Fans were delighted by the return of the Doraemon cartoon’s drone show as more than a thousand people gathered on Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour waterfront to watch the display, which premiered in the city in May.
The 15-minute Saturday night drone spectacular was held at the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui from 7.30pm, with 1,000 drones used to portray scenes and characters from the hit Japanese cartoon.
A Post reporter saw hundreds of spectators already lined the promenade just after 6pm. Others had started to gather in the viewing zone on Salisbury Road opposite the harbour.
The promenade was peppered with intermittent showers from 6.30pm to 7.30pm, but the rain had stopped by the time the glowing drones took off.
The audience was greeted by Doraemon aboard his time machine as the show began with a call for spectators to head for their “dream childhood”.
Doraemon, through a voice-over, introduced his latest gadget the “100% friend summoning bell” to the audience, which gave it a rapturous reception.
Doraemon’s four human friends Nobita Nobi, Shizuka Minamoto, Takeshi Goda, also known as Big G, and Suneo Honekawa also appeared.
The robot cat reappeared with a flashlight by his side as the drones moved to create a larger version of the cartoon figure in the night sky.
The show was rounded off with a 3D figure of Doraemon and a gigantic image of the “dress-up camera gadget”.
Spectators said they enjoyed the large Doraemon drone formations and did not mind advertisements at the end of the show.
Pame Chung, 56, who is retired, said she loved the enlarging Doraemon the most, but was sad the famous “anywhere door” gadget did not appear.
The door was included in the first show.
“The door wasn’t there and Doraemon should’ve bidden the audience goodbye before the show ended,” Chung said.
The retiree said she was at first worried the rain would dampen her enthusiasm for the show, but added she was delighted by the experience as she was able to secure a prime viewing spot.
Some fans complained about the inclusion of promotional ads at the first show in May, but Chung said she did not mind the drone formations forming the logos of sponsor, financial services company, Prudential, event organiser AllRightsReserved and partner Fujiko Pro, the cartoon’s production company.
She added she recognised sponsors were a prerequisite for the event.
Carmen Chan, an accountant in her 40s, said she enjoyed the experience and the 3D Doraemon was the biggest hit for her.
“I didn’t mind seeing the advertisements, I guess you need them for the show to run,” she added.
AllRightsReserved said Saturday’s show would feature 10 minutes of content and the entire show would take up to 15 minutes, including take-off and landing.
Parts of the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront park and Salisbury Road were cordoned off for people to watch the drone spectacular, with traffic restrictions starting at 5.30pm on East Tsim Sha Tsui.
But the show could have been cancelled if an amber rainstorm warning or a No 3 typhoon warning signal was issued, or if sustained wind speeds exceeded 21km/h (13mph).
The Observatory said it would issue the No 1 alert at 10.40pm.
Doraemon, created by Fujiko F. Fujio in 1969, is a blue-and-white robot cat from the future who travels back in time to help a young boy called Nobita Nobi.
The drone show was staged to complement the world’s largest Doraemon exhibition, which opened in Hong Kong on July 13 and will run to August 4 as the first leg of its global tour to mark what would have been the 90th birthday of Fujio, who died in 1996.
City fans of the hit manga series will be able to get up close to 135 large-scale models of Doraemon and enjoy an animated short film incorporating signature elements of the city at the exhibition in the K11 Musea shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui.
The world premiere of the drone show was held in May.
The 15-minute display included a giant 3D version of the famous robot cat and a new gadget called the “100% friend summoning bell”.
But spectators complained to the Post about advertisements being included in the running time of the show.
