Thousands of devoted fans have flocked to Hong Kong’s annual comics and games fair to kick off a packed five days that are set to delight anime, manga and cosplay enthusiasts.
Long queues snaked outside the Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday as enthusiasts vied to be the first to enter Ani-Com and Games Hong Kong 2024 on its opening day.
Student Tao Tsun-wang secured the first spot in line after arriving at 9am.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
“I expected lots of people to queue up this year, so I came extra early,” the 16-year-old said.
Tao said he hoped to buy “blind boxes”, popular sealed packages that contain collectible goods, of the anime franchise Muse.
“I’m not looking for much but I come here yearly as an anime fan,” he added.
Housewife Yanby Yu, who was among those on site early, said she hoped to help a friend buy Deadpool figurines.
The 35-year-old said she won a priority ticket from a lucky draw online so she could avoid the long queues, although she still had to arrive early at 7.45am.
“It’s been 20 years since I last came to the anime event,” she said. “I’ll walk around and buy something if I like it, but I’m mainly here to buy some merchandise for my friend.”
Products made by Hot Toys were among the most popular at the fair in the morning, with about 100 people lining up for Deadpool and Wolverine figurines and merchandise.
Melvin Kong Pak-yin, another early bird, took a day off from work to attend.
“I’m here to pick up some Deadpool figurines that I ordered,” said Kong, 30, who works in banking. “I‘ve ordered about 10 of them so I’ll be looking to spend a lot.”
Kong also said he won a priority ticket online and arrived at the convention centre at 7.30am.
“It’s my first time coming early. I usually come in the afternoon, but I think there’s a lot more people lining up in the morning than there were a few years ago,” he said.
This year’s fair, which runs until next Tuesday, covers a space of over 19,000 square metres and features more than 140 exhibitors and 650 booths.
Janice Chow, a senior marketing communications manager at Hot Toys, said she expected a 30 per cent increase in sales compared to last year.
“It’s the summer holidays in Hong Kong and there’s a lot more popular films coming out, such as Inside Out and Deadpool and Wolverine,” she said.
Chow said the films would bring added enthusiasm to the fair.
“I believe people will want to buy merchandise such as figurines after seeing the films,” she said.
Vivian Law Wai-yan, a senior manager at MediaLink, which manages the highly popular Ani-Mall booth where hundreds were queuing for anime items, said she expected business to improve by 5 to 10 per cent against last year’s figures.
“I believe it’s livelier than last year,” she said. “More people will come in the afternoon.”
Law said anime productions were also increasing in popularity.
“Because the target audience is becoming larger and anime shows are now on Netflix, more people are watching them, even those who have not watched before are starting to gain interest,” she said.
Highlights of this year’s event include a “Comics Masters Gathering”, where eight teams of writers and artists from Europe and Shanghai will hold workshops with local artists.
Another 30 international comics artists from Europe, South America and the rest of Asia will take part in a major exhibition to showcase the latest trends.
Well-known cosplayers from around the world will also make an appearance, including Clow from Spain, Thames and Jasper Z from Thailand and Japan’s Saki Miyamoto.
The annual festival drew 122 exhibitors and 589 booths last year.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Hong Kong Book Fair closes with 1 million visits, average spending up 4.6%
- Doraemon drone show gets rapturous Hong Kong reception as weather holds for event
- Hong Kong’s Doraemon exhibition launch draws hundreds of fans, including overseas visitors
For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2024.
