London (AFP)

The largest exhibition dedicated to mangas outside Japan opens Thursday at the British Museum in London, offering a journey from the traditional roots of this art form to the current industry that brews billions.

"The manga is the most popular narrative form today," says Hartwig Fischer, director of the British Museum, during the presentation of "Citi Exhibition Manga".

The exhibition traces the evolution of the manga, from the spectacular drawings of great Japanese artists like Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) to the global phenomenon of Pokémon and the animated films (or anime) Oscar of Ghibli studio.

"There is something about the commitment that makes the manga special," says Nicole Rousmaniere, curator of Japanese arts. "The visual language translates the background very very quickly, because of the power of the line".

"I think in Japan it has to do with the fact that when you do calligraphy, when you look at the characters, your brain is already conditioned to have this graphic content," she says.

Visitors can learn how to correctly read a manga - which can be translated as "unsuccessful drawing", "exaggerated", or "caricature" - but also to observe delicate sketches of the famous "Dragon Ball" franchise, or to discover the influence of the "god of the manga" Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989), who created emblematic characters like Astro Boy ("Astro the little robot", in France) or Princess Sapphire.

- "At the forefront" -

Other works are more raw, visceral, exploring more complex themes.

"It's about telling the stories of many people who feel that their stories are not told," says Rousmaniere. "It has always been at the forefront, drawn by people who feel a little different (...) No need to have money to be able to draw a manga, you can throw it on a rough piece of paper, which many people have done elsewhere. "

One of these artists is Gengoroh Tagame, one of the most influential creators of gay manga, known for his striking representations of sadomasochism. "The manga is a very casual media, so reading manga is very easy (...) and using the manga to represent social issues has a lot of impact," he says.

Rejecting even more the idea that cartoons are made only for children, painstaking works are looking into the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 or the Kobe earthquake in 1995.

In a lighter register, visitors will be able to pose to generate a digital image of themselves in different manga styles.

In 2016, the industry generated a turnover of 3.4 billion euros, and its popularity is expected to increase with the cross-platform franchising it engages.

In addition, manga characters are widely used as avatars by users to create virtual identities. "There is a manga for everyone, for literally every subject," says Ms. Rousmaniere.

But the ability to create mangas digitally has now become a threat to fans of traditional manga, she worries. "I think that drawing by hand will eventually disappear."

? 2019 AFP