For those of us who were teenagers in the 2000s, Japanese animanga was an inescapable fact of life, just as K-pop is today. Whether we loved it or ridiculed those who did, manga clubs, comic books and television series dominated our daily activities.
Since then, Taiwan has had its fair share of Japanese comic exhibitions and cosplay festivals. The latest incarnation of this ongoing trend is the One Piece (海賊王) exhibition at Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914創意文化園區), which is titled after the well known Japanese comic of the same name. And despite being slightly overpriced at NT$320 per ticket, the exhibition, which is the first of its kind outside of Japan, succeeds at tapping into manga nostalgia.
NAVIGATING STORMY SEAS
Photo: Dana Ter
The displays are based on One Piece, a popular comic book and television series created in 1997 by Japanese cartoonist Eiichiro Oda.
The series — and exhibition — revolves around the adventures of a pirate king who assembles a crew of colorful characters with special powers as they search for One Piece, the most prized treasure of the stormy seas.
The rooms, designed as a life-sized maze, replicate the feeling of being inside a comic strip, where visitors each become a character in the story. Each room is designed to be another piece of the puzzle and visitors amass clues about the fate of each character as they move along in the exhibition.
The first room introduces the main characters — Luffy the Pirate King, Roronoa Zolo, Nami and Tony Tony Chopper. Their mugshots with the words “dead or alive” are plastered all over the walls. With floor-to-ceiling comic strips, three video presentations and interactive displays including a peek-a-boo window, the exhibition transports visitors to the Kingdom of Dressrosa, where the action takes place.
Even those unfamiliar with the story should have no problem picking up on its plotline — given that you can read and understand Mandarin as there are no English-language captions.
Visitors, mostly in their twenties and families with young children, were obviously die-hard fans. Some came in One Piece t-shirts, while the more adventurous wore costumes.
‘SELFIES’ PROHIBITED
From Hello Kitty to wild animal specimens, exhibitions around Taipei have been adapting to the “selfie” culture with displays serving the sole purpose of acting as backdrops for picture-taking. As one would be naturally inclined to think that an exhibition focused on manga would follow this trend, it came as quite a disappointment that photography is prohibited.
Looked at from another perspective, the no photography rule is refreshing because viewers can enjoy the art as it is, pre-mobile phone camera. Each display is meticulously labeled with the name of the episode and release date. And by concentrating on reading the comics and watching the short films, viewers are able to more fully immerse themselves into the story.
The illustrations are curated in a way that allows visitors to appreciate Oda’s craftsmanship. The last few rooms are devoted to showcasing his sketches and their subsequent transformation into comic strips and animations. A mockup of Oda’s work station is also on view, as well as his thought process in the form of rough sketches spiraling downwards from the ceiling to his desk.
With displays that highlight the depth and quality of the art itself, even those who mock manga might find something to muse over here, rather than writing it off as simply another comic exhibition riding the waves of a pop culture fad.
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