The de Young Museum is displaying the first ever manga themed exhibition in a major American museum, starting this Saturday, and you better believe that Saturday’s opening event has been declared a “Cosplay Day.”
It was today that I learned that the name of the popular artistic medium manga is Japanese for "pictures run riot." And I learned this upon discovering that the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park is opening a manga-specific exhibit Saturday called Art of Manga, which they’re billing as the “first large-scale exhibition in the Americas to explore manga as an art form.” The big name showing works that have never been seen before in the US is Araki Hirohiko of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fame, though the show will feature nine other artists exhibiting 600 works, in the media of art, comic books, and animated features.
“Through more than 600 drawings by influential manga artists, Art of Manga will enable visitors to gain an understanding of its creative and immersive power and the social impact of manga in the world today,” the de Young says in a release. “Holding an extensive historical Japanese prints collection, the Fine Arts Museums is the first North American museum to highlight in a major exhibition the contemporary Japanese art form which traces its roots back to Japanese painting forms, 18th- and 19th-century woodblock prints and Western comics and satire.”
KGO has a preview of the show in their video segment above, and spoke to the exhibit’s curator.
"What's interesting is that manga that's read in America and manga that's read in Japan is read in Saudi Arabia, is read in Indonesia, is in Malaysia, the same titles are popular throughout the world," curator Nicole Rousmaniere told the station. "You have manga that is aimed towards a female market, you have manga that's aimed towards a male market. There are different stylistic things.”
Not surprisingly, Saturday’s opening (9:30 am - 4:30 pm) has been declared a Cosplay Day for attendees. There are additional Cosplay Days scheduled for Saturday, October 25, and Saturday December 6.
Art of Manga runs September 27, 2025 through Sunday, January 25, 2026, at the de Young Museum. $35 for adults, with discounts for kids, students, and seniors. Tickets here
Related: BART Seeks Artists to Create Anime-Style Mascots [SFist]
