The first time I heard of a Manga Café, a shop in Japan where people pay an hourly charge to read manga, I was intrigued. I also thought it was useless. In this day and age, you can easily find even the most obscure manga on the internet. Or you could read the volumes for free in a book store (or used book store, since the newer volumes sometimes come in protective packaging). I didn’t understand why anyone would actually pay money to go to a manga café (also known as a manga kissaten).

But it turns out I misunderstood Japanese manga café’s clientele.