Vietnam is a melting pot for Asian culture and loves to imitate the trends of its neighbors. From economics (China/South Korea) to music (South Korea/Japan) Vietnamese are truly masters of emulation, for better or for worse. One trend that has been gaining popularity is Japanese-inspired manga comics which have cult following across the world.
Wildly popular in Japan and the west, Vietnam’s first Manga Festival was held in HCMC and Hanoi in 2010. The country’s youthful population has proved to be the perfect incubator for manga culture as it draws on comics and video games.
Beyond the bi-annual Manga Festival, manga inspired coffee shops have been springing up across the city including Otacool Station, The Other Person and BOND.
One of the main elements of manga culture is cosplay wherein people dress as their favorite characters from comics and video games. These costumes can get extremely elaborate and creative as seen in the gallery below.
The Winter Manga Festival will take place from 28-29 December. It’s quite the spectacle so you may want to check it out even if you don’t plan to dress up.
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