Exhibit Review - Mangatopia: 30 years of manga from Kana!

 By Pascal Lefèvre

 Mangatopia. Comics Arts Museum, Brussels, Belgium. October 16, 2026 - May 17, 2027. https://www.comicscenter.net/en/exhibitions/the-great-temporary-exhibitions/mangatopia

An impressive manga exhibition is running at the Comic Art Museum in Brussels. It is, without a doubt, one of the most remarkable events ever hosted within this beautiful Art Nouveau building. It holds broad appeal, captivating both dedicated manga fans and a wider general audience.

 The exhibition marks the thirtieth anniversary of Kana, the manga imprint of the major French comic publisher Dargaud. More recently, in 2024, an English-language imprint version was launched by Abrams ComicsArt. An enormous catalogue has emerged over the course of three decades - a challenging task for a curator. Therefore the comics museum enlisted the help of the prominent Belgian manga specialist Frederico Anzalone. I’ll let him introduce himself:

 Anzalone: “I am a Belgian critic, graphic designer, and exhibition curator specializing in comics and manga, working between Brussels and Tokyo. I am a contributor to the RTBF (Belgians French language public service broadcaster) program Galaxies BD and write for renowned French-language magazines such as Atom and Tempura. I also head the Prix Asie de la Critique (Asia Critics’ Prize) for the ACBD (the French association of comics critics and journalists) and serve as a jury member for the American Manga Awards in New York.

How did you become such a manga specialist?

Born in 1987, I grew up watching Japanese animated series broadcast on French-language television—most notably on the children’s show Club Dorothée—and later discovered manga in print, which became a great passion of mine. Over the years, through various encounters, I found opportunities to turn this passion into a profession, while continuing to work part-time as a graphic designer—my original trade. I speak a little Japanese, though I am still very much in the process of learning.”

Fig. 1. Takeru Hokazono (2023) printed page of digital art from Kagurabachi and story board (photo Pascal Lefèvre)

How did you go about selecting titles from a catalog as vast as Kana’s? What were your primary selection criteria?

Anzalone: “My goal was to showcase the diversity of manga—to represent the full spectrum of genres available at Kana, ranging from the mainstream to the more niche. This includes lesser-known or less-publicized facets of the medium, such as the works of Shohei Manabe and Tsutomu Takahashi, who offer deeply researched portrayals of the underbelly of Japanese society, as well as the work of Murasaki Yamada, which provides a poignant depiction of the lives of Japanese housewives. Another important criterion was simply the availability of the original artwork: I gave more space to authors whose original pages (or replicas of those originals) could be exhibited. Finally, although the selection is subjective, I made sure not to let my own personal tastes dictate the choice of works. Above all, I have to keep the audience in mind.”

Fig. 2. Murasaki Yamada (1981) original art from Shinkirari (Talk to My Back). A story about the loneliness of a house wife. This scene shows just how much the lonely woman misses her absent husband. (photo Pascal Lefèvre)

Guest curator Anzalone has thus chosen a magnificent selection from the vast Kana catalog. The exhibition features work by around forty mangaka (manga artists). As in many manga exhibitions most of them are reproductions, of which 39 are fukusei genga, high-quality facsimile print of original artwork. What is remarkable is that also 36 original pages (including many spreads) are showcased. In addition, one can encounter mangaka drawing tools, some original Japanese publications—such as an issue of the magazine Margaret featuring The Rose of Versailles on the cover. Scattered throughout the exhibition are short videos containing documentaries and interviews with some of the exhibited authors. In the case of a few young female authors, their actual faces remain hidden behind a simple, hand-drawn character head; they prefer not to be easily recognized in public. All text in the exhibition is in three languages: English, French, and Dutch.

Fig. 3. Riyoko Ikeda (1973) fukusei genga (facsimile print of the original page) of The Rose of Versailles (photo Pascal Lefèvre)

Moving away from conventional categorizations — such as those based on target readership or genre — the curator has organized the material using the metaphor of ten distinct city districts. These are described in evocative, poetic terms, such as "The Cherry Blossom District": "A district that invites introspection, a place where feelings, relationships, and emotions take center stage." Or “Hidden Backstreets,” where you can discover the lesser-known facets of Japanese society. Each section starts with an overview of the theme, followed by shorter texts that focus on specific works on display. These sharp, concise analyses help the visitor gain a better understanding of the pieces, both in terms of their content and their artistic form. It is, therefore, not an issue at all if you are not yet familiar with a particular author or their work; in fact, this approach might just inspire you to pick up and read some of these titles afterward. Across these various sections, one meets a wide range of works: from classics of the 1970s (such as Riyoko Ikeda’s The Rose of Versailles) to contemporary bestsellers like Gosho Aoyama’s Detective Conan (renamed Case Closed in the United States). Or from action-packed pages such as Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk to very subdued, slow sequences of intimate stories such as Kazuo Kamimura’s.

Fig. 4. Drawing tools used by Takeshi Obata (photo Pascal Lefèvre)

Although the exhibition focuses exclusively on titles translated by Kana, it still provides a clear sense of the creative diversity that defines manga — a diversity that is often still underestimated. Above all, Mangatopia is also a salute to the artistic and narrative power of the comics medium in general.

Fig. 5. Jirô Taniguchi (script Moebius & Annestay) original art of Ikaru (photo Pascal Lefèvre)