After braving fogs, dealing with a queen bee, and hopeful that I have the energy to even move after a hectic work weekend, I was fortunate to have some time to actually attend the Japan Foundation’s Manga Realities Exhibit in the Ayala Musuem. The opening night last August 15 was such a wonderful experience that I honestly didn’t want to leave and just wanted to stay in that exhibit forever.

I did mention in my previous post that the curator, Ms. Mizuki Takahashi, had wanted to showcase the ability of manga to capture Japanese reality. I had the fortune of talking with her during the exhibit and needless to say, she and I agree that many people often take manga for granted in terms of its ability to capture a social reality. Many readers, particularly non-Japanese, would often consider manga as child’s play, a flight of fantasy. What we don’t see though are the little images and panels that reflect and mimic our hopes, dreams, and emotions. Manga is changing. The world must understand that manga is past child’s play.

She said that she had wanted to put more titles for the exhibit however publishers, authors’ permission, and schedule somehow limited her to just a few. From what I noticed, most of the titles exhibited came from Kodansha and Shogakukan titles. When I asked her why I don’t see a Shuiesha title, she just laughed and said that was particularly difficult but she managed to get one.

The exhibit is held on the ground and third floors of the museum. For those who are attending the exhibit on regular days, you have to pay the regular admission fee for the event. It’ll run from August 16 to October 2, 2011. They also have graphic novel primer which I hope to buy as soon as the weekend comes in (they didn’t have one for the event!) I’ll make a post about that sometime.

The First Floor Exhibits


The exhibit welcomes you with the horns, violins, and piano of the Nodame Cantabile exhibit. The wall’s lined with wonderful illustrations from her postcards, inset colored pages, and illustration books framed in gold. I told the curator that had Nodame seen this she would feel like she was in Berubara (Rose of Versailles) and she laughed and said that it was their intention in doing that.


Beside it was the contrasting Beck display which wasn’t physically loud but was graphically impressive. They had three video screens that showed the boys of MCS performing in a gig. The animated strumming and such made the panels look more alive than ever. What I love about this exhibit is how those screens mimic the energy of the manga. I can hear the music of Beck play in my ears even if it was just a silent display. Their famous album parodies can also be seen in the exhibit!

As you go inside, you’re welcomed by a large painting by Taiyo Matsumoto. I heard from Takahashi-san that this particular painting was an original as well as the names (the rough drafts of manga pages) from Number Five. I asked her why she particularly chose Number Five rather than Tekkon Kinkreet to represent Taiyo Matsumoto. According to her, she felt that the manga represented so much of Japan and their fears and struggles after 9/11. And while they were not directly affected by the tragedy, many things in their lives have changed. I did wonder why she said that and that made me curious to read Number Five. Either way, the painting that Taiyo Matsumoto shared for the exhibit was amazing. Really amazing. Upstairs, they enlarged two of his covers and it was just as wonderful.


Sugar Sugar Rune was a fairly cute and whimsical exhibit. They had cute 3Desque papercraft of the characters which somehow adds a new dimension to the illustration. Beside it was this webcomic called Sennen Gaho which was fairly cute if not, gravity defying in a way. Sennen Gaho is a cute slice of life web manga that does not need translation. It’s mainly visual and quite whimsical too, but it has the capacity to be poignant and meaningful. You can connect to it depending on how you’d like to read it. And you can read it in many ways.

The last of the exhibit downstairs is the great display of Children of the Sea, which I used as my title image. I love this display because it captured the vast imagery of the sea which the manga illustrates really well. I’m quite sure that most American readers have grown to love the manga and I’m quite sure that had you been in this exhibit, you would find yourself swimming underwater in search of fantastic things. It was an awesome breathtaking display and really captured the spirit of Children of the Sea.

Third Floor Exhibits


The third floor actually opens up chances for children and visitors to read the manga that are on exhibit (and more!) While the kid in this picture is upset that there was no Naruto available, some of the manga displayed are Japanese and English versions of Pluto, Children of the Sea, Sugar Sugar Rune, Beck, Nodame, Solanin, Monster, Vagabond, and so on. It was quite a great selection of manga and I would assume that this was taken from the JFMO Manga Library. Behind it are two more Taiyo Matsumoto covers, but this time, it’s not an original painting. Just a breathtaking blow-up of his covers.

