14/09/2025
With this year’s MIBF ending and our final attendance has ended (because we’re closing at the end of the year), brace yourself for a long, long stack of words in this post as I head home from the quickest egress cause we no longer have books left (kinda).
And there you have it.
Four years of my love, effort, and passion materialized into an evolving Tanko booth, as if it’s a slow-burn romance of someone who attends this book fair and was too frustrated she can’t find the love of her life—manga—and instead became the one she’s looking for, until the facade of toughening up crumbles, and realized, I still rather be on the other side yearning for hope, looking for books, browsing shelves, than being a shelf.
In the first year, I had a small booth infront of the stage. It was very memorable as it’s my first time, and even more so because it was very, very crowded that I even passed out. It was tiny, but it was the only, single booth in the entire fair with manga and light novels. Books were cheap back then at ₱480.
In the second year, we had a corner booth at the back of the hall. It became crazy crowded because of the stage events that no one were able to drop by at our booth for hours. I then avoided the stage. However, it was funnily alright to me, iykyk.
Last year, we had two booths, actual shelves, freebies from publishers like Seven Seas and Yen Press, manga samplers, games, giveaways, stage events, stamp rally, polls, and a bunch more amazing stuff. We gave away umbrellas, pins, fans, though produced a lot more than expected. I spent many nights printing, producing, wounding my hand making every single one of those pins! It was handmade!
This year, our final year, for some reason, fate decided to mix everything from the past and do it again. Although I avoided the stage, MIBF plans changed and I got stage presence again like the first two years, and of course with the crowd. Our merch leftovers became a hit seller this year and sold out everything (we got some bags left tho). And surprisingly, prices were back to ₱480 due to clearance sale. What a full circle.
Next year, Tankobonbon will no longer be there as a bookstore. Don’t worry though, it looks like manga finally conquered MIBF shelves and you can find them elsewhere, so my task is complete, and I am sure my younger self would be very happy and proud to see her visit to future MIBFs won’t be in vain. You will see me there, not as a booth person, but like you, back as an attendee, looking forward to find my favorite manga. Maybe I’d see you beside me as we grab the same volume together? OMG SHOJO MOMENT 🤣
While at the booth I joke around and say I’m excited for this to end, I am crying buckets as I type this on my phone going home. As if I’ve broken up with my first love. And here I thought I’d only cry watching anime. 🤣🥲 How tsundere, huh?
I am grateful you’ve became part of my life. I may be a passing thought to you, but you’re more than that to me, and I think that made everything worth it. I enjoy every book fair and I always insist to be at the cashier so I can talk to you. How else would someone like me talk to manga fans like you? I don’t personally have an active social media 😆 I am a yapper, but how do I yap when I’m usually dead inside being too busy?
MIBF has its happy days too. I get to meet a bunch of people especially ones from afar who can’t make it to our store. I get to yap. I get to be friends with other publishers and booths. I get to hear everyone’s excitement over books and laughter over funny titles and covers. I even get amazing gifts like it’s my birthday! (It kinda is so I’ll treat them as such!)……. the people makes it worth it, huh?
See you next MIBF, as a reader, as someone scrambling coins, as someone who braves the crowd, as someone who is happy carrying a bunch of books I bought at the fair. 🩷
I don’t know if we will meet again, but I’ll leave it to the manga gods. For now, I still have to properly wrap things up. The bookstore ends in the next few weeks (officially, this year), we still have a lot more to go. The lounge is /still/ open after all, even next year. I hope you visit. My giant manga collection is waiting for you.
Bon 💛
That girl who others at MIBF thought is an intern
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