Captain Tsubasa Turns the World’s Game Into Collectible Art in Milan

Captain Tsubasa has always treated football as more than a scoreline. Yoichi Takahashi’s manga uses the game as a language through which rivals become teammates, distance collapses, and ambition takes visual form. In Milan, that familiar proposition moves off the printed page and into the gallery.

Captain Tsubasa — ONE WORLD ONE TEAM Art Exhibition 2026 opens at iKonica Art Gallery from October 28 through November 1. Organized by GAAAT, the five-day presentation is the latest stop on a tour that has already visited San Francisco, New York, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

One team, many national colors

The exhibition is organized around a new composition by Takahashi that gathers characters in the uniforms of different national teams. Standing shoulder to shoulder beneath white doves, the players turn the team portrait into a statement about international connection. Takahashi describes the doves as an image of harmony and peace: people sharing the same moment while respecting one another rather than standing in opposition.

That ideal has been present in Captain Tsubasa since the series began. Football is competitive, but it also makes translation almost unnecessary. A ball, a field, and a shared set of rules allow characters divided by language or geography to recognize one another immediately.

From manga line to metal relief

The Milan presentation includes artwork for viewing and purchase, including original imagery and GAAAT’s Metal Canvas Art editions. The process separates a two-dimensional image into as many as 32 digital layers, then rebuilds it with repeated applications of UV ink on a metal plate. The result sits between print and relief: color, texture, and reflected light shift as the viewer changes position.

The official project page identifies an exhibition-exclusive work in an edition of 11 and Tsubasa vs Diaz in an edition of 23. GAAAT positions the objects as durable, numbered works rather than conventional character merchandise, bringing the visual grammar of manga into the language of limited-edition collecting.

A touring story becomes a touring object

The project extends the international life of Captain Tsubasa in a particularly literal way. Instead of treating global fandom as an audience statistic, the exhibition carries the same physical works and central image between cities. The tour format mirrors the manga’s own movement across cultures while offering fans a closer look at Takahashi’s line, composition, and exaggerated sense of motion.

Ticket packages begin at €18 and pair admission with a postcard; higher tiers add stickers, a cap, or a T-shirt. The official GAAAT event page lists ticketed access from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The iKonica listing separately notes an October 28 opening at 6:30 p.m., a November 1 closing event from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., and regular gallery hours from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Because those schedules differ, visitors should confirm the applicable entry time before traveling.

iKonica Art Gallery is located at Via N. A. Porpora 16/A, 20131 Milan. Read the official Captain Tsubasa tour announcement for the project’s broader concept, and see the original report at Hypebeast.