During a press conference on July 1, the Spanish convention Manga Barcelona announced the first confirmed guests for the festival’s 32nd edition. The lineup includes horror manga artist Junji Ito, singer Reol, band Alien Liberty International (ALI), rapper Lotus Juice, director Shoji Kawamori, animator Risa Ebata, among others. Ito was also the mastermind behind the official poster for Manga Barcelona 2026, revealed during the press conference.
The official art includes characters from Ito-sensei’s popular works resting in Park Güell, a prominent location in Barcelona designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí. In the foreground, wearing a red dress, is Tomie Kawakami from the manga of the same name, followed by two recurring characters in Ito-sensei’s works: the young and dark Souichi Tsujii and the model Fuchi. Fukata Ryuusuke, the gloomy protagonist of Lovesickness, stands behind them, just above Yon & Mu, Junji Ito’s cats.
Turning now to the guests, the organization added that more artists will be confirmed at a later date. In the meantime, let’s take a loot at the careers of the confirmed Japanese guests for Manga Barcelona 2026.
Junji Ito
Manga artist Junji Ito returns to Manga Barcelona 2026 after his first appearance ten years ago. DSince then, the author has won several international awards, including the Honorary Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, the Inkpot Award at San Diego Comic-Con, and his inclusion in the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame.
Ito-sensei’s work is famous for his horror themes, with an emphasis on cosmic and body horror. Some of his popular works are Tomie, Kaiki Kanzume, Uzumaki, Gyo: The Death-Stench Creeps, Black Paradox, and The Liminal Zone.
Junji Ito will be in Manga Barcelona for all four days of the event thanks to the Spanish publisher Planeta.
Reol
Singer, composer, and producer Reol is a Japanese utaite who started her career in 2012 by releasing videos on Nico Nico and YouTube. With a style that combines electronic, rock, and rap, Reol was the first female Japanese artist to reach one million subscribers on her YouTube channel in 2019.
Among Reol’s popular anime theme songs are tracks for Digimon Adventure (2020), Rurouni Kenshin (2023), Shangri-La Frontier (as icy), and Blue Exorcist: Beyond the Snow Saga.
ALI
ALI is a multicultural musical project that features artists with roots in Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines. Under the motto of “Long Live Music,” the band blends jazz, funk, hip-hop, and even ska. We witnessed firsthand how each member played their hearts out during their concert at DoKomi 2026 in May.
After the release of “Wild Side”, the opening theme of Beastars and ALI’s first anisong, the band has performed for anime such as Jujutsu Kaisen, Golden Kamuy, Dr. Stone, and Witch Watch.
Lotus Juice
Rapper and lyricist Lotus Juice is internationally famous thanks to his multiple collaborations with both video games and anime. While his most popular track is “It’s Going Down Now” for the video game Persona 3, he has also worked for the anime adaptations of the same franchise, such as Persona: Trinity Soul, Persona 4: The Animation, Persona 4 The Golden Animation, and the trilogy movie adaptation of Persona 3.
Lotus Juice’s catalog also includes insert songs and collaborations on soundtracks of anime such as Soul Eater, Black Butler, Katanagatari, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Noragami, The Irregular at Magic High School, Magic Kaito 1412, Bungo Stray Dogs, and Gachiakuta.
Shoji Kawamori
Anime director and mecha designer, Shoji Kawamori is one of the original creators of the anime Super Dimension Fortress Macross in 1982. Since then, he has been involved in different installments of the franchise, including the movie Macross Delta: Zettai Live!!!!!! in 2021.
As a mechanical designer, Shoji Kawamori has also worked on Patlabor: The Movie, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, and Eureka Seven. His most recent work is the original movie Labyrinth, premiered in Japan in January 2026, which will also be screened during the convention. We previously had the chance to interview Shoji Kawamori, and he spoke about Macross and a lot more.
Risa Ebata
Joining director Kawamori is animator and illustrator Risa Ebata, the character designer for Labyrinth. She has also collaborated in many installments of the Macross franchise, and on other anime as well, such as AKB0048, Last Hope, Aquarion Logos, and the video game Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
Risa Ebata recently created illustrations for world-class American figure skaters Alysa Liu and Amber
Glenn as part of Crunchyroll’s project “Ani-May.”
The organization confirmed that Manga Barcelona 2026 will run from December 5-8 in the same venue as last year, Fira Barcelona Gran Via. Tickets for the event will be avaible at the end of July 2026, with no specific date confirmed yet.
Source: Press Release
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