By Carrie McLendon

Otaku-Planet, an anime and card store in Troy, is preparing for a summer of various trading card  game tournaments and battles.

The store hosts various tournaments and events all throughout the year with spaces designed for customers to play card games such as Magic: The Gathering and Union Arena, as well as Dungeons and Dragons. They are open Thursday through Sunday and host events almost daily.

Owner Manuela Hatler expressed her enjoyment in being a safe place for many to come and enjoy their hobbies.

“The community of trading cards and roleplaying stuff is very accepting of all kinds of people, it doesn’t matter if you’re a little different,” she said. “It’s just nice to see that they have a place to come, where they feel safe and can find their people.”
This month, the store will be hosting tournaments on June 22 and 29 for Union Arena, an anime and manga themed trading card game. They will also host regular events for the game Magic: The Gathering throughout the month.

Otaku-Planet also hosts other card games such as Pokemon, One Piece and Disney’s Lorcana.

Hatler encourages all to come out even if they aren’t at a high competitive level or are just interested in watching.

“I really hope that they just have fun,” she said. “Just enjoy it, don’t necessarily see it as a competition if you’re not at that level, but mingle with people and get to know them.”

Anyone interested in keeping up with Otaku-Planet and their various events can find them on Facebook or by visiting otaku-planet.com.