The artist Naoki Urasawa kicks off Manga Barcelona | News from Catalonia

The cartoonist Naoki Urasawa, three-time winner of the Shōgakukan Manga Prize and collaborator of the Louvre Museum, has kicked off Manga Barcelona this Thursday at the Fira Barcelona venue with tickets sold out for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, in which the organization hopes will be the congress with the largest number of guests in its history. The festival, which ends on Sunday, is expected to receive around 165,000 attendees, a similar number to previous editions, with the difference that, this time, the line-up stands out for luxury guests such as Naoki Urasawa, Yumi KoIgarashi, Kamome Shirahama, Akasaka Aka, Yokoyari Mengo, Takeshi Kawaguchi or Yuki Tabata. In addition to the presence of the authors, who will do signing sessions or drawing workshops, the event agenda includes activities as diverse as karate courses or a workshop preparing eel katsusando, a type of Japanese sandwich.

Urasawa, guest of honor of the organization and one of the most recognizable faces in the world of anime, was present this Thursday at the fairgrounds for a question and answer session and another signing session for his followers, at the planeta stand. comic from the venue, with hundreds of attendees waiting for the author. Urasawa, creator of Monster, 20th Century Boys, Pluto o Yawara!has also been in charge of designing the poster for this edition of the festival, which consists of an illustration of its most famous characters with the holy family in the background.

“Many Japanese began to place Barcelona on the map with Yawara!“I have visited many cities and it seems to me that there is none like Barcelona,” said Urasawa during the round of questions from the Kitsune room of the fair. Yawara! tells the story of a judoka from her beginnings to participating in the 1992 Olympic Games. Many Urasawa readers have attended the fair thanks to the digitization of her work, although the author regrets that if you do not publish digitally “it is as if you do not you existed for the young generations.” Dozens of young followers had to stay outside the room due to the large number of attendees at the author’s question and answer session. The “mangaka,” as Japanese comics authors are known, commented that he uses real historical contexts because “history is part of us as human beings, and it would be a shame not to take advantage of it.”

Groups of young people, couples and entire families dressed in makeup or the most recognizable clothing in the world cosplay, an activity in which participants dress up to represent their favorite anime characters, have been seen on the capital’s metro lines. Catalan that they took to Fira Barcelona. In the vicinity of the venue there was talk about manga characters, video games or compliments to those who took hours to dress for the occasion. Jesús, one of the attendees, assures that he has been preparing his outfit inspired by the film Ghostbusters for a long time. “The outfit cost me a lot to make, although it is not so suitable for the manga, I have always liked it a lot, I have worn it on other occasions, but I have been changing because when I wear this one, the next day I have to spend the whole day in the bed because it weighs a lot,” he comments with a laugh. “I come mainly to see people who cosplay, I am very attracted to seeing those who make a lot of effort to represent their favorite character,” he adds.

After hours of makeup and careful selection of clothing, dozens of attendees have come prepared to take photos with related figures, or simply with people they have met in the pavilions. Marc, from Barcelona who is returning for the third time at the show, assures that this time he has come dressed as Miyamoto Musashi, a cosplay that represents a swordsman from the series Onimushaan anime that also moved to the Netflix platform in 2023. “What differentiates this from other editions is the number of authors who come,” says Marc, who also plans to return on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to enjoy the universe sleeve.

Another of the great attractions of the first day of the congress was the workshop and tasting of persimmon, a product widely used in Japanese cuisine, with chef Akihito Nakatani, winner of a Michelin Star. Nakatani is the creator of a manga that chronicles the experience of eating at his restaurant. “Instead of going to the supermarket I go to the countryside, I select the products that inspire me and that’s how the menu of the day is created, this is the way I work,” said the chef.

Since the doors opened, publishers such as Arechi or Milky Way Ediciones have received dozens of visitors who lined up to meet their favorite authors. Joana, who returns to Manga Barcelona after many years; and Antonio, who is attending for the first time, have been attracted by the quality of the comics and the guests. “The quality of the authors is what made us come, this edition for the thirtieth anniversary was special, because there is the opportunity to meet authors that we would not have met otherwise,” they say while lining up to enter the stand. one of the publishers.

Stands selling clothing, traditional Japanese food, sports, action figures and other characteristic elements of Japanese culture have also been present at the fairgrounds. “We understand that it is a great event at the manga level, but it is also a huge opportunity to publicize Japanese culture, this goes beyond manga, we are ready for the four days of congress,” sources from the Japanese consulate assured EL COUNTRY.