Anime, manga, and gaming enthusiasts flocked to the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai as the annual Ani-Com & Games Hong Kong 2023 event kicked off on Friday morning.

Hundreds of fans stood in line for hours before the event even opened, hoping to be among the first to get their hands on the latest Ani-com merchandise.

The first person in the queue, Lai Chun-hang, was ecstatic to be at the event and planned to spend over HK$1,000 on locally-made items.

The event was a feast for the eyes, with many participants dressed up in elaborate cosplay costumes.

Among them was 14-year-old Hava, who came with a group of friends.

“Obviously everyone comes here for the photos, obviously for the booths as well. And I think it’s just amazing seeing everyone dressed up, making their own cosplays and looking very nice,” she said.

“I feel like it’s just a really fun place to communicate with friends, go around, have fun together.”

One of the vendors, Jeff Ho, was thrilled to see a steady stream of customers all day.

“For the traffic it’s much more better than last year, I think just what I feel is like 30 per cent up? We are quite optimistic on the sales this year,” he said.

The event runs for five days and will end on August 1.