Or in our case, a gashapon machine.

I had just graduated and started working as a brand new pharmacist with my sister/boss, Dr. Gwendolyn Herzig. I remember telling her in private about how I had been looking into gashapon machines online and how I thought it would make for a clever way to sneak in some of our personal fandoms into the pharmacy via capsule toys.

Soon after, we had our first quarterly meeting. Gwen went through all the financials and policy updates expected of such a gathering. It was as the meeting was wrapping up that she seemed to remember something and regained everyone’s attention. (I should point out I was just barely getting to know my co-workers at this time.) I was confused as she proceeded to announce that I had a great plan for generating additional revenue in the store when it donned on me that was referring to my gashapon idea. I was absolutely mortified as she asked me to speak to my “plan”. I can’t even recall what hurried, hot mess of speech spewed from my mouth as I tried dismiss and downplay the thought as much as possible. Thankfully she doesn’t let me talk myself out of my ideas and we have a lot of fun pulling them off!

That has always been the dynamic between the two of us. I come up with some new thing, we come up with a plan to make it happen, and she makes sure it gets done.

That dynamic is what has led us to open the largest Japanese pop culture store in the state of Arkansas. As fans ourselves, we’ve strived to create an atmosphere that is welcoming and memorable, where all fandoms are celebrated, and the prices are fair!

- Jesse Pruitt

Co-Owner, Otaku Takeout