ZAP // Dall-E-2
Anime, manga and video games are nowadays recognized in Japan as autonomous art forms, with their own place in countless exhibitions — which this year marked Tokyo’s cultural itinerary, attracting Japanese culture lovers to the city who travel from all over the world in search of its pop production.
In the early days of the anime industry, production materials were seen as disposable, and the most devoted fans would come to rummage through rubbish bins of studios in search of possible gems.
Currently, in Japan, these same materials are considered art. In 2025, the number and variety of exhibitions dedicated to anime, manga, video games and other elements of Japanese pop culture has increased significantly.
This month alone, the city of Tokyo hosts exhibitions that celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Neon Genesis Evangelion“; Yoshikazu Yasuhikothe visionary character designer and animation director of “Mobile Suit Gundam”; the successful manga of the 80s “City Hunter“; the work of the acclaimed animator Takeshi Honda; and also video games from publisher Capcom, such as “Street Fighter” and “Resident Evil”.
These exhibitions take place in different spaces, from the Ueno Royal Museum to the Anime Tokyo Station, opened in 2023, the most recent permanent space dedicated to displaying and preserving anime-related artincluding animation transparencies, sets and planning materials.
Last year, the manga publisher’s first dedicated exhibition space also opened, which debuted with an exhibition of original art by “One Piece”, followed by “Bleach” scrolls blessed in a Buddhist ceremony and a future three-part exhibition dedicated to the art of “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure”.
Anime, manga and video games became recognized as art forms autonomous, but there are also a financial side to take into account in this growing universe of exhibitions, notes .
In the last decade, the sales of physical media such as DVDs and Blu-raysonce financial pillars of the anime industry, decreasedwhile income from live events, such as concerts, have increased.
The same applies to the sale of printed sleevewhich has been giving way to manga applications and websites. According to a report from the Association of Japanese Animations, anime-related museums and exhibitions generated a record 17.3 billion yen, about 94 million euros, in 2023.
A boom in post-pandemic tourism brought even more public to this type of exhibition, with many passionate about Japanese culture to travel to the country attracted by its pop production — despite the “scare” in the middle of the year, caused by the prophecy of Ryo Tatsukiauthor who gained notoriety in 2011 with “The future I saw”, which in July. It didn’t happen.
Anime and manga exhibitions are, for many fans, a badge of honorand temporary exhibitions become part of a unique itineraryalong with permanent exhibitions such as , also quite popular in its own right.
But not all exposures have the same impact. Curators have to decide how to best use the available space and the works they can present.
Some shows opt for a chronological route and straight behind the scenes, while others are more conceptuallike this year’s “,” which used the monster from the films as a starting point for new pieces of original art.
When using original materials, the anime produced before the 2000s there are certain advantages: it was animated with hand-painted acetates that can be admired up close.
Currently, the anime continues to be drawn mostly by handbut the drawings are digitized and finished in animation softwareor created directly on digital tablets, which results in less physical material to observe.
This difference is visiblefor example, in the exhibition “”, on display at Tokyo City View in Roppongi Hills, which features materials from both the original 1995 television series and the 2000s reinvention films.
Other exhibitions bring the public even closer to artactively involving the manga or anime artists themselves.
The Setagaya Literary Museum’s retrospective on Masamune Shirowknown for classics like “Appleseed” e “Ghost in the Shell”presented extensive notes from the author himself, which brought new light to his cyberpunk universe and its influences, including a voracious appetite for scientific journals — perhaps the reason why his work seems so ahead of its time. The fact that the notes had an excellent English translation also helped.
In 2026, a retrospective of the various anime adaptations of Shirow’s manga “Ghost in the Shell” is planned, among other exhibitions, including a look at the production of the popular anime film “Look Back“.
There is no single formula for a successful exhibition. Some may rely on the participation of the artists themselves, while others depend on access to archives and careful curation.
Although some exhibits may appear mere commercial pretextsthe best ones offer visitors a new perspective on their favorite titles — and remind them that even the most epic mangas and animes begin with someone to sit down and put pencil to paper.
