Manga and anime — the pillars of Japanese pop culture — are an important, yet surprising, part of the Middle East’s youth culture: A generation grew up on cartoons such as Captain Majid and Grendizer, both of them anime, or Japanese animation (manga refers to Japanese comics).
“Sometimes people don’t realise how much history anime and manga have in the Middle East,” says Arafaat Ali Khan, the man behind this weekend’s Ani: Me festival in Abu Dhabi, as well as the annual Middle East Film and Comic Con in Dubai. “In the 1980s, you had one or two [TV] channels. You would have your morning cartoons, which included Tom and Jerry, but we also had these amazing animated series that were beautifully dubbed into Arabic. These were anime, but we didn’t know this was a Japanese product. People adopted this as their own.”
That recognition is what convinced Khan to launch the three-day festival, at du Forum, from October 27-29.
“People might say, ‘I don’t know what you are talking about’,” when you mention manga or anime. “Mention these, and they light up.”
The festival features celebrities from the worlds of manga and anime, including artists such as Shinji Hiramatsu, Yasuhiro Naito and Long Vo; and voice artist Todd Haberkorn.
Not ringing a bell? Don’t worry. This event is a way to dip your toe into not only manga and anime, but other elements of Japanese culture, both pop and traditional.
“It’s like Comic Con in terms of pop culture — we are trying to make an event that can be enjoyed by everyone, and thrill hard-core fans,” adds Khan. Dubai’s Comic Con started seven years ago, and was a revelation — a previously untapped, and underserved community of costumed pop culture fans emerged from the shadows. He’s hoping to create a similar scenario for Abu Dhabi with Ani: Me — an annual event that brings in stars in its field.
One of those stars is Yoshitaka Amano, an artist, scenery and costume designer known for his work on the Final Fantasy franchise. He rarely does events like Ani: Me, says Khan.
In Abu Dhabi, Amano will be selling off a $3.5 million (Dh12 million) exhibition of art called Panther.
This four-metre long work has been exhibited, but never put up for sale.
“The fact he agreed is very special for the fans over here. It is our first show so we have a lot to develop, but for a first show I think the line-up is quite special. Even for me, I am a comic book guy, I am so happy that we managed to get it.”
There are plenty of traditional Japanese activities to try out — the photo booths, or purikura, for example, perfect for groups of friends; a precursor to SnapChat filters, they superimpose images onto the user’s picture, then print out the fun on a sheet of stickers.
Head to the main stage to see pop acts — Sanasenabona, Maidreamin, Her Ghost Friend, Jam Project and Flow — interspersed with a cosplay, or costume play, competition and samurai sword displays.
Showcasing the two extremes of modern Japanese life, are a photo booth with appearances by Hatsune Miku, and the performances by biwa player Yuiko Mizushima. How so?
Well, Miku is a virtual reality pop star (yep — she’s animated) who nonetheless fills stadiums and has performed on TV shows.
Mizushima, on the other hand, is one of the few pro female biwa players, performing on the lute-like instrument that arrived in Japan in the seventh century.
“I can safely out of the Japanese content that we have, there’s about 60-70 per cent that is coming from Japan; out of that, about 80 per cent have not been seen in this part of the world,” says Khan.
Other cultural highlights include calligraphy, origami, a ramen chef brought over from Japan, moochi (a traditional rice dish) and amezaiku candy. “It’s a candy art form, you can it eat it but it’s so beautiful at the same time.”
There’s also a six-metre-high Grendizer inflatable, representing one of the most popular cartoons, which also has a local following.
There are a lot of things you can appreciate from different angles. If you are expecting one thing, you will get that and hopefully ten other things that will excite.”
Of course Ami: Me isn’t the only pop-culture celebration going on in the UAE this weekend — PopCon, a more Western-focused event takes place in Dubai.
“There will be people that want to do those similar competing events,” says Khan, adding that the next MEFCC takes place April 6-8, 2017. “We encourage competing as that reflects on us as a region. We are hoping that guests leave happy and satisfied — at the end of the day, they go back and say, the fans are awesome, and that helps grow our pop culture community, as long as it’s done right.”
He’s also hoping the Japanese guests go home with a better understanding of the popularity of their culture in the Middle East.
“A lot of [people] in Japan are not aware of events in this part of the world. It’s been an interesting learning opportunity from both sides. I really hope that this event will show them how important Japanese culture is to us in the Middle East.”
*Ani: Me is at du Forum, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, on October 27 (11am-9pm), and October 28-29 (11am-10pm). Entry is Dh150 for a day pass, Dh350 for three days and Dh650 for a VIP three-day pass (children under five enter for free). Tickets are discounted if bought in advance on ticketmaster.ae.
