17th Impact: Guests of Honor
Prestigious guests from the world of manga, video game, and J-music were getting together with you for the 17th Impact to share their passions and universes!
The photo album
Hiro MASHIMA, Manga Guest of Honor
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of one of the most popular manga in France, the author of Fairy Tail, Hiro MASHIMA, honored us with his coming to the festival. His fans all gathered together on this occasion, for signings at his French publisher’s booth and the festival Sumiré area. Hundreds of manga readers were delighted to meet their favorite mangaka. During all the festival, an exhibit was dedicated to Fairy Tail and Hiro MASHIMA.
On Friday, the artist was giving a conference, during which he also performed live drawing. The attendees watched him draw the characters of Fairy Tail: Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Erza, Gray, and Juvia.
On Saturday, Hiro MASHIMA was facing the French mangaka Reno LEMAIRE who also celebrated the 10th anniversary of his major series, Dreamland, at a draw battle! Both shônen masters showed their talent in 3 rounds, one about football – for the EURO 2016 finals – and the second about women. For the third, they had to draw the hero of each other’s series. A great moment that ended with two beautiful anniversary cakes in the colors of Fairy Tail and Dreamland.
Junichi MASUDA, Video Game Guest of Honor
To start the festival with a bang on Thursday, the Ichigô stage was welcoming a video game Guest of Honor who brought together all the fans of Pokémon: Junichi MASUDA, GAME FREAK inc. director, invited in partnership with Nintendo. Working on the Pokémon franchise since the first game was developed and also the composer of much of Pokémon anime and game music, Junichi MASUDA was meeting you for an exceptional masterclass to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Pokémon. And on this occasion, he came along with 5 Pikachu mascots.
After talking about his career, he mentioned a few anecdotes, like the places that inspired him for Pokémon, the catacombs in Paris or the mont Saint-Michel. He presented a new Pokémon, Tritox, to appear in the upcoming Pokémon Moon and Sun.
Psycho le Cému, J-music Guest of Honor
Japan Expo was welcoming a legendary J-music Guest of Honor, as crazy in their music as in their stage performances: Psycho le Cému, who recently came back on stage after a few years of absence, were with you every day.
And they joined you everyday, for signings and photo call sessions with their fans. On top of a talk-show and a very special aerobics lesson on Sunday, they set the Karasu stage on fire twice, on Thursday and Saturday, with two shows as stunning as explosive, mingled with theatre performances, and of course cosplay costumes of their own!