Cafe Anime Tampa

On a hot day in August with Summer coming to an end, I went to the Grand Opening of Cafe Anime. I arrived early, as is in my nature to do so, thirty minutes till the 11am opening. It was the calm before the storm.

Soon, at 5 minutes till 11, a line formed, the doors opened and everyone rushed in. The first thing I saw was T-shirts and cosplay costumes, I looked at the small figures for sale and spotted a SD Gundam model that was tempting.

My main shopping interest is the DVDs and seeing Blue Submarine No. 6 took me back to my Toonami days. I also saw Kite and the Excel Saga box set. Overall, a great section to start off with.

Next to the DVDs was the manga section. On the top shelf were import Japanese CDs and I was glad to see Cowboy Bebop, some of the best anime music ever. Just below the DVDs were manga like the usual suspects, Attack on Titan and FCLC.

I then browsed the plush toys and looked inside the cases. Cafe Anime even carries Japanese snacks like Pocky and Ramune soda.

I remember when Cafe Anime started out as just a booth at Cons. The larger Cons want a lot of money just to be there but that is where Nathan and Scarlet are smart, they wisely shifted their focus to smaller cons. I like the smaller cons because you get to know people and you are not just pushed around in a crazy fan mob.

Nathan and Scarlet helped me out back when I needed someone to help me host my panel called A Brief History of Anime in the US that covers major US anime releases from 1961 to the present. Scarlet went the extra mile with the Miyazaki Trivia Panel and I am grateful that Cafe Anime donated prices. That panel was set up like Jeopardy with audience members volunteering to compete against each other by answering trivia questions on anime's greatest director, Miyazaki Hayao.  Both panels went over well at Tampa Bay Comic Con a few years ago.

So I am glad Tampa has a legitimate brick and mortar anime store because the only other options are Anime Fix in Downtown St. Pete and Anime Orlando. Both are lengthy drives for me. The best part of Cafe Anime is that you don't have to pay shipping and handling and you don't have to wait around for the mail, instant gratification is better.

It was a great turn out and I saw a few cosplayers. I am looking forward to seeing Cafe Anime grow and add a unique store that has been missing from Tampa for far to long. I wish Nathan and Scarlet all my best. They have both worked extremely hard to get to this point. Good luck to both of you.