Founding a new business is never easy, but for anime characters, there could be any number of unusual, even supernatural, complications along the way in addition to having to worry about the usual push for money and support. On the flip side, sometimes, it’s the customer who has to worry about unforeseen bugs and hidden dangers.
Starting a business can also be a good way to escape an old lifestyle, and start fresh... or hide. In the realm of anime, anything can happen.
10 Meliodas Was A Bar Owner (Seven Deadly Sins)
“Small business owner” probably isn’t the first thing that springs to any fans’ mind when they think of Meliodas and his role in Seven Deadly Sins. But, the fact is that Meliodas founded The Boar Hat bar, literally, a hat on a giant boar, after the Seven Deadly Sins were branded as traitors, using the cash from selling his Sacred Treasure, Lostvayne, as seed money. It was a way for him to stay mobile while keeping in touch with what was happening in the kingdom, and his fellow Deadly Sins.
9 Jet Black Bought The Bebop, Converted It, And Started His Bounty Hunting Biz (Cowboy Bebop)
Jet Black was an officer of the ISSP at one time in the universe of Cowboy Bebop. After losing his arm, he bought The Bebop, which was then an interplanetary fishing trawler. Its original purpose was to catch fish from the seas of Ganymede and transport the cargo throughout the Solar System. He converted it, installing bigger engines and an upgraded communication system. When he started his bounty hunting business, he had a ready-made ship with quarters for his crew of Spike Spiegel, Faye Valentine, Edward, and Ein.
8 Bao Opened The Yellow Flag Bar After His Stint In The Army (Black Lagoon)
Business ownership isn't the refuge that Bao most likely hoped it was when he opened The Yellow Flag Bar in Roanapur, Thailand. A former Army of the Republic of Vietnam soldier, he bought the bar and opened it up after his military service, also serving as bartender. The ironic thing is that the Lagoon Company often leaves the place in shambles after a fight. There are hints that Hotel Moscow may have some money in the venture, since they paid for one of the many rebuilds.
7 Akihiko Kayaba Founded A Gaming Company To Replace The Real World With His Warped VR (Sword Art Online)
Akihiko Kayaba (aka Heathcliff) is the creator, development director, and Game Master of Sword Art Online. He was also responsible for the creation of the NerveGear, the Cardinal System, and The Seed. The game that sets up the whole story is his creation and his business, although the financial aspects are probably the least interesting aspect of his empire.
The limited edition batch releases of SAO sold out immediately, but his real purpose was much darker than the usual bottom line - it was toying with people’s lives for fun.
6 Yubaba Is A Sorceress And Bathhouse Owner (Spirited Away)
In the Studio Ghibli classic Spirited Away, Yububa is the younger twin sister of Zeniba and mother to Boh. She owns the Bathhouse, which is a large and complicated structure with kitchens, dining rooms, and housing for hundreds of bathhouse workers. She's an intimidating figure who gets annoyed when Chihiro keeps asking her for a job. As a sorceress, she can fly, among many other skills. She can alter reality and bend the laws of nature as well.
5 Saizo Ato Helped To Rebuild Postwar Japan (Eden Of The East)
Saizo Ato goes by the name Mr. Outside. He’s a mysterious figure in Eden of the East, a powerful businessman whose enterprises he founded helped to rebuild Japan after the war. He develops the game where people he's selected, the Seleçao, are given a phone loaded with 10 billion yen and are tasked with the mission to help Japan in any way they like. In the same story, the Eden of the East club, who turn their recycling group into a money-making website, is another example of the entrepreneurial spirit.
4 Nikaido Is Owner And Cook At The Hungry Bug (Dorohedoro)
It’s Nikaido who first finds Caiman after his unfortunate transformation into a lizardman in Dorohedoro. She’s another resident of The Hole and owns The Hungry Bug, a restaurant that serves his favorite food, Gyoza, and other delicacies.
The opening sequence and a part of each show are devoted to Nikaido’s nimble cooking skills. Unbeknownst to Caiman, she is also a Sorceress with a powerful ability to manipulate time. The Hungry Bug is her way of escaping from an incident when she was younger involving her magic.
3 Robert E. O. Speedwagon Got His Fortune From Oil (Jojo's Bizzare Adventure)
Robert E. O. Speedwagon is one of the street thugs in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. After the first part of the story, he finds his way to America, where he ends up making a pile of cash in the oil business. When he comes back, he founds the Speedwagon Foundation, an organization he runs with a cover of medical research and environmental conservation. Its real purpose is a secret Supernatural Research Department he runs for the benefit of the Joestar Family and himself that does research into weapons and transportation tech.
2 Kyousui "Sui" Tougoku Owns The Tea House Where Four Friends Work (Rokuhodo Yotsuiro Biyori)
Kyousui "Sui" Tougoku owns and manages the tea house/café called Rokuhodo. He was working an office job when his grandfather died and left him the tea house, which he reopened and runs with four other young men. Sui learned about the business from his grandfather before he passed, and is a tea-making expert, but he can’t cook very well. Tokitaka Nagae is the main chef, with Gregorio "Gure" Valentino as the barista, and Tsubaki Nakao is the patissier.
1 Andrew Gilbert Mills Owned A Shop In Algade And Manages His Own Café In The Real World (Sword Art Online)
As one of the 10,000 players stuck in the game, SAO, he became a veteran axe-wielder. He also became a shop owner in Algade, the city on the 50th Floor of Aincrad. His entrepreneurial talent already showed up in the real world, where he’d opened the Dicey Café when he was only 25. He’s a friendly character who’s often helpful to others. When he finally gets out of the game, he goes back to managing his café with his wife.