Anime Fest Draws 85K

The fifth annual Anime Festival Asia, which took place Nov. 9-11 at the Singapore Expo, drew an estimated 85,000 fans, most dressed as their favorite Japanese anime characters.

The festival, organized by the youth marketing firm Sozo and advertising company Dentsu Singapore, might have sold even more tickets if they’d been less expensive, AsiaOne News reported.

Passes for all three days ranged from S$148 ($120) to S$408 ($333). One-day tickets cost S$58, up S$10 from last year. Coveted stage access passes, which allow fans to attend anime presentation and special guest appearances were S$20, or S$2 more than they were last year.

The festival featured concerts of J-pop stars, like T.M. Revolution, performing anime theme songs, as well as exhibitions of anime-related goods and a “cosplay” contest for best costumes, which this year went to a team from Singapore who dressed up as characters from the anime series “Tiger and Bunny.”

In the end, a lot of the fans either stuck to one-day tickets in order to save money to buy anime goods, or skipped the goods to buy full weekend passes.