KMK: Manga Mania

Last Saturday after my whirlwind adventure through flower city I happened to stumble upon an unusual sight. You see the building right next to Flower City is an Exhibition Hall of sorts. It’s the place where the Tteok Festival was taking place at the same time as an anime fest.

The grounds from Flower City connect to the park beside the building and all of a sudden I went from popping pictures of flower and plants to seeing neon color anime ninja robots. Needless to say I bid Flower City farewell and followed the motley crew of swordsmen, ninja, nuns, and gothic soliders of darkness to the festivities.

The first thing I noticed was how darn young everyone looked. I still enjoy anime and I feel its for the young at heart and everyone, but I guess the memo didn’t go out to anyone over 18. These kids take their look seriously. They would roam in groups and then strike a fierce pose ready for the cameras totally in character.

The sheer number of people in outfits had me wondering if every single costume shop in Seoul had been raided just for this one day. The costumes were elaborate and decorative and some so realistic looking that you’d swear you were looking at an authentic demon nun cyber warrior.

The event ticket only cost 4,000won and once inside I began to realize it wasn’t so much an anime fest as a Manga mosh pit. The booths inside had authors and artists of manga fanfic who created their own divergent tales from popular books. Such a cool idea, right?

Fans could purchse artwork, buttons, bookmarks, bags, tshirts and all kinds of paraphelia plastered with their fav manga heroes and heroines. I got there at the tale end of things but still the crowds were four or five deep to get their manga swag.

If you remember last Saturday it was hot. Those kids could care less and strapped on the leather, vinyl, plastic and big giant eighties hair bang wigs like it was a cool sixty degrees. The park proved to be a refuge from the heat. Dozens of event goers rested in the shade or paraded around for each other trying out do their peers with the best pose with the most attitude. Fun times. I’m glad a wandered into all though I’d had a costume to fit in.