Thousands of Hong Kong fans of the hugely popular Japanese anime and manga series Chiikawa lined up for a merchandise giveaway in the run-up to a summer exhibition featuring the characters that are expected to draw local and foreign visitors alike.
Fans queued at Austin MTR station and other locations on Sunday afternoon to collect their free party hats and balloons, which featured either Chiikawa, Usagi or Hachiware 鈥 the three most recognisable characters from the series.
Gift sets were handed out at random to fans who had preregistered for the event.
Those who were unable to pick up their favourite characters ended up trading their gift sets with others, their faces lighting up after making a successful swap.
Among those assembled at the station was Michelle Tsang, 27, who showed up in a Chiikawa T-shirt. She said she loved the franchise because the plot, which relates closely to the lives of an employee, had a certain healing power for her.
鈥淯sagi does not care about others鈥 opinions and lives true to oneself, while Chiikawa is the one who works diligently but quietly,鈥 she said.
Alex Tsui, 26, spent about five minutes waiting outside the gift redemption area to find someone willing to trade so he could get a Usagi set.
Tsui, who has been a Chiikawa fan for two years, said he enjoyed the franchise because the characters were relatable.
鈥淯sagi is free-spirited and follows his heart,鈥 he said.
He said the amount of money he had spent on branded merchandise was in the five to six-figure range, including trips to claw machines to get Chiikawa dolls.
Tsui added that he sometimes flew to Japan to buy Chiikawa merchandise, but noted it was difficult to time his travels to coincide with the special exhibitions.
The 26-year-old said he was looking forward to the exhibition in Hong Kong in August and believed it would draw many patrons thanks to the franchise鈥檚 large fan base in the city.
While the event鈥檚 organiser, Hong Kong design studio AllRightsReserved, stopped short of saying how many gift sets were up for grabs, it noted that the time slots for all stations were fully booked within 10 minutes on Friday.
Other than Austin, redemption points were also set up in Kowloon, Tseung Kwan O and Tai Koo MTR stations on Sunday.
Sunday鈥檚 鈥減reheat鈥 event is intended to drum up interest in the exhibition in August, which will include eight localised characters designed to echo popular dim sum dishes such as har gow and siu mai.
The event is part of local efforts to cash in on the intellectual property economy and encourage Hongkongers to remain in the city over the summer, at a time when more residents are crossing the border for various holidays.
The 鈥淐hiikawa Days鈥 show will be held between August 1 and 24 at the K11 Musea shopping centre.
At Taiwan鈥檚 Kaohsiung Wonderland festival in January, an exhibition featuring inflatable floats of the three main Chiikawa characters drew more than 3.8 million visitors, including locals and tourists, over a two-week period, according to local authorities.
Chiikawa, which means 鈥渟omething small and cute鈥, is the name of the titular hamster protagonist created by Japanese artist Nagano.
The anime and manga follow the adventures of Chiikawa and his friends in a whimsical world where they have to work hard to make a living, but also face real-life setbacks such as taking exams and daily stress.
The series gained popularity as a web comic in 2017, capturing fans鈥 hearts with its adorable characters while exploring deeper themes of survival and failure.