For anime fans, Japan’s character cafés have long been one of those wonderfully enviable parts of fandom.
Entire restaurants transformed around favorite series. Character-themed meals. Drinks almost too pretty to actually consume. Exclusive merchandise you will inevitably end up paying considerably too much to import later.
Yet here in North America, we might be developing our own version of that experience.
Just with considerably more drive-thrus.
Anime collaborations are becoming an increasingly familiar sight across fast-food restaurants, and now “Dragon Ball” is getting ready to power up Burger King.
Following the collaboration’s international rollout, Burger King is bringing its “Dragon Ball Super” promotion to locations across the United States and Canada this fall, complete with collectible toys, themed food items, packaging and, naturally, a chance to wear Goku on your head.
Because what is a Burger King promotion without a crown?
The crossover is expected to begin in early September and continue into October, placing one of anime’s most recognizable franchises directly inside another incredibly mainstream piece of everyday culture.
And “Dragon Ball” is certainly not arriving empty-handed.
Burger King’s King Jr. Meals will feature a collection of six toys based around Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and Beerus.
Goku and Vegeta will each receive two different versions, including their regular appearances alongside Super Saiyan Blue transformations.
Beyond the toys, Burger King is extending the crossover onto the actual menu and restaurant experience.
Fans can expect Super Saiyan-themed dipping sauces, a Goku cup and a special Burger King crown featuring Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and Beerus.
It is essentially a miniature anime character café experience.
Only this one might be sitting beside your local Walmart.
And increasingly, “Dragon Ball” isn’t alone.
Anime has become considerably more visible throughout mainstream Western retail and restaurant spaces, with major franchises increasingly finding their way into the kinds of promotional collaborations that were once much less common outside Japan.
That shift is particularly interesting when looking at Japan’s long-established character café culture.
Anime and character franchises regularly take over cafés and restaurants there, transforming food itself into another extension of fandom. Menus are designed around characters, restaurants receive elaborate decorations and exclusive merchandise gives fans another reason to visit.
Replicating that exact model across North America on a massive scale would be difficult.
Fast food, however, offers something different.
Rather than asking fans to travel to a temporary themed café in a major city, chains can potentially put an anime collaboration into hundreds or thousands of communities at once.
Suddenly, experiencing an anime-themed meal doesn’t require a trip to Tokyo.
It might require a ten-minute drive.
There is also something significant about where these collaborations are happening.
Anime is no longer being treated simply as specialized entertainment marketed primarily through conventions, dedicated retailers or stores catering specifically to existing fans.
Characters such as Goku are appearing inside the same mainstream promotional spaces occupied by some of the world’s largest entertainment franchises.
Kids can discover them through meal toys.
Existing fans can grab collectible packaging.
Parents who grew up watching “Dragon Ball” can introduce the characters to their own children over lunch.
And someone who has never watched an episode can walk into Burger King and suddenly be surrounded by Super Saiyans.
That is an enormous amount of casual visibility.
The timing of this particular collaboration also makes plenty of sense.
“Dragon Ball Super: Beerus” is preparing to bring the franchise back into the spotlight this fall, and several of Burger King’s promotional characters align with that upcoming release.
It turns the restaurant promotion into another piece of a much larger moment for “Dragon Ball.”
More importantly, it becomes another sign of just how dramatically anime’s place within Western pop culture continues to change.
Japan may still have the incredible character cafés.
But over here?
Anime appears to be taking over the drive-thru.
The “Dragon Ball Super” x Burger King collaboration is expected to arrive at participating locations across the United States and Canada beginning in early September and run into October.