By Noma Faingold

Manga has a rich past, an impactful present and a transformative future. The Fine Arts Museums of San Franciso recognize the current zeitgeist by presenting the “Art of Manga,” the largest manga exhibition ever staged in North America.

Japanese comics and graphic novels, known as manga, have permeated pop culture around the world. The exhibition opened on Sept. 27 at the de Young Museum. It features rarely displayed genga (original drawings) by 10 major artists, including Araki Hirohiko, Oda Eiichiro, Tagame Gengoroh, Takahashi Rumiko, Yamazaki Mari and Yoshinaga Fumi. More than 600 drawings will be on display.

There will also be teachable moments, such as an installation taking visitors through the creative process of how manga is made.

The Curator: Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere, Ph.D.

“There is a manga for everybody,” Nicole Rousmaniere said, referring to the numerous manga genres, including fantasy, crime, sports, history, sexuality, friendship, food, science fiction, martial arts, humor and the human condition.

Rousmaniere, the founding director and current research director of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures in the UK, curated a more historically themed manga exhibit at the British Museum in 2019.

The Art of Manga exhibition is organized in 10 spaces, several of which showcase the original drawings of notable current artists. Two masters, Keilch Tanaami (1936-2024) and Fujio Akatsuka (1935-2008), will also be represented.

“Once you see the drawings, you can’t unsee them,” Rousmaniere said.

The creative design and layout of the show is harmonious with the artform, including that some gallery walls are painted as a grid, resembling the paper used by manga artists.

Accompanying the exhibition is an installation that takes visitors through the making of a manga, from hand drawing to printing and binding. The example used is from the celebrated 111-volume serial titled, “ONE PIECE” by Oda Eiichiro.

There is also a manga reading room.

The museum is encouraging manga enthusiasts to dress up like their favorite manga characters on “cosplay days,” Sept. 27, Oct. 25 and Dec. 6, making for ideal photo ops.

The exhibit also will teach visitors unfamiliar with manga how to read it.

“It’s the future visual language,” she said. “Manga is already in textbooks in Japan. The images are carrying the content; it goes to another part of your brain. At the end of exhibition, you will be fluent in manga.”

As a teen, Rousmaniere became fluent in Japanese by reading volumes of manga. A personal favorite artist celebrated in the show is Takahashi Rumiko, who has used humor in her art and has broken gender barriers in the male-dominated manga industry. Her latest hit, “MAO,” is being made into an anime.

“It’s gripping because it tells you about spirituality in Japan,” Rousmaniere said.

The Tattoo Artist: Mimi-Sama

The ripple effects of the manga art movement have spread wide throughout the Bay Area and beyond.

Award-winning, globetrotting tattoo artist (Anna) Mimi-Sama started specializing in manga designs six years ago. She created a signature style she calls, “mangala,” which combines manga characters and themes with background geometric patterns, inspired by historical Japanese Kamon (family crests) and contemporary pop culture.

Sama, 38, who lived and worked in San Francisco from 2021-2024 at Black Serum Tattoo studio in the Mission, now leads a nomadic life, having created her art in more than 20 countries, including Japan, Singapore, France, Germany and Nepal. She travels to tattoo conventions/expos all over the U.S. and returns to Black Serum periodically to work mostly on repeat clients.

“I never do the same mangala design,” she said. “I have my own style with my own colors that no one else uses.”

Born in Portugal and raised in France, Sama did not have any formal art training, but she was drawing since she was a child. She got introduced to manga by a friend when she was 8 years old. It was “Battle Angel Alita” (known as Ganmu in Japan), a 1990s series created by Yukito Kishiro.

“It’s sci-fi and has a female hero,” Sama said. “It was very aggressive and dark.”

Soon Sama was collecting manga comics, including first editions. Her curated stash fills three bookshelves.

“Japanese culture has had a big effect on me forever,” Sama said. “I like the way manga artists create a universe around the images. I can see emotion on the paper – the positions, the eyes, the clothing – it all carries emotion. I like to translate that from the paper to the skin. I love how the skin reacts to the needles. I love to create something that’s alive.”

