Kassel, Germany  - There are not many events at which attendees are in danger of stepping on a man's train or a women's tail.

One such event, however, took place recently in Kassel, Germany where thousands of fans of Japanese animation, known as manga, gathered to see the colourful comics and cartoons. They went not just to see and buy the newest magazines and DVDs, but also to experience the scene - the shriller and more colourful the better.

Characters with streaked hair, slender bodies and above all enormous eyes and little noses are the unmistakable hallmarks of the Japanese comics. The female figures' large breasts contrast sharply with the otherwise childish format. Even more bizarre are the stories in which characters fly, speaking animals magically appear and lightning bolts are hurled through the air.

Translated into English, manga means whimsical picture, and fantasy is indeed much more important than logic.

"There's something for every taste," said Janina Mayer, organizer of the Kassel event, which featured mangas filled with colour alongside dreary comics, political thrillers and humorous comics for children. In Germany the colourful girlish magazines and films are the most popular, but this trend is changing.

"The following is growing and people are taking the comics more seriously," said Mayer. It's nearly become a mass media phenomenon. About 1,500 fans attended Germany's first manga convention, known as a connichi, held in Ludwigshafen in 2002. Last year's manga convention, also held in Kassel, attracted ten times as many.

"They come from all over Germany," Mayer said. "All age groups are represented, but two-thirds of the visitors are under the age of 21."

It's impossible to overlook the fans, who roamed Kassel in bright green hair and flowing overcoats. Some had trains or tails, but these were in fact the boring costumes. Hard-core fans wore animal furs, rocket costumes and leather clothing. Schoolgirl uniforms also were popular.

"We are Yuki," said Frauke Pychy. Yuki are the heroines of Vampire Knight, and in Kassel four of them met.

"They are so cool that we all want to be Yukis," said Pychy, 22. With black hair, contact lenses that made her eyes look blood-red and a schoolgirl's uniform, Pychy and her friends portrayed the vampire girl.

"She is funny, sweet and also totally tough," said Stefanie Froehlich, another of the Yuki girls. Sixteen-year-old Vanessa Nickel wanted to make sure another fact wasn't forgotten: "She is also totally sexy," she said. Accordingly, the girls wore short skirts.

Manga often has some connection to eroticism. The women are voluptuous and wear tight-fitting blouses and skirts.

"But manga is a culture that is hundreds of years old," said Yukiko Iwata. "And it's actually a high culture." The Japanese are pleased about the interest it has provoked in other parts of the world. "But such outfits would be prohibited in Japan," Iwata said, referring to the teenagers in short, tight skirts. "The Germans are going a bit too far."

Jennifer Heinglein has put what she says was an "addictive career" with the manga scene behind her.

"It all started with Sailor Moon, then came Mila Superstart and the other animations," said the 22-year-old. "Manga offers feeling, fun, excitement - what more do you want?" Attendees of the Kassel gathering would say a chance to dress up.

"The manga culture is unbelievably full of fantasy and you can have some fun with your creativity and make your own crazy costumes," said Heinglein. Nadja Stolarczyk of Schoenwalde near Berlin takes it one step further.

"Because I found it so wonderful, I spent a year as an exchange student in Japan," Stolarczyk said. "The culture is totally exciting and now I can read manga untranslated."

Two-thirds of manga fans are women. Men approach comics more technically.

"We get ahold of animations that appear only in Japan and write subtitles in German," said Matthias Beha of Freiburg. "Sometimes we discuss a sentence for hours, but even that is fun."

Dirk Meyer, who also translates the text into subtitles, said there are no legal problems with copying the films and sharing them. "That doesn't belong in the culture. Here, the lawyers would be calling." In the animation scene, it's more likely to get an email that says well done.

Chris Long, a US-born Chinese who has lived in Japan for years, makes a living off manga by selling so-called Doujinshi magazines, which are manga stories that have been continued by fans. "I have been in Germany for four days, but hey, you have a cool scene," Long said. (doa)