{"id":477042,"date":"2025-10-06T00:57:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T00:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/477042\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T00:57:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T00:57:27","slug":"cosplay-meets-fine-art-at-the-de-youngs-new-manga-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/477042\/","title":{"rendered":"Cosplay meets fine art at the de Young\u2019s new Manga exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jyke Telmo and Sam Bell crossed the Bay from Alameda to Golden Gate Park on Saturday morning, striding into the de Young Museum in full cosplay as Jotaro Kujo and Noriaki Kakyoin from their favorite manga, \u201cJoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure.\u201d The arrival set the tone for a show where fans are not just spectators but part of the spectacle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI really believe that manga is an art, and it\u2019s always been an art \u2014 even though my family will say otherwise,\u201d Telmo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cArt of Manga,\u201d on display at the de Young, is one of the first large-scale exhibitions of its type in the U.S. The exhibition opened Saturday, with fans from across the Bay Area flocking to the basement gallery, dressed head-to-toe as their favorite characters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AKyo cosplayed as Jolyne Cujoh from \u201cJoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure: Part 6.\u201d \u201cI met this character when I was 12, and at that time I\u2019d never seen a girl character as tough as her.\u201d
\n\"ThreeFrom left, Brianne as Iggy from \u201cJoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure,\u201d Kim as \u201cone of the sex bullets,\u201d and Brena as Gyro Zeppelli from \u201cJoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure: Part 7.\u201d\u200b\"ALeslie Xiong as Trish from \u201cJoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind.\u201d \u201cShe\u2019s basically finding her own path, so that\u2019s what I really like about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the entrance, the mood is more Pop Mart than museum, with dozens of Japanese vending machines. Inside the gallery, the exhibition tells the story of a dynamic global art form, traced through a timeline of styles and era-defining artists.<\/p>\n

The gallery walls have been transformed with sketches, comic-strips, murals, and digital art. The show assembles more than 600 original drawings \u2014 many being displayed outside Japan for the first time. Visitors trace the medium\u2019s evolution from early postwar creators through today\u2019s digital platforms.<\/p>\n

\u201cArt of Manga\u201d highlights the defining artists and milestones of a genre that spans humor, romance, absurdism, and queer narratives wrapped in psychedelic, if occasionally over-busy, design.<\/p>\n

For Telmo, who started reading manga at 10, seeing such a range on view in San Francisco felt both validating and overdue. <\/p>\n

\u201cI really recommend Rumiko Takahashi \u2014 she\u2019s the godmother of that genre of shojo anime and manga,\u201d he said. \u201cThis exhibit has queer, LGBTQ manga. They have such a big emphasis on that. It\u2019s wonderful that, because we\u2019re in a city that is very open, we can have these kinds of attractions, too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"FourHundreds of anime fans flocked to opening day.<\/p>\n

That inclusivity is reflected in works like Tagame Gengoroh\u2019s homoerotic stories, which helped push mainstream Japanese comics toward greater LGBTQ representation, and in Yamashita Kazumi\u2019s painterly, oil-like pages that soften the rigidity of neighboring artists.<\/p>\n

The show is also a behind-the-scenes education. Okamoto \u201cKinpachi\u201d Masashi, curator of the \u201cONE PIECE ONLY: How Manga Is Made\u201d section, said he wanted visitors to understand the production side of manga. <\/p>\n

\"AConor McDonald rocks a cumberbund as Polyurethane from \u201cPanty & Stocking,\u201d which he calls \u201cthe greatest anime of all time.\u201d\"Two\"AJohanna in a Harajuku- and Lolita-inspired outfit.\"A\u201cWhat I love about this style is that it\u2019s OK to be feminine and still feel powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNowadays, many people read \u201cOne Piece\u201d on their smartphones,\u201d he noted. \u201cBut they don\u2019t know how they are made in the factory with printing plates. We want to keep and archive them. With this exhibit, we can show people how the printing machine works and how it is made.\u201d<\/p>\n

For fans like Kelsey Malinzak, who began reading Inuyasha at age 10, the experience is personal and almost nostalgic. \u201cThis was a real full-circle moment,\u201d she said.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing an adult, living in the city now, seeing the original prints of these things that I fantasized over and got lost in as a kid \u2014 it\u2019s pretty mesmerizing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"APeter and Emi dressed as Princess Peach and Mario, and their son as Luigi. \"TwoKobeni from \u201cChainsaw Man\u201d and Monoe from \u201cYume Nikki.\u201d\"ABrey pays homage to Dio Brando from \u201cJoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood,\u201d describing the character as \u201cprobably one of my favorite villains.\u201d \"AMiki, who came as a character from \u201cPrincess Mononoke,\u201d said she\u2019s fascinated by the world envisioned by the filmmaker, Hayao Miyazaki, and how it provokes \u201cdiscussion about the importance of nature and modernization, and how can we embrace both.\u201d\"ABrian as Shanks from \u201cOne Piece.\u201d\"TwoAnime fans take a selfie.\"Five<\/p>\n