Review

Saturday 5th April 2008
Urbis – How Manga Took Over The World Exhibition.

Having spent the previous weeks researching for the ‘Artist’ Flash brief on Hayao Miyazaki – Studio Ghibli Director/Animator – I was looking forward to visiting this Urbis Exhibition. I was looking forward to learning more about Manga – I have always liked what I have seen, but didn’t really know in-depth about it – and also, I was hoping the exhibition would give me some more inspiration to put towards my project as I read that there would be a Studio Ghibli section.
On arrival, looking up to the first floor where the exhibition was, I was greeted with the bright colours and eye-catching typography and characters that we associate with Manga.
Going into the exhibition and looking around, it quickly became apparent that this was more of a basic overall look into Manga. The ‘Cute Manga’ section, which supposedly had a Studio Ghibli section, didn’t really go into depth about it. There was some artwork, which showcased the cute side of Manga and also a glass case, which showcased the products that have become popular in the west, mainly little collectables, bags and Hello Kitty things. Looking further around it seemed the same had been applied all over. While I was disappointed overall there were some pieces of artwork that impressed me (mainly the Star Wars characters done in Manga-style which was a huge mural on the all, and the use of Manga today, for example, in the current Vodafone adverts you see on the billboards).
Overall I felt that the exhibition was catered mainly for the novices to Manga – which I thought I was, but even for me I found it too basic. However there were a few nice touches here and there and also with the exhibition running until September, they are going to put on films during the summer, something that I am definitely looking forward to; especially as some are going to be Studio Ghibli films and there are one or two that I haven’t seen and would love to see on the big screen.