World of ani-com plays growing role in Hong Kong's cultural life
Fans shed their inhibitions and don elaborate costumes at annual games extravaganza
From the cute to the kitsch, the elaborate to the downright bizarre, the city's love of comics, animation and games comes to life, literally, this weekend at an annual event that has courted controversy in recent years.
The 15th Ani-Com and Games fair at the Convention and Exhibition Centre is a five-day feast of colour and cosplay, where fans - teenagers and adults alike - don elaborate costumes of their favourite fictional characters.
Across the globe, similar events for animation and comic book fans draw in huge cosplay crowds such as the Comic Con International in San Diego, California, which wrapped up its 2013 four-day extravaganza last week.
It debuted in 1970 and is now considered one of the biggest and most important events on the comic convention calendar.
Cosplay - short for costume play - has been a hugely popular subculture in Japan for decades and Hongkongers have been catching the craze in the past few years, spending hundreds of dollars on elaborate role-play outfits.
Inside the fair, you will spot an eclectic mix of people wearing bright blue wigs, swinging replica medieval weaponry or waking around in space suits.
This year's fair, which ends on Tuesday, is expected to attract 700,000 visitors, with 170 exhibitors selling all manner of comic books and merchandise.