently residing in the USA, Mr Roychowdhury (or the more informal 'Sourav da'), by a happy coincidence, turned out to be an alumnus of the institution where I presently work. As we bonded over our mutual admiration of manga and love for canine companions (both proud dog parents), he led me into the wonderful world of TRIO, which commingles the mangaesque charm with distinct Indian cultural flavours. Set primarily in the Eastern Indian states of Jharkhand and Bengal, TRIO is a speculative fiction that consciously employs Indian mythological tropes. Centred around the (mis)adventures of the trifecta of Ge-Bo-So (Genie, Bonnie, and Sonnie), three orphaned girls, the series reinvents manga stylistics to accommodate Indian narrative tropes. In recent times, manga scholarship has been discussing the potency of 'global manga' (Berndt, Brienza, Iglesias), which releases it from a compulsory 'Japanese' identity, making it 'culturally odourless' (Iwabuchi). The trials of Ge-Bo-So and their friends, while confronting otherworldly forces, engender an interface of manga-enabled action, along with indigenous nostalgia. From the wise, old sage to the vicious alien, from the prelapsarian mythical to the technophilic posthuman, TRIO has it all.
***(I shall give no more spoilers, as manga fans should definitely look it up and read for themselves.)***
Roma Chatterji mentions how Indian myths are being reinvented in the current context through contemporary forms of expression, such as graphic narratives (2020), wherein TRIO stands to be an exemplary exercise in mythopoeia. With four volumes available, the team is vigorously devoting their efforts to the fifth. According to Mr Roychowdhury, the series shall sprawl up to fifty volumes, which is quite the mammoth task to undertake. Furthermore, audio-visual snippets of TRIO are also available on their YT page (https://www.youtube.com/@trio.officialanimation/videos), giving Indian otakus hope for a full-fledged, homegrown anime series. As for myself, the hardcore otaku in me rejoices to see the expansion of the Indian manga fandom, who do not just consume but also takes part in the creative processes. Taking extended advantage of Mr Roychowdhury's permission to reproduce copyrighted images from the series, I plan to write an academic article that exclusively and critically analyses TRIO in 2026.
Fellow otakus, wish me luck!
Until next time. :)
Stay tuned for more @drotaku.
P.S. Here is a sneak peek from Vol 5. Also, one can read a new chapter every Saturday, on the TRIO app!
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