Manga Mania
Manga Mania is the initiative organized by laFeltrinelli to explore one of the most interesting literary phenomena of recent years, capable of approaching and conquering transversal audiences, that is the manga and its literary and artistic imagery, active until May 25 in all over 100 Feltrinelli Libraries in Italy and online. This Saturday 21 May 2022 at the Feltrinelli piazza Piemonte in Milan cosplay is the protagonist with an entire afternoon of talks, workshops, activities and fashion shows, aimed at the fans and curious of the world.Manga Mania : a day dedicated to cosplay
Cosplay Day, this is how the theme day is called, is organized in collaboration with Lucca Comics & Games in which there will be live and direct on Instagram by the Cosplay Italia community, animation and fun at do not finish.The public will be able to parade with their own costumes and be evaluated during the day by a jury composed of NadiaSk, Mogu Cosplay, Gaia Giselle. The first three selected will be awarded, respectively, with an entrance ticket to the 2022 edition of Lucca Comics & Games and with two laFeltrinelli Gift Cards.
From 5.00 pm there will be workshops dedicated to the Cosplay Challenge, a journey, conducted from Mogu Cosplay, through the phenomenon of international competitions, from Japan to Europe, to Latin America, and to Cosmaking, to discover together with Gaia Giselle and NadiaSK the various steps that lead to the creation of a cosplay: from the study of costumes , the research, the processing of materials, the conception of the performance, up to the representation on stage.
‘Super Mario Manga Mania’ Book Review: A Fascinating Snapshot Of A Classic Gaming Manga
Back in the early 90s, CoroCoro Comic started running its own Super Mario manga called Super Mario-kun. Several decades later and the manga, penned by Yukio Sawada, is still ongoing. So this little collection of stories is a fascinating initial foray into a wonderfully silly world.
To give a bit of context and history here, while you may be aware of Weekly Shounen Jump and all the licenses that has birthed, from Dragon Ball to Naruto and now even Demon Slayer, CoroCoro Comic by contrast handles a younger audience.
Aimed at elementary school boys, CoroCoro Comic has handled all manner of famous works, from Doraemon to Pokémon. However, while Shueisha publishes weekly Shounen Jump, that company is partly owned by Shogakukan and it is this company that publishes CoroCoro Comic.
All of this is important when you realize what CoroCoro Comic is trying to do and who Super Mario-kun is aimed at. In that, this Super Mario manga is meant to introduce kids to the world of our favorite Italian plumber and its stories are more akin to silly nursery tales than anything else.
With that in mind, this book is meant as a very brief snapshot of the nearly three decades worth of stories that Yukio Sawada has concocted. That is no mean feat and Sawada has done his best to hand pick some of his highlights.
However, this small collection of stories spans events from games such as Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy, among others. So this feels somewhat well timed with the recent release of Super Mario 3D All-Stars on the Switch.
The manga itself is joyfully drawn and it retains the original Japanese reading order for the panels, something a helpful guide at the back of book explains.
'Super Mario Manga Mania' is a wonderfully fun manga suitable for all ages.
Nintendo, VIZ MediaYou also get Sawada’s take on his work, as well as how he goes about creating the manga.
While Super Mario-kun has enjoyed decades of success with kids in Japan, I do feel that this collection of stories from the long-running manga will probably be best appreciated by gamers who grew up playing Super Mario in the 80s and 90s (like me).
The stories are fun though and work as bedtime reading for kids, something the foreword even recommends.
My only hope is that we will see more of this manga released outside of Japan, after this initial collection is released this month.
Overall, Super Mario Manga Mania is a lovely little collection of classic gaming manga and suitable for all ages. Although long-time residents of the Mushroom Kingdom will likely enjoy this more than the kids it was originally aimed at.
Super Mario Manga Mania is released on December 8 from VIZ Media and is available to pre-order from Amazon for $8.99.
Disclosure: VIZ Media sent me a copy of this book for the purposes of this review.
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