Oriol Estrada, Manga Barcelona content advisor, explains that: “the visitors will be able to enjoy this year the largest number of guest manga authors in the history of Manga Barcelona, which mixes great figures such as Naoki Urasawa, Yumiko Igarashi or Kia Asamiya with younger but consolidated talents and some new promises”. And there will also be a large representation of national authors with great influence of manga, who demonstrate an increasingly exportable talent, even in Japan. 

As has been the tonic of recent years, the Gran Escenari also becomes a meeting point for anime related music, and this year you will be able to hear the songs that accompany such successful series as Haikyuu!!, One Piece or JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, or listen to groups of male idols such as Psychic Fever. But we will also have Catalan representation with Els Amics de les Arts, who return to the salon after fourteen years and the contestant of Euforia and great fan of manga and anime: Misty.

The commitment to the audiovisual continues this year at the Auditori Manga Barcelona, where you can see some of the most successful Japanese animation titles of the season such as El noi i l'ocell (with subtitles in Catalan), Blue Giant, Ghost Cat Anzu, as well as one of the last releases of Detective Conan (in a version doubled to Catalan). You can also see chapters of the new Dragon Ball series: Dragon Ball Daima, and the first chapter of the documentary series Llum, foc, destrucció! will be previewed, which analyzes the arrival of the series and the Dragon Ball manga and anime in Catalonia and its impact. It also includes a new commitment to Japanese theater in cinematic format, geki-cinema, with the screening of the film Fortress of Skulls.

But the activity of Manga Barcelona does not end here, as usual, the auditoriums and the workshops or the sports area will continue to boil with a continuous program practically from the opening of doors to closing, and that this is also a record, since there will be more activities than ever. Activities that, beyond addressing manga and anime from different angles, also include numerous proposals related to traditional and popular Japanese culture. This year, highlights the opening of a new space dedicated to Japanese fashion and kawaii culture, with concentration of exhibitors and also a block of activities that explore these trends; the visit of representatives of Nara Prefecture to the gastronomic space Nihon Ryori; and also Ona-chan’s Castle, where visitors can test their athletic skills emulating a famous Japanese television program.

The arrival of Ona-chan, the mascot of Manga Barcelona, seems to have served as a pole of attraction because, this year, many mascots will visit us, some of them also on the occasion of their anniversary. On the one hand we have Doraemon, which will also blow thirty candles, for the thirty years of his arrival in Spain. And Hello Kitty will be blowing fifty candles, the enchanting icon of the Kawaii culture was born in 1974, and this year will come to visit Manga Barcelona. And finally, we will receive the visit of Myaku Myaku, the peculiar official mascot of the Expo 2025 in Osaka.

We will welcome you from the 5th to the 8th of December at Fira de Barcelona Gran Via to celebrate a thirty-year edition that by number of guests, exhibitors and activities exceeds all records!