Tens of thousands of comic book and anime fans yesterday poured into the Comic Exhibition in Taipei to snap up limited-edition products at the annual event.
Large crowds of mostly students sprinted into Exhibition Hall 1 of the the Taipei World Trade Center as soon as the doors opened at 10am.
Minutes later, many could be seen carrying bags of merchandise related to popular comic books, anime series or online games.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
“I have been waiting in line since Monday,” said 18-year-old anime fan Lo Yun-jung (羅雲融), who was among the first to enter the fair.
Lo said he came to the exhibition to purchase limited-edition scrolls of the Japanese anime Frame Arms Girl, which come with a chance to gain access to an exclusive autograph session with the anime’s voice actors.
There are only 150 of the scrolls and he purchased three of them, each priced at NT$580, Lo said, adding that he planned to spend NT$30,000 at the exhibition yesterday.
Comic fan Jimmy Tsai (蔡峻榮), came to the fair to buy products related to the Japanese science fiction manga series Assassination Classroom, which follows the daily lives of a yellow octopus-like monster teacher and his students.
“I like the manga. Koro-sensei, the main character of Assassination Classroom, is a teacher who is considerate to his students,” the 17-year-old said.
The exhibition’s main organizer — the Taipei-based Chinese Animation and Comic Publishers Association — estimated that the five-day event could attract more than 500,000 visitors this year.
More than 70 publishers have set up 620 booths at the fair, which is to run through Monday.
More than 60 graphic artists, authors, voice actors and animation producers from Taiwan and Japan are to hold book-signings and other meet-and-greets at the fair, now in its 18th year.
The fair features an augmented reality (AR) booth for the first time, allowing visitors to play AR games on their mobile devices, Association head Huang Hsin-chien (黃信謙) said.
The South-Korean government-funded Korea Manhwa Contents Agency set up a booth for the first time this year, featuring South Korean Web comics, Huang said at the event’s opening ceremony.
To boost the development of Taiwan’s comic industry, Deputy Minister of Culture Ting Hsiao-ching (丁曉菁) said that the ministry would inaugurate a “comic base” in renovated buildings on Taipei’s Huayin Street at the end of the year or the beginning of next year, to serve as a place for comic artists and fans to meet and organize events.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition