Manga Realities: Exploring The Art of Japanese Comics Today

The Ayala Museum and the Japan Foundation in cooperation with the Contemporary Art Center, Art Tower Mito in Japan brought the travelling exhibition in Manila as its last stop. From Japan, Manga Realities was also previously exhibited at Artsonje Center in Seoul, South Korea and to the Vietnam Fine Art Museum in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Such a very interesting lecture.

Last Friday afternoon, Ji and I attended lecture of Prof. Jacqueline Berndt of Kyoto Seika University about Manga and Art: Alleged Traditions, Museum Galleries and Appropriative Artists. I wish the exhibition came here before I did my college thesis. I learned so much about the legitimization of manga as an art form and the differences between contemporary Japanese comics and Hokusai manga.

It was really disappointing when Prof. Berndt revealed that they were supposed to include Bakuman in the exhibit but Shueisha declined. It could’ve been the best manga installation ever!

It was also disappointing that some of the details only look nice from afar, but when you closely look at them, you’ll see pencil lines, obvious tracing, and the vinyl flooring not nicely intact to the wall. Also, if only the museum had more space. Even so, the entire exhibition was still visually engaging.

Harold Sakuishi’s BECK: The Mongolian Chop Squad

I haven’t really looked at the manga/anime of BECK. It looks good. I’ll probably check it out when I have the time. It could’ve been nicer if it had an entire band instrument setup. And the parody covers are very cool!

Ninomiya Tomoko’s Nodame Cantabile 

Nodame Cantabile on the other hand left me hanging. I've seen the j-drama when I was in college, so I had a weird expectation of seeing a grand piano and music sheets. The gold frames, the carpet and the lighting were nicely put together. Very European!

Matsumoto Tajyo’s No. 5 

Kyo Machiko’s Sennen Gaho 

Igarashi Daisuke’s Children of the Sea

No.5, Sennen Gaho and Children of the Sea were nicely showcased with pages enclosed in glass and frames. It could have been better if the blown up pictures had a better resolution though.

Anno Moyoco’s Sugar Sugar Rune 

Sugar Sugar Rune’s display sure has so much detail. I loved the shadowboxes’ craftsmanship. It’s so intricate. It made me want to watch the series again.

Kuramochi Fusako’s Five Minutes From The Station 

Five Minutes From The Station is so simple. I barely looked at the details, although the 4th person from the left reminded me of one of Masara Minase's characters.

Wakaki Tamiki’s The World God Only Knows 

The World God Only Knows has a very dramatic, shojo-ish title, but in fact, it belongs to the romance-comedy genre. And it was unexpectedly a school-based manga! Since we went to the room around evening, it was quite dark and had this after-school feel. One thing I noticed is that the chairs are too small.

Asano Inio’s Solanin 

I WANT THE CALENDAR!

Solanin’s installation is the best. It has really captured the feeling of Meiko and Taneda’s room. I did not get to read the lines outside of the room before going inside, so I failed to invoke any intense emotion I've got when I read the manga a month ago. But it did in fact, reminded me of that time but I rather chose to feel the time when the couple were together, struggling but happy.

LALALALALA

I did not get to see any of the manga in the shelves though. Well fortunately, there’s the internet so I can read any manga I want. LALALALALA.