Thousands of manga and comic fans yesterday morning flocked to the Nangang International Exhibition Center for the opening of the annual comics fair, which is expected to generate record-high revenues this year.
Hours before the official opening at 10am of the Taipei International Comics and Animation Festival, fans had lined up outside the center in chilly and rainy weather, hoping to get some of the limited-edition products and lucky bags on offer at the fair.
The five-day fair, featuring more than 100 exhibitors, is projected to draw 480,000 visitors and generate a record NT$250 million (US$7.62 million) in revenue, said Su Wei-chuan (蘇偉銓), head of the Chinese Animation and Comic Publishers Association, which organized the event.
Photo: CNA
For the third consecutive year, the comics fair would be accepting Culture Points digital vouchers, issued by the Ministry of Culture, as a form of payment, Su said at the opening ceremony.
More than half of the event’s exhibitors this year are offering special discounts for payments using the digital vouchers, he said.
Several prominent celebrities in the comics world are to attend the event, including Japanese actress Noriko Hidaka, the voice of the character Satsuki Kusakabe in the 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film My Neighbor Totoro.
She would be visiting Taiwan for the first time in 12 years to promote last year’s anime adaptation of the classic Japanese manga series Ranma ½ , in which she reprises her role as the voice of Akane Tendo.
The highly popular manga series, first launched in 1989, features a character who magically transforms into a girl whenever he touches cold water. It is written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi.
Shion Wakayama, the voice of Momo Ayase in the anime Dandadan would also appear at the fair.
Aired last year and returning for a second season, the fantasy anime centers on schoolmates Momo and Ken Takakura, and their battles against demons.
Wakayama and Hidaka would be holding autograph sessions tomorrow afternoon and on Sunday morning respectively at the festival, which is now in its 13th edition.
Last year, the Taipei comics festival attracted 470,000 attendees over five days and generated NT$200 million in revenue.
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