2012 Taoyuan International Comic Exhibition

Courtesy of TRA News

This exhibition I found quite by accident. My husband (the non-otaku) was watching the evening news and a story came on about comic exhibitions in northern Taiwan.  I gasped and told him to freeze as he reached for the remote control.  With a sigh, he shook his head and muttered, “Oh, great. There she goes.”  Then as soon as I got the location and name of the place, I jumped online and did a quick search.  Practically jumping in my chair, I quickly sent the info to my fellow otome and we made plans to go!

At the Exhibition

Although there were actually two exhibitions in town, I headed out to the Taoyuan Exhibition because that’s where my friend lives and because there were more days left of that exhibition than the one in Taipei.  Not sure exactly what to expect, we had both brought extra money in the hopes of scoring some manga or collectibles of our favorite series. 

We entered into the exhibit hall (free admission!), eyes aglow, and were a bit disappointed to see a set-up that seemed more appropriate in a museum, with mecha action figures behind glass display cases and large art pieces hanging farther back.  Where were all the otakus and collectibles?  Well, as in turns out this comic exhibition did not focus on the more popular and mainstream manga after all.  Instead it was more of a showcase for local artists as well as little known international manga artists. 

Taiwanese Artist - Akru  Photo Source link

I browsed through the many cases of mecha action figures, but as robot figurines aren’t really my thing, I eventually made my way back to the art pieces.  Most of the art was quite good and I wouldn’t have minded a few of the pictures gracing my walls at home.  (Like this one, which was my favorite picture out of the whole exhibition-->)  It was also pretty interesting to see the art of local Taiwanese comic artists, and made me feel strangely patriotic (considering I only have an alien resident card in Taiwan. But what can I say, I’m proud of my 2^nd home ^_^).  

      To really get the most out of the exhibition it probably would have been better to come on a Saturday.  Most of the events, like the music concert inspired by songs from anime soundtracks and the cosplay competition, sounded very cool, but alas . . . I work on Saturday (T-T).  Still, it was an enjoyable excursion spent with my fellow otome, and I did enjoy the art.  Sigh . . and I guess I did save a lot of money since there weren’t any collectibles.  That’s another positive . . . right?  Though I’m pretty sure next year, I will be sure to attend the Taipei Comic Exhibition instead. (Collectibles, here I come!)

Like Akru's art?  Feel free to visit this artist's blog:  http://akru.blog13.fc2.com/  (Quick heads up though -  it's all in Chinese!) 

*-*And next post will be all about the maid cafe ~ Fatimaid!  Stay tuned!