British Museum to unveil world's largest manga exhibition outside Japan

Exhibition will span manga's 200 year history, including focus on influence over anime and video games

The world’s largest exhibition of manga outside of Japan is set to open at the British Museum in London later this week.

The Japanese word used to refer to comics or cartoons, manga originally translates as “pictures run riot”.

It has been popular in its homeland for nearly 200 years but enjoyed global success in recent decades.

From its beginning with 19th century Japanese artist Hokusai - best known for his work The Great Wave - the London exhibition will span manga’s varied history and look at the different techniques of design and narrative that drive its works.

Its influence over anime and video games - not least the Pokemon phenomenon – will also be explored.

Taking place as part of the UK/Japan Season of Culture 2019-2020, the exhibition will run from 23 May to 26 August.

Here The Independent has compiled a preview of featured artworks.