Photos via Gotcha Gachapon.

Anthony Locke and Shane Mack first met at an anime convention and became fast friends. After attending many more conventions together throughout each calendar year, the duo decided to showcase their fandom in a more dedicated fashion.

“Why cant we just have a small convention every day with Japanese import arcade machines, toys and Pocky?” said Locke. “And so the concept of Gotcha Gachapon was born.”

The new store is located at 997 North High Street, inside of Maotef Gifts, where owner Todd Fry has sublet space for the Japanese pop-culture shop-slash-arcade. Gotcha’s product lineup includes an assortment of collectables, wall scrolls and other items from series ranging from Dragonball Z to Sailor Moon to Naruto to Attack on Titan. Arcade games in the space currently include Percussion Master and Police 911, both of which require full-body workouts to play.

“What we really liked about arcades as kids the experience with new games,” explained Locke. “Most of the arcades around here have a lot of retro gaming… things we’ve all played a thousand times or can just download on our phones. Our arcade can guarantee games that most people haven’t seen or played in any arcade, and definitely wouldn’t be able to play at home since they all have unique peripherals.”

Other rhythm games are slated to make an appearance in the store include Jubeat and Taiko No Tatsujin (Drum Master). Locke says that Silent Hill: The Arcade and Super Table Flip are also on order for the store.

Gotcha Gachapon is now open from Noon to 7pm with a limited selection of products. More is expected to be in stock in time for the November 1st Gallery Hop. The team also plans to launch an online store in the near future with a “Gotcha Gachabox” monthly service.

“It’s similar to Loot Crate and other generally nerdy subscription services where you would choose aspects of anime, Japanese pop culture, or gaming that interest you and we would create a custom gift box containing products much cheaper than retail,” explains Locke.”And as we get into this holiday season, we can guarantee tons of gift ideas for fans of comics and gaming.”

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/ggpon.