People waited in line from 3am for an animation and manga festival that opened at the National Taiwan University stadium in Taipei yesterday, organizers said.
The two-day event, in its ninth year, is organized every year by a magazine that specializes in Japanese animation and manga (Japanese comics).
More than 20,000 visitors attended the first day of the festival, event spokeswoman Su Wei-tung (
PHOTO: AP
"Some people were waiting in line since three or four in the morning," she added.
With their unique styles and storylines, Japanese animation and manga are becoming increasingly popular in Taiwan.
"I like the drawing style and the themes [of manga]," a 20-year-old student and a fan of Japanese comics said.
PHOTO: AP
The festival features 400 stalls displaying manga and related merchandise each day, organizers said.
Among the stallholders are manga publishers from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan, as well as amateur cartoonists.
"These amateur cartoonists usually create their own short manga in their spare time and publish their works on their own," Su said. "So we wanted to provide an opportunity for them to showcase and sell their work."
In addition to publishers and manga creators, cosplayers are another element of the festival.
The term "cosplay" is a combination of the English words "costume" and "play." It refers to a Japanese subculture in which people dress as their favorite manga or animation characters.
The second day of the event will feature two seiyuu, or voice actresses, from Japan.
"Since characters in animation films are not real people, it is the voice actors who give soul to each character," Su said.
Voice actors in Japan have to go through strict training programs, and good voice actors can become very popular in Japan.
"Some even sing their show's theme song and hold concerts of their own," Su said,
"We're expecting the two-day event to attract more than 50,000 people altogether," she added.
The festival closes at 4pm today.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS