Thousands of Hong Kong fans of the hugely popular Japanese anime and manga series Chiikawa lined up for a merchandise giveaway in the run-up to a summer exhibition featuring the characters that are expected to draw local and foreign visitors alike.

Fans queued at Austin MTR station and other locations on Sunday afternoon to collect their free party hats and balloons, which featured either Chiikawa, Usagi or Hachiware – the three most recognisable characters from the series.

Gift sets were handed out at random to fans who had preregistered for the event.

Those who were unable to pick up their favourite characters ended up trading their gift sets with others, their faces lighting up after making a successful swap.

Among those assembled at the station was Michelle Tsang, 27, who showed up in a Chiikawa T-shirt. She said she loved the franchise because the plot, which relates closely to the lives of an employee, had a certain healing power for her.

“Usagi does not care about others’ opinions and lives true to oneself, while Chiikawa is the one who works diligently but quietly,” she said.