2023-07-08 09:38:42
The 22nd edition of Japan Expo will be held from July 13 to 16 at the Paris-Nord Villepinte exhibition center. This year, the manga guest of honor is Tsukasa Hôjô, the author, in particular, of the famous “Cat’s Eyes” and “Nicky Larson” (“City Hunter”).
Japan Expo is one of the most important events dedicated to Japanese pop culture in Europe. Mangas, anime, video games, music, culture, crafts, sports… There’s something for everyone. This year, nearly 400 artists are expected, all disciplines combined and more than 900 exhibitors will be present. In 2022, the festival brought together 240,000 visitors on 140,000 m² for 950 exhibitors and 560 events. Friday was even sold out, a first in the history of the event.
manga guests, webtoons and soul
Several authors will be present (Horimiya © HERO (c) Hagiwara Daisuke/Square Enix CO., LTD; City Hunter © Tsukasa Hôjô/Coamix; Love Hina © Ken Akamatsu)
Tsukasa Hôjô, mythical author, in particular, of Cat’s Eye and of City Hunter (Nicky Larson in France) will therefore be the manga guest of honour. This year is a bit his since a live series Cat’s Eye funded by TF1 will be released as a live series City Hunter in Japan. Japan Expo will offer for sale a range of twenty art prints by this author. He will be present for conferences and autograph sessions.
Another big name in manga present at the festival, Ken Akamatsu, the author of Love Hina or Negima and who was elected to the Japanese Parliament in 2022.
Other authors will also be present, among them: Katarina and Ryôsuke Fuji, authors of Shangri-La Frontier ; Yu Itô, author of the manga Shut Hell ; Hagiwara Daisuke, designer of the romantic comedy Horimiya (in youth selection at the last Angoulême Festival). On the side of the French authors, will be present in particular: Tony Valente, the creator of Radiant ; Blue (DreaMaker); and Loui (Redflowers).
Côté webtoon : Míriam Bonastre Tur (Hooky, recently published in paper version by Dupuis); lief (Because I can’t love you) ; Prince Rours (Thunderstorm) ; Le Chef Otaku (Arena); and Lee Kwang Eun (Pick Me Up !).
And Webtoon Cafe will be open: the Baristas will offer, in addition to their advice in strong coffees, reading tracks in Webtoons for their customers. On the anime side, fans will have the chance to meet Keiichi Ichikawa, animation director on Saint Seiya: Hades Chapterand since 2017 animation supervisor on the TV series One Piece. Alongside him is animation director Eisaku Inoue, who also worked on The Knights of the Zodiac et One Piece.
Essential for dubbing fans
Actress Brigitte Lecordier (legendary voice of Goku and Gohan in Dragon BallOui-Oui or even Boji in Ranking of Kings) invited other comedians for a public reading of the webtoon Pick me Up !
Brigitte Lecordier (© Piccoma)
A manga district
The Mangas.Io online reading platform, in partnership with several Asian manga and comic book publishers, have created a veritable manga village at Japan Expo. In this 180m² area, the various publishers will offer activities, signing sessions, and many other things. Le Quartier Manga is notably sponsored by Rakuten. Thus, the Rakuten Pay payment method will be accepted, and will offer 5€ to all visitors for their first purchase within the village.
Conferences, exhibitions, culture
A conference-tribute in honor of Leiji Matsumoto, an essential author, who died this year, will take place during the festival. An exhibition will obviously be devoted to Tsukasa Hôjô and another to manga Black Jackfor the 50th anniversary of this title of Osamu Tezuka.
Like every year, a large part of the festival is devoted to Japanese culture through its crafts, sports, tourism and cuisine. Many stands offer demonstrations.
Musique
Nearly 70 concerts and showcases (Yoshiki © artistimage; Vicke Blanka © Avex; © ChocoLate Bomb!!)
Vicke Blanka is Japan Expo’s other music guest of honor. This is the first time that the singer, who performed the openings Black Rover et Black Catcher from the anime Black Cloverwill perform in France.
Many artists will be present and 68 concerts and showcases will be offered. There will also be cosplay, dance or theater performances, martial arts demonstrations and of course anime screenings.
The “outside the walls” festival
This year, Japan Expo is also held outside of Paris-Nord Villepinte with the “Manga Week”, launched by Mangas.io which will take place from July 13 to 20 and is launched. The interactions will be virtual and real. Some 10 establishments located on rue Sainte-Anne, in the Opéra district of Paris, will offer exclusive dishes and the possibility of leaving with a few gifts.
Video Games and V-Tubers
Producer Hiroshi Matsuyama from publisher CyberConnect2, a studio known for its video game adaptations of Naruto, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure or Dragon Ball, will be present at Japan Expo. He comes to Paris with the intention of recruiting a European employee!
There are going to be people on the stand of the video game publisher Hoyoverse to see Honkai Star Rail and attempt to collect highly sought following fan goodies. This will also be the case on the stand dedicated to mobile games. Goddess of Victory : NOD.
The return of Tamagotchi! Publisher Namco-Bandai is making another attempt to relaunch its Tamagotchi with a new version, named Tamagotchi: Uni! It can take the form of a watch or a pendant and will have a wifi connection and the ability to download additional content thanks to the brand new Tamaverse.
The V-Tubers, eccentric avatars who present video content usually streamed, will be given pride of place by the festival. Thanks to partner Nijisanji, no less than ten V-Tubers will be present at Japan Expo.
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