TL;DR
The One-Shot Manga Café may have closed its Toronto location in October 2024, but our story is not over. Join us as we start a new chapter as a manga bookstore. Please continue to support a Canadian small business!
Intro
Well, this is awkward. The One-Shot Manga Café closed its doors in October 2024. The decision was made swiftly and came as a surprise to many. I know there were many disappointed anime and manga fans in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area. Trust me on this, as the owner of the establishment, no one is more disappointed than me. But it was time to move on.
So, that’s the bad news. But wait, there’s more! Don’t cue the sad anime OST playlist just yet. Let’s recap the whirlwind of a year we had in 2024. And then, I’ll share what we have planned next.
The Origin Story
In my first blog post, I wrote about manga cafés as a concept. Toronto is the economic and cultural hot-spot of Canada —if any place needed a manga café, it was here.
My vision for the café was a hybrid space that blended a manga bookstore, bubble tea shop, and an anime event hub. It would be a very eclectic establishment, just like the manga cafés in Japan.
Then came the quest to find the right spot. I eventually found it: an old bar on the Danforth. While it was far from perfect, there was potential. Once funding was secured, renovations kicked off in the winter of 2023.
The place was ancient and in need of a full-blown overhaul, so that’s exactly what we did:
As the renovations wrapped up, I commissioned a local Toronto street artist, Tim Fukakusa, to create our signature storefront mural. The result speaks for itself:
Tim’s got serious cred and has even worked with the Toronto International Film Festival, where he deigned the mural for the TIFF premiere of the Studio Ghibli film The Boy and the Heron. You weebs will remember that being billed as Hayao Miyazaki’s last film.
I Reincarnated into this World and Started a Manga Café...For Some Reason
In the month leading up to opening day, we put out a call to action: trade your used manga for store credit. The goal was to build our used manga library that would be available to all customers.
And wow—Toronto and GTA weebs showed up. People came from all over, donating stacks of manga to help us build our library. If you were one of them and reading this right now, I truly want to say from the bottom of my heart: Thank you. We couldn’t have done it without your support (And if you did not have the opportunity to use your in-store credit, contact us and we can convert it to credit for the online store.)
We had a great first week, all things considered. But more importantly, I had the opportunity to speak directly with many customers —hearing feedback, fixing issues, and making adjustments on the fly.
That first month was all about getting the operation up to speed (refining our bubble tea formula, training employees, etc.) so we could put out the best possible experience for our customers.
Haters Gonna Hate
They came, they saw, they complained, they returned to irrelevance. Moving on.
Summer Wars
Alright, back to the good stuff. The theme of summer 2024 was leveling up (the grind was real). The One-Shot Manga Café joined Uber Eats and Too Good to Go, and we rolled out some seriously mouth-watering deals all season long to win over customers. And it worked.
Plus, we expanded our selection of manga available for sale and launched our online store.
We also had the pleasure of hosting several events, including anime collective meetups, a magical girl-themed jewelry workshop, and even a few normies who needed a space and loved our vibes.
The Chapter Ends
Unfortunately, though, the spectre of outrageous fixed costs hung over the café from day one. In the end, I evaluated my options and decided to cut my losses.
In a perfect world, the café would remain open until the end of time, but this isn’t a perfect world, and it certainly isn’t a perfect market. Talk about anti-climatic.
We weren't alone. 2024 was a brutal year for Canadian small businesses overall. 1 in 20 businesses shut down in a single month. That's the worst wave of business closures since the pandemic!
All in all, it was truly a year of high highs and low lows. I launched and ran my own business, created jobs, built a following, and turned a passion project into a reality. The whole thing felt like a dream. But when the dream turns into a nightmare, you have to force yourself to wake up.
The hard thing isn’t dreaming big. The hard thing is waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat when the dream turns into a nightmare.
Passing the Torch
If I have one regret, it’s that The One-Shot Manga Café never got to reach its full potential at its Danforth location. But that doesn’t mean the dream is dead.
I truly hope that one day, someone else will step up and open a new manga café in Toronto. And if that’s you? Hit me up because we have a lot to talk about.
In the meantime, let’s support the next generation of anime small businesses in Canada!
Kaizen Manga Café (Montreal, QC)
Montreal has a new manga café on the scene! Next time you're in town, be sure to show them some love.
Anime Otaku Hobby (Toronto, ON)
The hottest new anime hobby shop in town!
I had the chance to meet the owners of Anime Otaku Hobby, and I'm happy to say that the café’s furniture and décor have found a new home there. Show them your support!
Next Arc When?
As you can imagine, this was a tough one to write about and took me way longer than I expected. But it’s time to turn the page.
To start with, we’re officially leaving the restaurant business behind. We are pivoting into becoming a full-fledged manga bookstore!
We will continue to expand our inventory of manga, manhwa, manhua, light novels, art books, guidebooks, etc. If the weebs want it, then we want to carry it.
We’re also rebranding (sort of). Say hello to The One-Shot! Manga Café—yes, with an exclamation mark. A small but symbolic change to mark this new chapter.
To keep the spirit of the café alive, a curated selection of Japanese snacks will be available for sale at a later date.
And finally: a new location (for the bookstore) in Toronto is in the works! We’re in talks, so stay tuned.
Next Chapter? More Like Next Volume
Our next story arc (and your next story) begins now. Got a series you’ve been meaning to pick up? No time like the present!
JUST ADDED
BOX SETS
MANGA BUNDLES
20th Century Boys: The Perfect Edition, Complete Manga Set (Vol 1-11 + 21st Century Boys)
CAD 322.05
CAD 378.88
Bleach: The Thousand-Year Blood War, Complete Manga Omnibus Set (Vol. 19-25)
CAD 121.49
CAD 142.93
Demon Slayer Series Bundle (Box Set, Stories of Water and Flame, The Flower of Happiness & One-Winged Butterfly)
CAD 324.31
CAD 372.96
Perks of shopping with us:
- First-Time Discount - Use the code NEW10 for 10% off your first order.
- Discounted Product Bundles - Up to 15% off when you buy select manga sets.
- Series Discounts - Up to 10% off select series when you buy 2 or more volumes.
- Price Matching - Available for Canadian customers.
- Rewards Program - Earn rewards points with every purchase.
- Great Shipping Rates - We ship worldwide.
- 100% Indie - You'll be supporting a Canadian small business that's passionate about anime and manga! 🇨🇦
Sign-up for our mailing list and get an additional 15% off* your order. Plus we will you updated on new arrivals, future announcements, and more (no spam, promise).
Thank you again for believing in us.
See you later, space cowboy….
* Promo codes may not apply to already discounted products.
** I kept switching between “I” and “We” throughout this article. “We” refers to both theme the café and myself, much like how an emperor uses "We" to refer to both himself and his empire. Yes, I’m absolutely invoking my inner Reinhard von Lohengramm from Legend of the Galactic Heroes. And yes, it’s one of the best anime ever made. Go watch it. Or read it.