Cowboy Bebop, cosplay, and cuisine: Manga Barcelona celebrates Japanese pop culture

Manga Barcelona returns for its 31st year this weekend after drawing a record 167,000 visitors in 2024.

"I've been coming for many, many years now," said attendee Beatriz Alcaide, cosplaying as Mario character Princess Peach. "I'm 29 and I started coming when I was 10 years old, so quite a bit of time has passed." 

The annual convention has grown to become one of Europe's largest anime and manga conventions, and plans a packed weekend of workshops, screenings, exhibitions, and performances at Fira Barcelona Gran Vía. 

"There is a great interest in Japanese culture in Catalonia," said kanji teacher Takuji, who was teaching attendees how to write their names in the Japanese writing system. Sparked by the debut of anime series Dragon Ball on Catalan public television in 1990, Barcelona has become a hub for fans of Japanese culture and media. 

One exhibition this year honors the works of Spanish authors who have been awarded in the history of the Japan International Manga Awards.

Another, Sant Jordi: From Auca to Ôtsu-e, celebrates the connection between Catalan and Japanese culture born out of a collaboration between Escola Joso in Barcelona and Seian University of Art and Design in Japan.

A professor from each institution taught a class to the students of the other school, focusing on each culture's unique form of comics: the auca, a traditional Catalan genre that uses illustrations to narrate stories in sequence, and the Ôtsu-e, a popular Japanese style of images and texts that reflect everyday life and traditional legends.

Fans of the popular anime series "Cowboy Bebop" will have plenty to look forward to this year, with soundtrack creator Yoko Kanno performing with her band SEATBELTS for her first time outside of Japan.  The show's director Shinichiro Watanabe will also participate in a one-on-one discussion with Kanno about their collaborative process. 

Other guests include manga artists Tsutomu Takahashi, Akemi Takada, and Gou Tanabe, known for his adaptations of literary works by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Japanese publishing house Kodansha will provide a feedback session for international manga artists aiming to publish their work in Japan. 

In addition to filling the convention center with stalls selling Japanese snacks and crafts, fanzines, and character figures, Manga Barcelona is highly participatory. Many attendees arrive in self-crafted cosplay ensembles and participate in cooking workshops, karaoke, gaming, or events like Cosplay Shoot, a contest for cosplayers and photographers.  

"I meet up with friends, see other cosplays, other ideas and figures. And I also love the food," said Alba Padilla, wearing a cosplay of a Hazbin Hotel character. "It's an event I wouldn't miss for the world. "