The 29th edition of Manga Barcelona exceeded expectations, shyly exceeding the 163,000 visitors it received the previous year. Speaking to ACN, Manga Barcelona director Meritexel Puig gave a “very positive” assessment of this edition and the new distribution of spaces that allowed visitors to walk more smoothly.
The Fira Gran Via space, Puig, hosted the competition, promoting this venue for new dates. From the organization, they already have their eyes set on next year, the 30th anniversary, with the goal of restoring the “mangaka”‘s existence.
The exhibition gained an additional 3,000 square meters of space and increased the number of booths, with 70 more exhibitors than last year. The key point was changes in the distribution of spaces, in order to improve the visitor experience and reduce congestion, for example, separating food and drink trucks. Puig commented that it was successful because “even though there were a lot of people, you could walk, have fun, shop and participate in different workshops.”
These changes made it possible to put more tickets on sale during the busiest days that were sold out such as Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and depending on how they saw the situation throughout the day, they decided to expand the available seats, he explains.
There is potential to increase the exhibition space as well as the number of visitors, however, Meritexel Puig commented: “There is still room for growth, but growth must be gradual and consistent.”
More Japanese art next year
The 29th edition of the Barcelona manga has already been scheduled for next year. The organization comments that it has been working on this appointment since June. “If all goes well, next year we will see more mangaka and more artists,” Puig said.
The absence of Japanese artists has been noticeable since the outbreak of the pandemic. Although on this occasion they relied on two famous singers to provide the soundtracks for series like “Sailor Moon” and “Digimon”, namely Yoko Ishida and Ayumi Miyazaki respectively.
Catalan-language manga is becoming increasingly popular
Japanese comic publishers continue to bet on Catalan-language manga. There are eight titles whose license has already been announced, including the remake of Naruto in 3 in 1. Specifically, during the Barcelona manga, Sx3 announced the broadcast of the anime in Catalan for this comic.
The big unknown was Kaji Manga Publishing, the only one publishing entirely in Catalan and under the Enciclopedia Group label. After seven months with no new information about its continuity, they announced during the final day of the show that they were “working to ensure the stability of the label and their release plan to start strong again.”
Text by Ariadna Comas
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