One afternoon and evening in early September, Sama was working on manga tattoos for a couple. Bennett Boisjolie, 26, of Belmont, who has collaborated with Sama many times in the last two years, was getting a new arm tattoo of hero Tengen Uzui from the super popular “Demon Slayer” series.

The recently released anime, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba The Movie: Infinity Castle,” is the highest-grossing Japanese film ever ($555 million and counting). It topped the U.S. box office charts in its first two weeks ($104.7 million), breaking anime records in North America.

Sama said the new tattoo would require a seven-hour session. She had already completed the lower arm tattoo of Kyōjurō Rengoku (another character from “Demon Slayer”) for Boisjolie’s girlfriend, Taylor Falt, 29.

Because the Bay Area is Sama’s most in-demand market, she is able to charge a premium.

Boisjolie’s latest body art costs more than $2,000.

“I’m an expensive one,” she said.

The Bookstore Owner: Brian Hibbs

Brian Hibbs was working at a comic book shop in the Haight when he was 16. By age 18, Hibbs was managing a small chain of three stores. He was enrolled at City College of San Francisco when he decided to open his own shop at a space on Divisadero Street, which he named Comix Experience.

“I thought it was like still being in high school,” he said. “I knew I would learn more in the real world by starting a business. I was certainly overconfident. If I knew what I knew today, I would have slapped that kid so hard and told him he was insane. But s— worked out.”

It’s 36 years later and Hibbs has never looked back.

At the time, he raised $10,000 by selling his comic book collection and convincing several adults to co-sign $1,000 loans. The first year was brutal. He worked seven days a week. But he stuck to his mission of putting the creators first, above the publishers.

“Most stores are clubhouses for what the owner wants,” Hibbs said. “Most people who own comic stores are D.C. fans or Marvel fans, so they want a superhero story. It wasn’t that for me. I didn’t care about the companies. I cared about the art form.”

He continues to study all different types of comics. Throughout the last decade, when manga started becoming popular in the U.S., Hibbs immersed himself in manga.

“Comics are comics,” he said, even though the style of art, the pace of storytelling and the frequency of releases might be different in Japan. “What people like about them is that they’re never-ending stories in a big world with vast mythologies. Some are 70 or 80 years old.”

The shop carries about 8,500 books. Manga accounts for 10% of sales. What keeps Hibbs loving owning Comix Experience is introducing customers to new creators and new genres.

“There’s nothing more fun than setting someone on fire,” he said.

The Superfan: Kevin Tagupa

On social media, Kevin Tagupa, 30, uses the moniker, Kana Manga. He frequently goes live on TikTok because he likes talking about and answering questions about manga. He is attentive, even if only a handful of followers are in the chat.

“It’s fun to talk to people about manga and anime,” he said.

Born in Berkeley, Tagupa was first introduced to anime at age 2 by his mother. There was a lengthy period in his late teens and early 20s when he was a competitive video gamer. Six years ago, his doctor strongly advised him to stop, as he was staring at screens for 10-12 hours a day and damaging his vision.

The Academy of Art graduate with a degree in film got heavily into manga 16 years ago. He prefers the print medium to anime. (Successful manga serials are often produced as feature-length anime or as a series.)

“As a collector, I want that physical thing,” he said. “It’s more impressive on the shelf.”

Tagupa, a Walnut Creek resident, who manages an escape room, has spent more than $15,000 on manga materials and activities in the last six years. He goes to several conventions and watches streaming anime platforms, such as Crunchyroll.

“It’s an expensive hobby,” he said.

He is looking forward to visiting the Art of Manga exhibit, especially the art of Araki Hirohiko, who is best known for the long-running, multiple iterations of “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.”

“He has a unique art style that stands out,” Tagupa said. “He pulls his inspiration from fashion magazines and Renaissance statues.”

Art of Manga runs until Jan. 25, 2026 at the de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr. For more information on special events, go to famsf.org.