MANILA, Philippines — Animate, the largest retailer of anime and manga merchandise, is set to open its first store in the Philippines this year.
This was confirmed by the page of One Ayala, the mall where the first Animate store in the Philippines will be located.
"From Japan to you. Coming soon," it said.
This would be the 14th Animate store that would be launched in Asia and the fourth in the Southeast Asian region, following Bangkok, Rangsit, and Kuala Lumpur.
Animate, a part of Movic Co Ltd., sells anime-related character products, books, magazines, games and art supplies, as well as the operation of collaboration cafes and booths at various events.
It operates 129 stores in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, United States and the United Kingdom.
Plans to open an Animate store in the country first surfaced in 2015, when Hallo Hallo Inc. revealed plans to open an Animate store in its planned "Cool Japan Mall" that did not come into fruition.