Festival Report フェスティバル レポート 2025

Living Pixel/Ita Branco

Anyone seeing a pixelated character right in front of them would be astonished. Ita Branco literally popped out of a videogame. The way she moves, the way she waves her hands at people, every movement and details amazes the people watching her. Even the way she turns around is videogame-like. Normally when you turn around, you would swiftly move, but she moves like a retro videogame character.

Her character "Pixelette" is inspired by cartoons, retro games from the 80's and also Japanese cosplayers. And is apparently two years old! But what amazes me the most is the hand drawn details on her costumes and handmade items. The children around her were the ones who were mostly astonished by her. The eyes of the children seeing her were saprkling desperately wanting to meet her. The moment they see her, they would run towards her, reaching their hands out at her. There was one kid who loved her a lot, and he even hugged her. It was a very cute moment to see.

"Every European's dream is to come to Japan. We love Japanese Anime and culture" she says. She went to Daidogei a year ago as Pixelette, thinking that Japanese people would love it, and because no one has ever seen a pixelated character come to life. And indeed, Japanese people loved her. She came back again to Japan since she loved the way Japanese are respecful. 

"Japanese people are joyful. They appreciate a lot of our arts, and we can feel it from their energy. It is such a pleasure to work here. It's my favorite country to perform" says Ita Branco.

Ita Branco also performed in many countries such as Ireland and Dubai. She didn't only perform as Pixelette, but also as her different characters. She also perfoms at circuses with amazingly dangerous stunts using fire and swords.

It is such a pleasure for me and especially for a lot of people seeing her performing. It makes many of us content, and it brings smiles on our faces. For a lot of children who saw and interacted with her, it's definetly a going to be a core memory for them.

(KiKi)