Why go
Michael Lau and Eric So offer an entry into the city’s designer toy movement, while McDull points towards locally made animation. These are useful names for recognising Hong Kong work among imported characters. The contrast matters: Japanese animation influenced local fandom, but Hong Kong artists also developed distinctive subjects and styles.
The full story
Sculptural figures became a notable part of Hong Kong popular culture in the late 1990s. Artists including Michael Lau, Eric So and brothersfree helped establish a designer toy movement whose work also attracted attention in Japan. Small collectible figures could carry an artist’s identity as clearly as a drawing or print. Another strand is described locally as ACG: animation, comics and games. Japanese television animation and drama influenced fans, and fan publishing created exchanges with communities in Japan, Taiwan and mainland China. These connections help explain the mixture of imported imagery and local production. Hong Kong comics have their own action-led tradition, drawing on martial arts, Chinese history and crime stories. Their dramatic drawing style and divided production roles distinguish them from a simple imitation of Japanese manga. Locally produced animation includes the McDull series and Zentrix. Looking for the creator or title behind a character is therefore more revealing than treating every illustrated figure as part of one imported culture.