On any given day in a Tokyo summer, you can expect the weather to be hot, rainy, or a sticky mixture of the two. As such, it’s usually a good idea to have a couple of indoor activates in mind in case you need a break from the sweltering heat.
Thankfully, Japan’s capital is filled with museums, and one will be holding a special exhibition on the cultural impact of anime, manga, and video games. We’ve been looking forward to this event for a while, and now there’s even a partial list of titles that are scheduled to be highlighted.
Slated to open on June 24, the Manga * Anime * Games from Japan exhibition will be held at the National Art Center Tokyo in the Nogizaka neighborhood.
▼ The event’s promotional poster, illustrated by Mari Araki
As previously announced, the focus is on works created after 1989, the year in which legendary manga artist Osamu Tezuka, who also had a profound effect on the anime industry, passed away. While the event’s themes were outlined back in February, the organizers have recently released a tentative list of what works will be examined in each section of the exhibition.
The themes are:
1. Contemporary Heroes and Heroines (featuring Naruto, Sailor Moon, Revolutionary Girl Utena, The Seven Sins, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Dragon Quest IV, and Super Mario 3D World)
2. “Reality” as Depicted by Technology (Innocence, Denno Coil, Knights of Sidonia, Gantz, Resident Evil, Resident Evil Revelations 2, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII)
3. The Fruits of a Network Society (Voices of a Distant Star, Higurashi When They Cry, Crimson Room)
4. Encounters and Gatherings: Games as “Places” (Pokémon Red/Green, Pokémon X/Y, Seaman, Dance Dance Revolution, Taiko no Tatsujin, Street Fighter II, Ultra Street Fighter IV, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd/4G, Final Fantasy XIII/XIV)
5. The World: A Place Where Characters Dwell (K-On!, LovePlus, Uta no Prince-sama, Winning Eleven, Sengoku Basara, Hatsune Miku)
6. The Intersection of the Ordinary and the Extraordinary (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Lucky Star, Anohana: The Flower We Saw that Day)
7. A Link to Reality (Suzuki-sensei, Say “I Love You”, Ano Hi Kara no Manga, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)
8. The Creators’ Handbook (Paprika, Macross Plus, Gran Turismo 6)
Epilogue (Metropolis)
Admission costs 1,000 yen (US$8.40) at the door, while repurchasing a ticket gets you a 200-yen discount. Manga * Anime * Games from Japan is scheduled to run at the National Art Center from June 24 to August 31, but if you’re already planning to spend all summer at the beach, you’ll also be able to see it at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art in Kobe from September 19 to November 23.
Related: Manga * Anime * Games from Japan, National Arts Center Tokyo, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art
Source: IT Media
Top image: National Art Center Tokyo via Game Watch