Animation-Comic-Game Convention Underway in Hong Kong

The annual Animation-Comic-Game convention has opened in Hong Kong, with part of the focus this year on creating a new crop of talent.

The Ani-Com show in Hong Kong is one of the biggest of its kind in Asia and is packed with teenagers. Some die-hard fans have even queued for three days to be first to buy limited edition toys and figures.

"I am so excited. I have registered online but I didn't expect that I could get it. I was the first in line so I got it. It's worth the time I spent."

Hong Kong is the world's third biggest comic market after Japan and the US. Local comic artist Ma Wing-shing says the market is maturing as changes take place.

"Many publishers have various products and games derivative from comics. The industrial chain is no longer limited to cartoons."

But the fact is that local animation is still not in the mainstream at the convention, which is dominated by Japanese manga.

Comic Weekly featuring Hong Kong local works started its first edition earlier this year, but the sales are sluggish. The magazine CEO Fung Man-him says he is thinking of taking advantage of the internet to interact more with readers.

"We can publish the first ten chapters of a comic story online for free, and see if readers like it or not. The online feedback is helpful for publishers to decide which artists they are going to invest in."

At the same time, Kadokawa International Edutainment from Japan, a country known as the kingdom of comics and animation, is set to open vocational schools in Hong Kong next year to teach anime and comic production.

The company director Tetsuya Koga says Hong Kong artists can make unique stories as Hong Kong is not only a key financial hub in the region, but also boasts a unique culture.

"The declining sales of manga books and magazines are not only seen in Hong Kong, but no matter how the works fare in the market, artists should always be in the first place. So what we do is to cultivate the talents for better products."

Also at the exhibition, Sony is showcasing the Playstation 4 and much-anticipated racing game, 'Driveclub' while US rival Microsoft is promoting its Xbox One console.

The console is on sale in Hong Kong now and is set to launch in the Chinese mainland and Japan in September.

The exhibition is expected to draw some 700-thousand visitors before it closes on Tuesday.

For CRI, this is Li Jing in Hong Kong.