Rie Kugimiya's Fans Wait 25+ Days Outdoors in Taiwan

Fans of voice actress Rie Kugimiya have been waiting in line on the streets of Taipei since before January 3 — more than 25 days before her scheduled appearance at the Taipei International Book Exhibition 2010. Kugimiya is famous for her tsundere (initially aloof and abrasive, but later kind-hearted) characters such as the title character in Shakugan no Shana, Louise (Zero no Tsukaima), Taiga (Tiger x Dragon), and Nagi (Hayate the Combat Butler).

To acquire Kugimiya's autograph at the exhibition, fans could either buy one of 50 NT$2,680 (US$85) Shana ceramic plate online, or line up at the convention hall for one of 100 more plates. The online plates sold out in just 30 seconds on December 30, as 80,000 order attempts almost brought the server offline. Fans then began lining up for the remaining 89 plates. (11 of the plates originally reserved for the line-waiters were reallocated for the online buyers, due to the overwhelming number of orders that came in simultaneously before pre-orders were stopped.)

Fans wanted to wait in line since New Year's Eve in front of Taipei 101 (the second tallest building in the world), but authorities discouraged line-waiting due to other events being held there. So, the fans regrouped and began lining up outside a nearby mall complex. As of January 13, the outside nighttime temperature was 10 °C (50 °F).

- Taken from ANN.