ANIME E SPORT

The 'Lapilli' essay series by Tunué dedicated to comics, animation, video games, and contemporary pop phenomena is enriched by an important new title. Anime and Sport. Great athletes in Japanese reality and animation - by Fabio Bartoli with the preface by Valentina Vezzali and curated by Marco Pellitteri - focuses on the link between sport and Japanese culture, expressed through two of its most popular worldwide expressions: manga (comics) and especially anime (animated series). In the history of modern Japan, sport plays a crucial role, reaching its peak at the Tokyo 1964 Olympics. This event, coinciding with the beginning of the mass television broadcast of anime, left its indelible mark on their sporting interpretation. In fact, in anime, as well as in manga, the sports genre is one of the most popular: it not only conveys plots and characters dedicated to competitive practice but also values deeply rooted in Japanese ethics. The story of Anime and Sport intertwines interviews with great champions who recount their careers and comment on plots, characters, and values of the series dedicated to their discipline. In fact, in the second part of the volume, Fabio Bartoli presents the reader with 16 interviews with athletes from every discipline, from Sara Simeoni to Dino Zoff, from Vincenzo Nibali to Andrea Zorzi, from Bebe Vio to Giuseppe Maddaloni.