Mad about the manga

JAPAN RANKS as a superpower of pop culture alongside South Korea in the way it’s influenced the youth of far-flung countries. Thais are hardly immune, and they’ll be lining up on Saturday when the exhibition “Manga*Anime*Games” opens in Bangkok on its first venture outside the homeland.

“Almost all foreigners everywhere know that manga and anime are part of Japanese culture, but a lot of Japanese, especially the more conservative types, think they’re just for children,” says Taizo Muroya of the National Art Centre in Tokyo. “You never see this kind of art in a gallery in Japan.”

Manga and anime are art forms that Muroya grew up with – but he’s 48 and still a fan. “We thought when we got older, the manga would just come to an end – just disappear. But that’s not what happened. When we were young we read those comic books and now that we have families of our own, our children are reading them.”

Muroya spent two years assembling the displays for the exhibition, researching the history and evolution of the comic books called manga, the animated cartoons known as anime and the games they spawned, all of which have captured youthful imaginations since 1989. He was even able to get a slew of terrific storyboards and character portraits from their original creators.

“The 1980s was period of great change,” he says. “Tezuka Osamu, ‘the god of manga, died in 1989, the same year that marked the end of Japan’s Showa era and the beginning of the Heisei, and that’s when this exhibition begins. 

“Since 1989 there have been countless changes in society and the culture. The 1990s brought the era of the Internet and the 2000s were the boom years for smart gadgets. The manner of communicating changed enormously. And the manga, anime and games created in that time reflect these changes.”

Muroya points out that the manga and anime of the 1990s didn’t have as the same level of “action and fighting”. He mentions the anime “Azumanga Daioh”, a story about six high-school girls shown on television in the early evenings. “I found it relaxing to watch after work.” 

“I also read ‘Blame!’, one of the mangas you can see in this exhibition, which really gave my imagination a boost. And right now I’m following ‘Uchuu Kyoudai’ [‘Space Brothers’] every week.”

Tokyo’s National Art Centre hosted the original exhibition last summer and drew 92,000 visitors before the show moved to Hyogo Prefecture in the autumn, where it was seen by another 25,000 people. Its first venture outside Japan, to Yangon, Myanmar, this past spring, found another appreciative crowd. Now it’s being set up at the National Gallery in Bangkok for a run from Saturday through August 28.

“There are two reasons we’re bringing it to Thailand,” Muroya says. “Firstly, it’s celebrating the 130th anniversary next year of Thai-Japan diplomatic relations. And secondly, Tamotsu Aoki – a cultural anthropologist who was head of the government’s Agency for Cultural Affairs – was always fascinated by Thailand and became a monk here in 1970.” 

The show – which will carry on to other Asian countries and then Europe – is trimmed in scale, down from 130 exhibits in the original to just 45.

“Before we went to Myanmar we put out questionnaires to find out what might not be suitable there,” Muroya explains. “Some scenes might have been too sexually explicit or offensive to religion, like one in the anime ‘Paprika’, a dream sequence in which a Buddhist monk dresses in women’s clothing. ‘Saint Oniisan’ [‘Saint Young Men’] has two characters who resemble Jesus and the Buddha. 

“Bangkok will be seeing the same exhibition we had in Myanmar.”

There are two segments to the show, he says.

“In the first, you have the heroes and heroines in 2D art and animation, along with light-and-sound presentations. The second part is all about the technology involved, from computer graphics and motion capture to the Internet and social media to VR [visual reality] and AR [augmented reality]. 

“It includes the artists’ techniques and the way their personal philosophies are reflected in their work. There’s one popular technique called the Itano Circus [a dazzling launch of multitudes of missiles] that’s greatly influenced the younger generation of artists, like the guys at Team Lab. You get to see the actual storyboards, screen designs and character templates, as well as the process of building an animation or game.”

The anime on view will include “Fullmetal Alchemist”, “Magi”, “Sailor Moon”, “Pretty Cure” and “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”, plus “Azumanga Daioh” and “Paprika”. 

Every manga you can think of is likely to be represented as well, among them “The Seven Deadly Sins”, “Detective Conan”, “Boys Over Flowers”, “Tsukikage Babe” and Muroya’s old favourite, “Blame!” 

And the games chosen for the show run the gamut from “Dragon Quest IV” and “Pokemon” to “Gunma’s Ambition”. Visitors can even play a few rounds of “Crimson Room” and “Gran Tourismo 6” if they book a time in advance on the Facebook page mentioned in the information box. 

You should also book a spot for the informative workshops that are part of the programme. On Saturday at 2pm an expert from Japan’s Art Centre will discuss “Manga, Anime and Games Today in Japan”. On Sunday at 2, Tsuyoshi Kusano will explain “How to Design Manga, Anime and Games” at Animate Bangkok in Mah Boon Krong. 

And on July 27 and 28 at 1pm both days, officials from the Tokyo art centre will describe “How to Make a Zoetrope” at the National Gallery.

 

Comics for the ages

- The “Manga*Anime* Games” exhibition opens on Saturday and continues until August 28 at the National Gallery on Chao Fah Road.

- The gallery is open Wednesday to Sunday |from 9am to 7pm.

- Check out the Facebook page “Manga*Anime*GamesfromJapaninThailand”.