NKDS

Group photo get!

Yesterday, Bonkurasu and NK-DS members had the honour of meeting Hashimoto-san, the CEO of Cospa. Hashimoto-san was in Singapore for a bit of overseas market research and a taste of nice South-East Asian food, and we were only too happy to help him by providing him with feedback and discussion about Cospa products.

As most of our readers should know, Cospa is Japan’s leading supplier of official anime-related merchandise, providing items such as T-shirts, mugs and other accessories. Of course, the meeting was held at Singapore’s official Cospa retailer, Kareshi Kanojyo no Mise (KKnM).

As words flowed back and forth between us, we noted that Hashimoto-san held great interest in Singapore’s growing anime market, with him copiously taking down notes and constantly enquiring for feedback and suggestions for future releases. In response, we answered as best as we can, giving Hashimoto-san an insight into our local anime community and its quirks. For example, Hashimoto-san was actually surprised to know that there were large numbers of female anime fans in Singapore. Though perhaps that was to be expected, considering male anime fans in Japan vastly outnumbered their female counterparts.

All in all, the meeting was an enlightening experience for all of us, and ended on a positive note. Cospa’s interest in the Singaporean anime market is extremely encouraging; when combined with AFA’s resounding success and our simul-broadcast of anime titles, the future of Singapore’s anime market looks very bright indeed. Truly, it is a good time to be an anime fan in Singapore right now.

Here is a link to KKnM’s writeup about the visit.

This is Julius Firefocht, signing off.