Many attended Kapwa’s Anime Cafe. The theme was Studio Ghibli and the room was decorated in nature, leaves and rustic furniture. On Thursday, Nov. 20 the Anime Cafe opened from 2 to 5 p.m. inside the Library room 109. Many people came to partake in the food and activities. Some were cosplaying as anime characters, and others came with their family.

This is the third anime cafe that Kapwa has thrown, and Patrick Garcia had a specific reason for hosting this year’s event.

“So I just wanted to do this event, just to build community for APIDA,” said Garcia

At the beginning, Kapwa Club President Patrick Garcia welcomed everyone with a speech and outlined the schedule. During that time, people came in, settled at their tables, and ate. The food was lumpia, chowmein, vegetables, beef and cupcakes. Afterward, Karaoke started up. Many people went up and sang their favorite songs, and some even sang Anime soundtracks and K-pop songs. The food was finished around 3 to 3:30 p.m.

This was followed by Kahoot trivia about Studio Ghibli and its movies, and some of the questions were designed to have humor to them. Many people participated in the activity and enjoyed it. One of the people who joined in was Jio Linsangan, a computer science major.

“I thought the Kahoot was really funny. It brought people together and a lot of people participated,” said Linsangan.

When it wrapped up, they hosted a cosplay contest. A few participated and enjoyed posing for the audience and judges. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place won a bean bag, car pendant and a tote bag.

As the event came to a close, there was a bit more karaoke. Many students enjoyed the cafe, Kapwa club member Nate Sigua added, “It was cool, it was very nice seeing everyone bond over anime and heritage,” said Sigua.

The Anime cafe brought a lot of people together to bond over anime, culture and community. It has become a proud annual tradition for Kapwa and the event succeeded in sparking more excitement in the APIDA community.