About the festival
Held annually, Manga Barcelona is Spain’s largest manga festival showcasing Japanese culture via manga. The event serves up a variety of Japanese cultural phenomena including manga, DVD and merchandise sales, anime theme song performances, cosplay, kimono wearing, flower arranging, calligraphy, Japanese games such as go and shogi, sword play, Japanese food stalls, cooking classes, Japanese language classes and more. Now in its 28th year, this year’s event will be held for the first time at Fira Barcelona Gran Via from Dec 8th. to Dec.11th. enabling to facilitate a larger number of exhibitors and events .
28th Manga Barcelona
Dates: December 8 – 11, 2022
Venue: Fira Barcelona Gran Via (Barcelona, Spain)
Website: https://www.manga-barcelona.com/en/home.cfm
Japan Media Arts Festival at Manga Barcelona
For the past two years, participation in the Japan Media Arts Festival Overseas Promotion has been limited to online due to the global pandemic. This year, the event will be held on site for the first time in three years. UMEZAWA Shun will run a Masterclass and Q&A session alongside an exhibition of works from Darwin’s Incident (UMEZAWA Shun / KODANSHA.LTD), which won the Excellence Award in the Manga Division at the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival.
Organizer: Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan
Project Advisor: Marc BERNABÉ (Translator, Interpreter and Manga Researcher)
Exhibition works
“Darwin’s Incident” UMEZAWA Shun
©Shun Umezawa / KODANSHA LTD.
Work ／ Publisher “Darwin’s Incident”／KODANSHA LTD. Artist UMEZAWA Shun JMAF Awarded Title 25th Japan Media Arts Festival Manga Division Excellence Award Link Creator’s File, UMEZAWA Shun
Events
Q&A session
Speaker UMEZAWA Shun *He will participate online. Moderator Marc BERNABÉ (Translator, Interpreter and Manga Researcher) Dates and times Saturday, December 10, 11:00 – 12:00（CET）
Masterclass
Speaker UMEZAWA Shun *He will participate online.
Santi CASAS（Manga Artists / Lecturer）Moderator Marc BERNABÉ (Translator, Interpreter and Manga Researcher) Dates and times Sunday, December 11, 12:30 – 13:30（CET）
Screening Programs
“25th Japan Media Arts Festival Award-winning Program”
This screening program will introduce 9 works that reflect our current times, ranging from award-winning pieces in Animation Division and Entertainment Division to works selected by the jury.
Dates and times Friday, December 9, 13:00‐14:00（CET） Venue Auditorium Link Screening Program “25th Japan Media Arts Festival Award-winning Program”
“Japan Media Arts Festival Special Program featuring YUKI Yoko”
This screening program includes 9 works by YUKI Yoko, the award-winning artist of the 19th and 23rd Japan Media Arts Festival.
Curator：KUTSUNA Kenichi（Animator, Animation Director, University Lecturer）
Dates and times Saturday, December 11, 14:15‐15:30（CET） Venue Auditorium Link Screening Program “Japan Media Arts Festival Special Program featuring YUKI Yoko”
Summary Report
The 28th Manga Barcelona was held at the Fira Barcelona Gran Via in Barcelona, Spain for four days between December 8th and December 11th. This year, the plans to scale up the festival with a large venue was met with great success when a new record for most visitors was set, and then the event came to a rousing close.
Japan Media Arts Festival Overseas Promotions held events surrounding the winner of the Excellence Award in the Manga Division at the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival, UMEZAWA Shun’s Darwin’s Incident (published by KODANSHA LTD.), including an exhibition of works from the manga, and a Masterclass and Q&A session led by UMEZAWA.
Comments from Umezawa Shun
While I was only able to attend virtually, I still had a great time connecting with everyone in Spain who attended Manga Barcelona.
I got to answer questions that I normally don’t get asked in Japanese interviews, so I enjoyed it.
During the Masterclass, I presented the crudely titled, “How to Draw Humanzees: So Easy, Even A Human or Monkey Can Do It!”
I was nervous since this was all new to me, but I’m happy to hear that everyone who attended enjoyed the events.
If I get the chance, I would love to visit Barcelona next time.
Thank you to the readers in Spain who attended!<28th Manga Barcelona>
Number of Visitors: 163,000 *New record (previous record: 150,000 in 2019)
Number of Exhibitors: 218Japan Media Arts Festival Overseas Promotion
(1) Exhibition works
Panels from UMEZAWA Shun’s Darwin’s Incident (published by KODANSHA LTD.) were on display during the festival. Because the exhibition was located in the middle of the venue, many people stopped in their tracks to intensely view the panels. Behind the displayed works was a photo spot of the exhibition, which became a popular photo op for visitors.Work ／ Publisher: “Darwin’s Incident”／KODANSHA LTD. (25th Japan Media Arts Festival Manga Division Excellence Award)
Artist: UMEZAWA Shun
Venue: Activities Area
(2) Events
The author of Darwin’s Incident, UMEZAWA Shun, attended the festival virtually and took part in two events from Japan.
Many questions were asked by passionate fans during the Q&A session, and at the Masterclass, UMEZAWA treated us to a live drawing while he spoke about the production of Darwin’s Incident.
The sight of the attendees listening fervently and enjoying themselves at both events was one to behold.■ Q&A session
Speaker UMEZAWA Shun
*Online ParticipationModerator Marc BERNABÉ (Translator, Interpreter and Manga Researcher) Dates and times Saturday, December 10, 11:00 – 12:00（CET） Venu Sala Manga Academy（Inside the festival site） Number of participants Approx. 20 people YouTube URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xx6JosnN2E
* Japanese/Spanish
■ Masterclass
Speaker UMEZAWA Shun *Online Participation
Santi CASAS（Manga Artists / Lecturer）Moderator Marc BERNABÉ (Translator, Interpreter and Manga Researcher) Dates and times Sunday, December 11, 12:30 – 13:30（CET） Venu Sala Manga Academy（Inside the festival site） Number of participants Approx. 50 people YouTube URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qCCQbAy1sg
* Japanese/Spanish
(3) MAF Screening Programs
“25th Japan Media Arts Festival Award-winning Program”
Dates and times: Friday, December 9, 13:00‐14:00（CET）
Venue: Auditorium
Number of Attendees: Approx. 40 people
“Japan Media Arts Festival Special Program featuring YUKI Yoko”
Dates and times: Saturday, December 11, 14:15‐15:30（CET）
Venue: Auditorium
Number of Attendees: Approx. 20 peoplePictures From the Festival
