The draw at Anime Expo? Manga

DURING the last five years, Japanese comic books known as manga have taken over the U.S. graphic novel market, and beginning this Saturday, many of those books, along with their creators, will be showcased at the annual Anime Expo in Anaheim.

Now in its 15th year, the four-day exposition has entrenched itself as the go-to convention in the United States for all things related to Japanese comic books and movies.

In addition to splashy, high-tech booths manned by major manga publishers such as Viz and TokyoPop, the expo also has a masquerade, a karaoke contest, the U.S. premiere of “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie” and panel and autograph sessions featuring the likes of the Japanese manga artist collective known as Clamp.

“Anime Expo is the biggest, most important convention of the year -- it’s the one that everyone looks forward to,” says animenewsnetwork.com executive editor Zac Bertschy.

“It’s like E3 for anime and manga. All the major companies show up, and they hold all their big licensing announcements for this convention,” Bertschy adds.

Organizers say the show, which occupies three halls in the Anaheim Convention Center, is expected to draw more than 45,000 attendees, an increase of more than 30% from last year.

Though it’s called Anime Expo, the driving force behind the projected growth at this year’s convention is not Japanese animation, but manga. Head to a chain bookstore and chances are you’ll see preteens sprawled in aisles of the manga section. In fact, a Nielsen BookScan list of graphic novels sold in bookstores for the week ending Sunday shows manga titles occupying 24 of the top 25 spots.

Though the market for anime has matured, “the popularity of manga has been growing almost exponentially, and there’s still room for growth,” says Trulee Karahashi, chief financial officer of the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation, a nonprofit organization that carries out its work through the webzine Ex: The Online World of Anime & Manga, and the Anime Expo, which it owns.

“The market has been growing over 100% a year, especially on the girls’ side of the market, which is phenomenal given that the comic-book market in the U.S. has never really gained a foothold among girls,” says Karahashi, who adds that, in contrast to the U.S., manga in Japan is read by all ages.

North American publishers have taken note of the jump in female readership as well. Earlier this month, Toronto-based Harlequin Enterprises Limited -- known for its romance novels -- announced it is launching a manga-format imprint. Beginning in September, Harlequin Ginger Blossom will release manga adapted from its own novels.

Since 1998, Harlequin has licensed its stories to Japan’s Ohzora Publishing Co., and the result has been the publication in Japan of more than 250 Harlequin-based manga titles. In a bit of turnabout, Harlequin will be taking some of those manga and translating them into English for U.S. and Canadian readers.

“What we wanted to do is take the Harlequin stories -- which are quintessential romance stories -- and offer them to a wider group of readers. And obviously with manga, we’re talking about a younger group of readers,” says Pam Laycock, Harlequin’s executive vice president for new business development. “Young people today are so visually oriented, and for them, the comic format in manga has a lot of appeal.”

From a marketing standpoint, Laycock added that in contrast to manga originating in Japan, the Harlequin books are based on Western stories that “American teenage audiences can relate to, but which also have that exotic Eastern feel that makes manga special.”

At the expo, manga‘s shifting readership is reflected not only in book sales, but also in the convention’s attendance.

According to fan Elizabeth Wang, 29, who has made the trek to the convention from her San Diego home 10 years running, the show’s demographics have changed from “mostly young adult males to a younger population that is equally split between the sexes.”

“I meet a lot of parents of young people who say their kids begged them to bring them,” adds Wang, who is also a volunteer staff member at the expo.

Corresponding with the rise in the proportion of women attending the expo, there’s also been an increase in the number of attendees who are participating in “cosplay” -- dressing up as their favorite anime characters.

“It used to be only the die-hard fans dressed up, but now everywhere you turn people are in costume,” says Wang, who in prior years has attended the expo as anime characters from “Chobits” and “InuYashi.”

“The costumes have become more elaborate, and sometimes you laugh when you see people with full-scale wings trying to get through a door,” she says.

Not surprisingly, the Monday night masquerade is one of the convention’s most popular events, drawing cosplayers and looky-loos alike.

Though this year’s guest list includes the likes of Seiji Mizushima, director of the “Fullmetal Alchemist” series, the real coup is the appearance of the four female artists who make up Clamp: Satsuki Igarashi, Ageha Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi and Mokona.

“Clamp are the biggest guests to show up at an anime convention ever -- the only way you could outdo Clamp is if they had announced Hayao Miyazaki,” animenewsnetwork.com’s Bertschy says, referring to the creator of such films as “Spirited Away” and “Princess Mononoke.” “Pretty much everything they do is a blockbuster success. They’re like the Steven Spielberg of manga.” Since 1989, the quartet has been at the forefront of the U.S. manga and animation scene, having authored more than 20 manga series, many of which have been adapted into anime, including “Tsubasa,” “Chobits,” “xxxHOLiC” and “Cardcaptor Sakura.”

“This will be Clamp’s first tour of the U.S.,” Anime Expo Vice Chair Liyin Liang adds. “A lot of the artists don’t make appearances in Japan, and as a result, the Anime Expo may be the only chance for their fans to meet and see them.”

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Anime Expo

Where: Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim

When: Noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday and Monday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday

Price: Adults: $30 for one day; $45 for two days; $55 for four days. Children, 12 and younger: $25, includes all four days; 5 and younger get in free with paying adult. All ages: $15 for a one-day exhibit hall pass (does not include panels and other events).

Info: www.anime-expo.org