There was a small corner for Five Minutes from the Station which, I would assume, was an attempt to capture the spirit of Josei manga. This was the only exhibit that showed a Shueisha title and while I grumble over the number of choices that could have been placed, I can trust in Takahashi-sensei that she possibly tried her best to get better titles and only ended with this. The TV displays showed translated moving panels from the manga which was… somehow interesting. Five Minutes from the Station appears to be your regular soap opera josei title. I’m a little excited, but at the same time, hesitant to pick the title up.


Shounen manga was represented by The World God Only Knows which they chose to display as an innocent and not so innocent classroom. There was a PS2 and PS3 on display but no game was placed inside. There was just an empty cartridge of Tokimeki Memorial. I’m not particularly fond of this manga in terms of visual style but I find the anime a lot more appealing to me. Since they are from the same story, The World God Only Knows is a fascinating exploration on our fascination and obsession with living and achieving success in our virtual lives and how this obsession translates into our reality. There is a narration where you enter the room and at one point, the translation asks “When you see a stone with a drawn cute face on top, is this stone moe and is it suddenly alive?” I wanted to pay attention to the narration but the Naruto brat was oggling over the PS3. It was interesting that they were posing such questions on moe. For us otaku, moe is such a second nature word that we forget its meaning and its references. This exhibit was lined with all the RL girls that Keima has conquered. At the same time, it even featured what are the different kinds of moe on the blackboard. It was… an educational experience, I suppose.


Beside it is the Solanin display, my favorite display in the Manga Realities Exhibit. According to Mr. Hideki Toyoshima, who was sporting a cute Totoro hat and also the designer of the exhibit, the original display for Solanin in the Mito musuem was a long black hallway that eventually lead to the room we’re familiar with in the story. In this display, we only see the room however the outer frame of the room is jet black and cleanly displayed quotes from the series. Some of the most meaningful, albeit banal, lines in the manga.

I told a friend with me to read those lines first before going in the room. Reading through the words and the darkness that surrounds you only bring you further into this deep emotional confusion which the manga has wonderfully shown. Once you’re done, you take a seat in “Meiko’s” room. My friend said that there was a sense of emotional exhaustion after reading through the lines. She hasn’t read the manga and yet she understood what the manga was all about. I, for one, had a very moving experience in this room. Solanin is one of my life manga, a manga that strongly captured a portion of my life. To see the Solanin exhibit, as I shared with its designer, gave shivers down my spine and almost brought me to tears because it was truly moving. It was solemn, reflective, and very meaningful.

All in all, it is probably the best manga exhibit that I have been to. It was a whole lot better than the Kingdom of Characters display showed in the Metropolitan Musuem. The curator, designers, and the team that brought it to the Ayala Museum put a lot of love and respect for manga to truly make the panels alive in the exhibit. When I expected large blowups of manga panels, I was actually shown how the pages can come to life. Manga truly became alive in this exhibition.

What I also love about this manga is unlike other exhibits, this actually engages the participant into the world of manga. I felt that it was not so much about showing how great manga can get through framed panels but how real and vibrant this medium can be. It is a humble, almost vulnerable, exhibit of Japanese reality through manga. It is a very intimate experience and I think it’s best to be in the exhibit rather than listening to me talk about it. It’ll definitely worth it, whether you’re a manga reader or not.

For fans in the Philippines, this is an exhibit that you should not miss. I suggest that you try and have a chance to read the manga (Beck, Nodame, Children of the Sea, Solanin are easily available!) before heading to the exhibit so that you can have the chance to understand what the Exhibit is trying to show us. For those who are curious, it is still a wonderful display, one that might convince you that manga is not just for kids. Manga is a reality not only for the Japanese, but for us as well.

Unfortunately, the Manga Realities Exhibit ends with its stop in the Philippines. I’m quite sure something like this would be appreciated by everyone, but until then, I offer my pictures to share this wonderful exhibit and experience.