Anicon HK 2023
Revisiting this after so many years gives a diffeeent feeling, as I look around trying to take the moment in. Coming down from our midnight flight without any sleep makes it harder for me to deal with the crowd, as I have to use extra bandwidth to decipher the Chinese signs. Unlike 2015, it isn't as "empty" as crowd management took afew notch up. There are snake queues after snake queues as we have to loop around the mall before going inside. It took us alot of walking and the saving grace is perhaps just the walking. The waiting time is minimal and I'd say it took us 20-30 mins before reaching the counter to get our tickets.
Despite the amazing crowd management, I'd say the people are overwhelmingly overwhelming. So much so that I find it hard to deal with. Perhaps age is catching up, perhaps it's been a long time since I'd ever been to an IT show/convention like these. Gone are the days of going out to hunt for tech peripherals with the rise of online shopping. We found ourselves waddling through the more popular booths, especially the illustrator and cosplayer side.
It's alittle sad to see lesser cosplayers this time round, or rather most of them are waddling amongst the crowd. Even sadder to find myself took a moment to muster up courage to walk towards Yoimiya for a photo only to have her disappear into the wave of crowds. There are artists merch that caught my eyes too, but the queue and the crowd is quite detering. Anime booths are constantly swarmed so we didn’t end up queueing to go in.
It's not the same for the toy section though, as there are ample spaces for us to walk around. I do find myself enjoying this part in the convention the most, as I could still take photos, admire the details and slowly checkout the collection from different brands.
I saw the familar McBuddha that Raine introduced to me because of my love for Burgers and Fries. Probably until today, I can only regret for not snagging them as they were going for a discount "on top of another discount" due to it being the last day of the convention. It should probably be the best time to get something; the last day of the convention that is. My mind run simulations around my room on where this should be placed, but only to find myself disappointed. It's definitely not easy walking away from this.
I'm excited to see other vinyl toys as well, aside from the McBuddha; from the now famous Pop Mart, Bear Brick, Kaws and afew others. I'd love to see the more obscure ones, where we don't really get to see or even know of their existence. The ones hits me the most because some of them are really pretty! As much as it's sad that they didn't get mass produced; it's also the way it is makes it a rarity and always a sight in conventions like these.
We call it a day after having spent close to 3 hours, in the convention. Getting out however is a nightmare as we have to follow a huge major snake queue that took us 40minutes to get out and towards the station. The Anicon now felt less intimate from the previous ones, when I get to make conversations, walked more freely, and get to really enjoy each and every segment. As much as this would meant business is booming, I should be celebrating that more people are "Team Otaku" now. Anicon's now so big that I guess it's alerady outgrown the normal convention size. It'll still be something I'll look forward to attending; but maybe not when I just got off from a flight with less than 2 hours of sleep.
Stamford Arts Centre
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