Party in paradise ‘otaku’

[Inkriql]

The Plaza España metro station looked like yesterday the shooting set of a science fiction movie. Among the wagons, dozens of young people walked dressed up as fantastic creatures like monsters, robots or warriors with weapons. Some returned to their homes with the hangover on Halloween night but, the vast majority, headed to the otaku party of the 25th anniversary of Manga Barcelona. The walls of the Fira Barcelona pavilions welcomed the thousands of people who went to the second date of the Japanese comic room, on a day marked by the showy and quirky cosplays of the attendees, the Korean music dance battles and by hundreds of visitors with hats from the po[CENSORED]r Pikachu.

In the main access of the festival, the organizers placed huge blackboards so that everyone could express what they wanted. Some drew true works of art that looked like the pages of a comic strip. Others took the opportunity to photograph themselves with young people who were dressed as the anime One Piece. Those who are disguised come to the room to soak up, more so if possible from the manga culture, but also to be admired. Manga Barcelona is visited by people of all ages. Even parents who accompany their children like Mauricio Gaviño, who says that "he has already caught his taste" over the years.

At lunchtime people approached the main stage of the room. First, there was a K-pop music dance battle between professional choreographers and several amateur groups. A hundred people surrounded the stage that became a party with the song Silver Spoon, by the South Korean band BTS. "Well friends geeks, the time has come for another contest," said one of the presenters. Three couples paraded with cosplays from the Pokémon video game saga. One of the winners was Laura Fernández, 34, who made a representation of a dialogue between the character Misty and her Psyduck with a friend of his. "We work in a workshop with foam rubber for a week," he said.
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The second day also featured the presence of the mascot of the Tokyo 2020 Games, futuristic in appearance and, of course, anime superhero; with a special session with the Asian film director Hideo Nakata, creator of the movie The Ring, and with a European cosplay parade, among many other acts. Thousands of young Catalans did not attend classes for the All Saints holiday, and took advantage of the day to visit the festival. Although others came from further away, such as Iria Lage, 26, who traveled from Madrid to dress up, with a friend, the manga Uta no Prince-sama. "It's a unique opportunity to live with people who perform cosplay."

The festival rewarded on Thursday night the best manga and anime works published in the last year. Among the winners, the Promised Neverland, in shojo (adolescent female audience), highlights the play Yona, Princess of Dawn, as well as the anime series A Silent Voice by Naoko Yamada and the movie Alita : Angel of combat, by Robert Rodriguez. The hall will be open until tomorrow with more activities and exhibitions around the celebrations of its 25th edition that brings the highlights of Japanese culture to the Catalan capital.