The eighth edition of Tangier Manga Expo for Japanese manga culture will host the Syrian singer Tarek Al Arabi Tourgane as its guest of honor.

The composer and singer of majority of Japanese anime shows dubbed into Arabic will perform during the Manga Expo, according to Salim Gharroudi, the founder of the exposition and president of the association Dragon Tanger, which has organized the event.

Singer Tarek Al Arabi Tourgane Named Guest of Honor at Tangier Manga Expo

During the event, which will take place August 17 to 20, a variety of manga-related activities will be displayed through the different expo’s aisles.

“I am participating in the anime song contest and I am going to have the honor to perform with the legend Tarek Al Arabi Tourgane,” Ayoub Marraha, a lover of Japanese culture and member of Dragon Tangier, told Morocco World News.

“We grew up listening to Tarek’s voice in Spacestoon channel, and performing with him is a dream that is finally coming true.”

This edition of the Tangier Manga Expo, under the theme of ‘Tangier and Kobe as twin cities’, aims to demonstrate “the resemblance between the two cities,” Gharouddi told MWN.

“The Manga Expo is a space to gather the lovers of Japanese anime shows throughout Morocco, [and] to share their experiences and knowledge, since among us are painters, singers, handcrafters and speakers of Asian languages.”

The event, which is open to the public, will feature a series of workshops for painting, Korean, Japanese and Arabic calligraphy, Japanese poetry, traditional Japanese dances, Manga quizzes, Karaoke, Japanese cosplay and singing competitions.

Manga has recently gained popularity in Morocco, and a large number of Moroccans have turned into die-hard fans.

“I was surprised by audience’s presence and the number of people coming from different cities in the first edition, and through the years we notice that there is a great increase of followers,” said Gharouddi.

Marraha agreed. “In the past, few people were interested in anime Japanese shows, yet everything has changed recently and many individuals become engaged in this Japanese culture,” said the member.

He declared that “this improvement is due to the role of associations like Tangier Dragon and social media [which] are contributing in spreading this phenomenon

source:MoroccoWorldNews