of a physical anime retail store in Plaza Singapura in January. The physical stores aim to offer a unique shopping experience by integrating immersive content with traditional retail.  Since opening, the store has experienced “soaring demand”. “While we did expect an encouraging market for the local anime retail scene, Hakken!’s success over the past six months really took us by surprise, and this only proves that Singapore has a vibrant and growing community of anime fans,” said Jeff Lee, general manager of Muse Communication SG.  The store has drawn interest from kids, their parents and adult anime fans.  “Besides the increase of parents who bring their children into the store, we have also observed a demand from a more mature market, such as anime fans who have grown up into discerning customers, looking for top quality merchandises of their favourite characters, even from series that may have ended decades ago, such as One Piece, Evangelion, and Dragon Ball,” Lee said.  Asia Pacific to dominate anime market The Anime Market was valued at US$24.23 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach US$43.73 billion by 2027, according to Brandessence Market Research.  And Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the market due to the continued interest in Japan, the home of anime, which generated the maximum revenue in 2018. In fact, earlier this month it was reported that anime and related goods are gaining popularity in South Korea with consumers spending long hours at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. AK & Hongdae, a shopping mall in the Hongdae area in western Seoul has seen its fifth floor fill up with anime and subculture shops since May. Among them, Animate was visited by some 140,000 people over the past two months, up threefold from the same period last year (45,000 visitors).However, the fast-paced growth in the acceptance of anime in China has also been a key factor driving demand in the region.“In recent years, anime content has developed in Japan on charge from China, attached to extremely influential content such as Dragon Ball in the Asia Pacific,” according to Brandessence’s market report.“On the other hand, Beijing is likely to impose certain regulations on Japanese anime [while] protecting China’s domestic industry. These regulations are expected to hamper the growth of the Japanese anime industry in China over the forecast period.” From digital to physical Recent research by design agency YourStudio, found that for Gen Z customers in China, dressing up as anime characters is now mainstream. And the growth of anime globally hasn’t been lost on big brands.“Gen Zers in China have brought dressing up as virtual characters and attending anime conventions into the mainstream. For savvy brands, the trend offers great business opportunities,” Simon Stacey, creative director and studio head at YourStudio, told Inside Retail. Gucci’s anime-themed Chinese New Year collection. Stacey points to Gucci as being one of the first to recognise the business opportunity in the anime trend.“Gucci did a Chinese New Year collection this year that featured the anime character, Doraemon. This focused collection perfectly reflected China’s growing love for the trend, as well as its gaming culture,” he said.  Anime has even traversed into the world of sport. Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics Games, global lifestyle brand Sanrio has partnered with Team USA, with its infamous Hello Kitty acting as “Global Ambassador for Inclusivity” alongside US Olympic medalist Allyson Felix. While anime is typically associated with magazines, TV, movies and digital media, retailers like Hakken! have spotted the potential of the category in bricks-and-mortar settings.With anime’s growing influence on fashion, Stacey believes there’s much potential for physical retail to act as a community hub for anime fans.  “There’s a massive community angle to the ‘anime fandom’ so naturally, stores can become a space for fans to not only connect with brands… but also with each other,” he said.  “Stores can become a platform to host events, as well as being ‘broadcast spaces’ so they become a platform for content creation. It’s part of the retail shift from sales channels to media channels.”