Nichola Beckford/Contributor

Downtown Kingston may not be a hotbed of Asian popular culture, but if Jameel Craigie has his way, it soon might be on the map for lovers of the genre of media. Craigie, owner of Yang Novelties, held his second ever Anime Winter Festa on December 17 at his Upper King Street headquarters.

“I believe the response to Anime Winter Festa 2022 has been good. We just have some more things to do,” said Craigie.

Craigie founded Yang Novelties a decade ago as a way to assist what was a burgeoning demand for anime related items.

“Yang Novelties started from me being a child at home watching cartoons, watching anime, and just seeing things being advertised that I couldn’t have.”

Growing older, Craigie realised he was not the only one to share that feeling, which eventually led to Yang Novelties. Its aim to provide items many may think out of reach due to various barriers, including shipping costs. At this point, Yang Novelties specialises in anime related merchandise that includes everything from action figures, statuettes, plastic models, to clothing.

As the Jamaican community’s interest in Asian popular culture has increased, Yang Novelties has become well known for its Gundam plastic model kits based on the iconic Japanese series. Toy company Bandai are the owners of the intellectual property and have been making model kits of the vehicles and characters associated with each story instalment. Referred to as Gunpla these models range from simple snap together kits for beginners, to large elaborate displays that require technical know-how. Like anime and manga, Gunpla has a tremendous worldwide following.

POSITIVE ON FUTURE OF ANIME WINTER FESTA

As many years as a vendor at local events, Craigie decided to try his hand at his own event, Anime Winter Festa, first held last year. Encouraged, he went ahead for 2022 wanting to add his own unique take adding a Gunpla building competition, which would have made it the first of its kind in Jamaica. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough takers for 2022, however Craigie, is positive on the future of Anime Winter Festa as he sees the community only getting larger due to the very nature of Jamaican culture.

“How I feel about the anime community is we have to go back to Jamaica’s national motto, which is, out of many one people. I think it’s great that we’re exploring the Asian side of our culture.”

Beyond the planned Cosplay and Gunpla competitions, Anime Winter Festa had a cosy vibe and moved quickly in party mode. Those in attendance had Yang Novelties extensive catalogue of merchandise to peruse in person, rather than online. This direct interaction meant those potentially interested in buying models, figures, or anime themed statues could see the quality and detail of the item. For others there were video games available for them to test their mettle against other patrons and friends.

Despite the venue being Yang Novelties’ store, it was open to other vendors, one of which was Steffani Singh. Singh, primarily known as a successful local cosplayer, has long converted her skills and popularity into a business, Singh Cosplay.

“This is my second Anime Winter Festa. I came to the last one too,” said Singh.

Her business provides support to those wishing to cosplay with the products they would need all the way to full costume creation. Singh also does graphic arts items such as posters, prints, wall scrolls, and stickers, featuring her artistic renditions of prevalent anime, manga, and video game characters. This has all met with success for her within the local anime community.

“Next year it will be ten years of Singh Cosplay. I recently started adding different sized prints, stickers, and a variety of items, so it’s been expanding steadily at a manageable rate,” Singh explained.

In a similar vein, Craigie wanted to expand his business, Yang Novelties as the years progress.

“I see Yang Novelties keeping more events, us eventually becoming an anime production house, and also creating our own figures from our own creators, because there are so many talented Jamaican artists out there,” said Craigie.