The 1990s Japanese rave scene existed in a whirl of distorted visuals, speedcore beats, and DIY rebellion, a world that thrived just beneath the surface, ignored by the mainstream and left undocumented in the West. Until now. Manga Corps, a new book by Italian archivist Gabber Eleganza, brings this explosive era to light through its original flyers and artwork.

Published by Never Sleep, the 192-page volume is a time capsule of a scene that fused gabber’s relentless energy with otaku culture, cyberpunk aesthetics, and manga’s hyper-saturated visuals. The result? A visual language as frenetic as the music itself: eerie mascots, glitchy typography, and collages that look like they were ripped from a dystopian anime.

Raves in Osaka and Tokyo became labs for experimentation, where gaming soundtracks met breakneck BPMs, and where artists borrowed from manga and video games to create a visual identity entirely their own. Manga Corps captures that spirit, not as a nostalgic look back, but as proof of how this scene’s DNA still pulses through today’s hyperpop, breakcore, and glitch art movements. Out June 26, 2025. Pre-order HERE!