Painted Animation Lane (動漫彩繪巷) @ Taichung in Taiwan

Before video streaming gained traction in my life, a lot of my precious time was spent on books; specifically comic books that were highlights of my growing-up years.

I was therefore quite excited when the tour guide for my recent Taiwan trip mentioned we would be visiting a lane that was filled with drawings of comic characters! It would no doubt be a nostalgic walk down memory lane! 

Known in English as the Painted Animation Lane, this attraction wouldn't take too much of your time as it wasn't very long. Even for us, it was only a 15-minute stopover. 

First thing that greeted us was this mini bus stop that reminded me of a scene in the anime film, Totoro! Aside from comic books, I am a fan of anime films by Studio Ghibli! p.s. would love to visit its theme park in Japan if there is an opportunity! 

Old Master Q; these should be the earliest comic characters I remember as the comic books were always present in barber shops, where we can indulge in the comic series while the barbers cut our hair. 

The artist made full use of the surroundings to work his magic; it could be an empty wall, a shop shutter or even the zinc protection for a building! By the way, do you know that Painted Animation Lane is the work of just one man!?

SpongeBob SquarePants and The Simpsons; both are American cartoon / animated series that I don't really follow, even though I am aware of their existence! 

I am more acquainted with Super Mario; a game that got me fixated on video games unless my poor skill forced me to decide that I just didn't have the knack for it, and go back to reading comic books. How come there wasn't any Princess Peach?

My favorite comic, higher in ranker than Old Master Q, would be Crayon Shin-chan! From the first time I heard of this five year kid who was sexually mature in thinking, his comics brought a dose of sunshine whenever I am feeling sad. Even though I don't read Japanese, I had more than 40 books of the Chinese translated version. 

Deadpool; more an English comic but I guess most people know of unconventional hero from the movies, rather than the comics. 

How many comic characters can you identify from the above?! I counted Hamtaro, Astroboy, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Ranma ½, Yi Xiu Monk, Bow Wow etc.

Likely from the hentai series. 

Supposed to be the most classic scene from One-Piece! Interestingly, I watched a few of its movies but never its comic books. A few friends actually recommended me to check out its animated TV series instead. 

I actually recognized the character on the right although I don't remember her name. I did recall she was in the most popular comic series in the 80/90's, Dragon Ball. 

Rockman - another video game that I failed miserably. 

Garfield and Popeye The Sailor Man; the former comic strips were classic whereas the latter was a cartoon which I eventually lost interest in as the storyline was always about the same.

Nostalgic scene from the Street Fighter Arcade Game! Those were the times where friends would share secret moves to win the match! Again, such games were not my forte. I am actually lousy in video games, preferring to play RPG instead.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Back in those days, I didn't have the money to buy comic books and it's much more economical to rent. Given my poor memory, I would usually rent an entire set when the series had completed, and read them over a few days / weeks. 

Naruto kindled the fantasy of ninjas but the books came out so slowly; I eventually gave up at about book 50 or so! Turned out the run was almost 15 long years! 

Humongous mural of One-Piece. The comic first started in 1997 and although it had been more than 25 years; do you know that the story has not ended?! Maybe I should buy this once it ends its run so that I can slowly indulge in its story after I stop working.

An impressive painting of Dragon Ball, with many notable characters! I can actually read traditional Chinese characters due to my appetite for comic books; many of which were translated in Taiwan / Hongkong, where traditional Chinese is used. 

The Painted Animation Lane came about because the owner of the above motorcycle store found that the exterior wall of his shop was too dull and decided to paint over it! The result was good enough to draw comments that encourage him to paint more! Obviously can see he is a fan boy for comics! 

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Address

Lane 100, Linsen Rd, West District, 

Taichung City, Taiwan 403

Map

As above. 

Location Map

As above.

Click HERE for the Summarized Itinerary for Our 8 Days 7 Nights See Iconic Taiwan Anew Tour Package via Chan Brothers