The mangakas Shun Umezawa (‘The Darwin Incident’), Nakaba Suzuki (‘The Seven Deadly Sins’) or Xian Nu Studio (‘Bakemono’), as well as the singer Yoko Takahashi participate.
The Salón del Manga de Barcelona started on December 8 and has become one of the most visited events for young audiences. Focused on one of the phenomena of the moment, the passion for Eastern culture, the competition has exceeded all expectations before it started. All tickets for the four days of the festival, from December 8 to 11, have been sold out for a long time, without opening the doors, with an estimated audience of almost 200,000 people – there is still a chance to get tickets on the go , with the capacity control. A remarkable stream of visitors, with children’s and youth comics as a target.
Antediluvian television series, such as ‘Mazinger Z’, ‘Heidi’ or ‘Marco’, marked a generation whose descendants enjoy an exceptional explosion of manga and anime, comic books and oriental animation films. The small screen triumph of ‘Dragon Ball’ in the late 1990s and the launch of other titles in the same vein, along with the groundbreaking entry into theaters of the movie version of ‘Akira’, are foundational pieces to mark the definitive entry of understand the phenomenon in our borders. They also opened the doors of perception to millions of readers and viewers, generating a “fandom” that continues to grow, with the rise of K-pop music and Korean audiovisual fiction, among other emerging trends.
The digital age has been the definitive award for the proliferation of Asian images. The unstoppable number of followers around the world is emphasized by the wide range of this material on the on-demand menus, be it webcomics, series or streaming movies. The otaku phenomenon, the passion for eastern popular culture in all its facets, seems to know no ceiling. Far from losing momentum, this movement is currently experiencing another undoubted appeal and the celebration in style of Manga Barcelona, an international reference along with Paris, confirms this.
In the new edition, the 28th, the fair had to change location in order to receive the potential public more comfortably. With 82,000 square meters spread over three main pavilions, Fira Barcelona Gran Vía hosts an impressive list of exhibitors and well-known activities such as the cosplay competition, where participants show off their costumes and make-up based on popular characters. The hallways of the event are pure color, with crowds of people dressed up as their favorite titles. There are people who prepare their eye-catching outfit with special care for a whole year. A good line-up of guest artists is also part of the menu, such as the mangakas Shun Umezawa (‘The Darwin Incident’), Nakaba Suzuki (‘The Seven Deadly Sins’) or Xian Nu Studio (‘Bakemono’). In turn, singer Yoko Takahashi, the voice of the famous song ‘Zankokuna tenshi no têze’, the opening of ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’, will be present. Among other cosplayers will be Hazariel and Taifu, as well as lectures, drawing and anime workshops, origami, kimonos, calligraphy and introduction to the Japanese language. Nor will there be a lack of exhibitions (sports, pokémon, traditional clothing…), cinema and gastronomy.
Source: La Verdad
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