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Ambrose Li

Cosplayers dressed as characters such as Dr Mario, Pikachu and Hokusai were among the thousands undeterred by the summer heat who joined an outdoor queue before streaming into Hong Kong’s annual comics and games fair on Saturday.
A snaking queue formed beyond the Convention and Exhibition Centre across the street on a footbridge into Central Plaza on Saturday and was constantly moving without any signs of ending as of 2.30pm.
Jonathan Nguyen, who came as Dr Mario – the main character of the eponymous Nintendo video game – has attended all five days of every edition of the show in the last two decades after moving to Hong Kong from the US.
“I tell myself the budget is HK$2,000 [US$255] every year, but I go over budget all the time; it was double last year,” said the kindergarten teacher, who is in his forties.
The 26th edition of Ani-Com & Games Hong Kong began on Friday and will run until Tuesday at the convention centre in Wan Chai, featuring a record-high number of 160 exhibitors and more than 788 booths.
Nguyen observed that certain products were cheaper – such as figurines that used to be in the region of HK$600 and were now priced at HK$400. He said the price difference compared with some recent editions was partly due to the Japanese yen’s relative weakness against the Hong Kong dollar.
He added that the economic downturn had not affected his desire to spend.

“I would say that nerds spend no matter what the economy is like because we do it for the love of the game,” said Nguyen, who also dressed as Steven from Steven Universe and Russell from the film Up on other days of the event.
Nguyen said that the fair was noticeably busier since the pandemic because fans had fewer options due to the declining number of comic book-type events in Hong Kong.
Torei Yau, 17, arrived at the fair as Hokusai, a character from the mobile game Fate/Grand Order, which features historical figures inspired by the Japanese woodblock print artist of the same name from the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
“It took me two hours to put together this look, something I found specifically for this fair. The costume itself cost around HK$500 on a second-hand product platform. I also bought other accessories to go with the outfit,” she said.
Saturday was Yau’s second day at this year’s fair, adding that she had already spent about HK$1,000 on dolls of VTuber Ninomae Ina’Nis from the company Hololive, doubling her budget from last year.

“I had just finished my Diploma of Secondary Education exam and had made some money with my part-time work which is why I splashed out this year,” she said.
Alice Ho, who was not in costume, arrived at the venue an hour before it opened at 10am and was in the line for another half an hour for the Sanrio booth to purchase a set of eight Hello Kitty dolls that are a special Hong Kong-only edition and other products.
“The dolls I got cost me over HK$2,000 at this stall and I have managed everything I wanted to get. That’s about a similar amount I spent when I last attended the fair five years ago, I might buy more if I see anything I like,” the 30-year-old logistics worker said.
According to the organisers, the fair spans more than 34,870 square metres, nearly twice the size of last year’s iteration, and will be able to accommodate an extra 7,000 people.
Nina Fung, product manager of Asia Goal, said business at the fair had been in decline since the pandemic, with her company seeing a 30 to 40 per cent drop this year compared with the last edition.
“In the past, there would usually be some professional or veteran collectors who were willing to spend big bucks on figurines, with each forking out HK$1,000 to HK$2,000 but we’ve seen fewer of them by a long way,” Fung said, adding that her firm had exhibited at the fair for 20 years.
In addition to the economic downturn and sustained unemployment, there was a fatigue among customers in buying big-ticket items such as figurines from Marvel, Fung said.

Part of her strategy to combat the slump in sales was to diversify her offering of characters, inculding by adding evergreen names such as Garfield and Pingu rather than only the latest hits.
Additional types of items, including affordable fringe products such as stickers and pins, were also a way to offer more than just expensive figurines.
Design and product manager Maka Ma at Toys Gallery said he was optimistic about business at this year’s fair and he was hoping for a 5 per cent increase from the last edition, in line with the trend of the past four years.
The firm specialises in Japanese animation figurines ranging in size from about 18cm to 35cm in height. The figurines – featuring household names such as Kamen Rider and Chibi Maruko-chan from the 1970s, and Crayon Shin-chan from 1990s – are priced between HK$880 and HK$1,480.
He said his company targeted wealthy customers who had higher spending power.
“Generally, customers who come to us won’t stop buying because of [an increase of] HK$200. We calculate our costs by the craftsmanship,” Ma said. “We tend to produce products that are aimed at collectors.”


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Teacher Jonathan Nguyen dressed as Dr Mario, one of his five outfits for the five-day fair. Photo: Ambrose Li

Fans queue to enter the venue. According to the organisers, the fair spans more than 34,870 square metres. Photo: Edmond So

Student Torei Yau, 17, arrived at the fair as Hokusai, a character from the mobile game Fate/Grand Order. Photo: Ambrose Li

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Annual anime fair, featuring 160 exhibitors and 788 booths, will run until Tuesday at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai


Annual anime fair, featuring 160 exhibitors and 788 booths, will run until Tuesday at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.


Hong Kong Ani-Com 2025: thousands of comic book fans brave summer heat

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Annual anime fair, featuring 160 exhibitors and 788 booths, will run until Tuesday at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai

Annual anime fair, featuring 160 exhibitors and 788 booths, will run until Tuesday at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai