Anime Stores: Dissapointement & Rage

Hello everyone and sorry it has been so long, but I am back
finally!!!

So yesterday I went to the mall in order to purchase myself a new
suit at Men’s Warehouse and while walking through the mall I noticed an anime
store I had never seen before. My eyes lit up and I began to salivate (quite
literally) as there have never been any anime stores near me till this time and
I had to do all my shopping online (shipping and handling fees, yuck) or at a
con (once a year…) so I walked in there with a spring in my step… only to
be smacked in the face quite hard. The store’s merchandise mostly consisted of
Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, Hetalia, and DBZ junk, and I don’t say junk because
I don’t like these shows but because it was literally junk. Boring wall
scrolls, bad looking action figures and models, stickers, key chains, that lot
of junk. Hell if didn’t even have any manga or anime in it (although it did have
a few CDs but only Jpop and Kpop, no OSTs). To tell you the truth I was kind of
shocked when I heard the place had still been in business having opened 6
months ago. This was the stuff I could have picked up from my friends and they
would have paid me simply because it would have cost less then the shame of
putting it out in the trash knowing they had bought it. At least with me they
could pass it off as a gift. Now don’t get me wrong there were a few cool
things in there. They did have a bunch of mugs which I’ve never seen for sale
at a con before and one featured Hatsune Miku. There were also a few cosplays
one again featuring Miku (but me being a 6’1” guy I would have had a hard time
fitting into it) and they did have some cool but random unrelated to anime
masks. I was walking into that store with at least $40.00 to spend and walked
out without spending a penny. Now how did they manage that? No art books, the
only pillows featuring Hetalia boys, Bleach boys, Naruto boys, and DBZ girls
(yes I checked them all and that was what they had) some random rather ugly
plushies facing the same offense as all the other products in the store. No interesting
trinkets, games, collectibles (continue rant as you see fit). As I walked out
of the store I analyzed what I had seen. This was a store for those who are
just entering or have experimented with the anime realm, so why would you open
a store based solely on that? Our world is not an inexpensive one and it is
hard to get people to throw down those $30.00 for the face of Chibi Italy so
you can sleep with it at night, but when I see something like Little Busters
Special Edition (not the 18+ version) I throw down my $65.00 without a thought
(my pride and joy from Sakura-Con this past year). I guess this is why stores
operate mostly online, because they can sell these items to the niche markets
around the world and the brick and mortar stores must sell to those on the line
of otakus, but still at least carry some things that we anime addicts anonymous
or not can grasp onto and love or else you will have failed your brothers and
sisters who worship their anime in the Church of Mitsugi.

Sincerley and Trolly,

This is Folium ending his rant at the anime store he visited but thankfully
recovered due to getting an awesome new suit.