A gray river that advances without pause. This is the usual scenario of a working Friday on the Barcelona metro. Passengers in a hurry to fulfill the long list of obligations that routine entails. However, this Friday an unexpected element breaks the normality: an electric blue wig, a pink dress that stands out among the office suits and a Poké Ball ready to release the Pokémon it hides at any moment. It is these clues that indicate that, in the Catalan capital, a portal has opened these days: Manga Barcelona. A portal that connects directly with the land of the rising sun and with the magic of Japanese culture, with its recipes, its craftsmanship, its traditions and, above all: its comics, stories and characters.
The portal, in fact, only opens once a year: at the beginning of December. It is not surprising, therefore, that a long queue of young people, families and veterans waited impatiently, this Friday, for the opening of Manga Barcelona. "I've been thinking for a year about the outfits I'll wear these four days," confesses Raze, who has sewn and made the dresses and wigs herself, with the help of her mother, to become multiple characters from series and comics. "We've been weeks without sleeping and without stopping sewing, even yesterday I fell asleep at three in the morning touching up the last details of the wig," she adds, although it seems that the lack of sleep does not weigh on her because the excitement is greater.
When the doors of the portal open, the crowd does not walk, it runs, impatient to discover the novelties that the 31st edition of the fair brings with it. A total of 302 exhibitors spread over more than 90,000 square meters of the Gran Vía venue of Fira Barcelona. In the shop windows, an infinity of manga from all authors ---international and national---, themes and typologies, plush toys of emblematic characters of anime culture and exclusive products brought directly from Japan.
"The fair is, above all, a meeting place, a space to gather and express oneself, surrounded by people who share the same hobbies," summarizes Meritxell Puig, director of FICOMIC, the organizing entity of Manga Barcelona and Cómic Barcelona —the fair focused on the world of comics, which is held every spring in the city—. It is also a space "to live unique experiences and moments, discover novelties and meet the creators of your favorite characters," adds Puig.
Among the long list of guests who, until Monday, will walk through the hall signing copies, names such as Gou Tanabe, recognized for his adaptations of the Lovecraft universe, or mangaka Tsutomu Takahashi, who will present his latest works —such as Jumbo Max or Guitar shop Rosie— and Akemi Takada. There will also be space for music, with an exclusive concert dedicated to Cowboy Bebop, with the original band Seatbelts and composer Yoko Kanno, a unique opportunity to dance to the rhythm of a show that can be seen for the first time outside of Japan.
But meeting artists or dancing to the rhythm of popular anime intros are just some of the many activities this unique portal offers. Taste Japanese recipes like a hot ramen —ideal for these winter dates—, takoyakis (octopus balls) or mochis. Learn to draw like a true mangaka. Practice martial arts like aikido. Wander among the different stands of publishers, among which are big names like Norma Editorial –one of the main responsible for the introduction of manga in Spain—, or Planeta Manga to choose the next read, while a giant Luffy from One Piece jumps over the heads of attendees. Try exclusive video games from Nintendo, which occupies a central space in the hall… All, with a bubble tea, a Yakult, or an Asahi beer in hand, because although these are products that can usually already be found in the city, they are enjoyed more by sharing them at Manga Barcelona.
Because, above all, the convention is a space for expression. "The best thing about the convention is being able to be yourself: doing cosplay —dressing up as a manga, anime or video game character—, wearing extravagant wigs or impossible costumes without it seeming strange and doing it surrounded by people who live this hobby with the same intensity," summarizes Dazzling. In this portal, the strangers, in fact, are those who are not characterized or do not carry any element of their favorite characters.
Especially since the pandemic, many young people connected with each other through social media. And it is at the salon where, year after year, these relationships become real and materialize: "Every two steps you run into a friend or acquaintance you follow on social media... You don't have to arrange to meet beforehand or ask them if they're coming because you know everyone will be here, it's a date we block out on the calendar every year," says Raze, who has been attending the salon for 15 years, ever since her parents first brought her at age 8.
From subculture to mass culture
Manga Barcelona thus becomes a bridge between different generations. Although manga is usually associated with young people and teenagers, in its halls coexist children buying their first comics, families attending the convention together (from grandparents to grandchildren), and veterans reliving the nostalgia of those first series that introduced them to this world they have never wanted to leave behind.Because the young people who today attend with their friends were the children who came accompanied by their parents, seduced by the animated drawings that accompanied their childhood, from Doraemon to Naruto, passing through Cardcaptor Sakura or Inuyasha. This is how illustrators hanavbara, two twin sisters who attended the salon for the first time as little girls, encouraged by their father, have experienced it, and who now return as illustrators with Planeta Manga and with more than 500 thousand followers on their Instagram. "Returning as illustrators is like closing the circle: a tribute to those girls who year after year happily attended to enjoy manga and anime for a few days," say these sisters from Barcelona who started drawing, inspired by the retro Japanese style of the 90s as a hobby and who are now preparing their first comic.
The sisters have been among the many people who have seen the salon grow in recent years: from a small corner for fans at Estació de França 31 editions ago to occupying more than 90,000 square meters at the Gran Vía venue of Fira Barcelona, after also passing through La Farga or the Montjuïc venue of Fira. An evolution that, for the director of FICOMIC, demonstrates the growth of manga in recent decades: "manga has ceased to be a niche hobby, almost like a subculture, to a mass culture." This is demonstrated by the festival's figures: in its previous edition alone, in which the salon celebrated its 30th anniversary, it gathered more than 167,000 visitors.
The manga fandom in Catalonia, in fact, is not that old: it was in the 90s that the first stories written in Japanese began to arrive, driven by the phenomenon of Dragon Ball. Little by little, the distance between Japan and Barcelona has been narrowing and today the connection is so close that not only do more Japanese artists attend the convention every year, but even professional mangakas working from the city see their stories published in Japan —and, who knows, if they will even see an anime inspired by their characters—, like Konata, who has won the Manga Barcelona Award in the category of best manga by a Spanish author. The official mascot of the convention, in fact, is an emblem of that connection: legend has it that a panot accidentally fell into the waters of a Barcelona beach, causing a portal to open, from which Onachan emerged, who today is one of the undisputed characters of the convention, amidst hugs and selfies.
Now, those generations who enjoyed the adventures of the colorful characters have grown up and have transmitted that fascination to their children, being a space that connects all generations. Many of whom have become fond of reading precisely through comics, and specifically manga ---since it is, by far, the most consumed format---. "The convention is also a gateway to reading for many children and teenagers," Puig emphasizes. And it is thanks to this type of reading, as well as other genres such as romantasy or young adult, that young people have become the age group that reads the most in Catalonia: more than 76% of people between 14 and 24 years old have read a book in the last quarter. Among them, more than 37% have read at least one comic.
At Manga Barcelona, every visitor who crosses the threshold begins a journey into imagination and fantasy, surrounded by people who share their hobby and who, like them, fill the city's subway with colorful wigs and costumes. An open portal that connects generations and demonstrates that the passion for manga is no longer mere entertainment: it is also a form of expression, of passion for literature and, ultimately, of connection.