On Saturday, 500 Southwestern Blvd was full of guests watching a classic shoujo anime. The  temporary Coppell Public Library held CozbyCon, an annual anime/comic book convention.

Librarian Sarah Silverthorne started the con six years ago with other Coppell librarians.

“CozbyCon was created to promote literacy through comics,” Silverthorne said. “Often, anime and comic books are viewed in a negative light, but I think it’s really helpful in getting people to read.”

CozbyCon has changed over the years. Originally, there were panels and speakers. There have also been activities and crafts before.

It had to downsize this year, though. With the change to the temporary library location, the con had to focus on showing an anime and serving snacks instead of something larger.

This year, guests could enjoy a showing of “Fruits Basket”. The anime is about a group of people who represent the zodiac characters. It is a shoujo (or “girls anime”) anime based off on a popular manga. It is a sweet story about a young girl in high school falling in love and making friends. Because of its PG nature, “Fruits Basket” was chosen to be watched. People of all ages could enjoy the anime with no worries are violence or rude language.

“Fruits Basket” was created by Studio Deen, but it was licensed by the company Funimation. Funimation one of the leading anime distributors in North America gave the Coppell Library a copy of the anime.

Japanese snacks were offered to guests. You could munch on Hello Panda (a crunchy chocolate-filled cookie), a jelly straw, which took forever to open, or a package of traditional Japanese snacks. There were also some boxed drinks like mango juice and lemon-lime tea.

Near the end, there was a giveaway for some prizes from Funimation. With the small group, everyone walked away with a prize. I got a DVD copy of “Tokyo Ravens”. You could also win anime shirts, Anime Fest bags, anime DVDs, or Funimation lanyards. Some people even got two prizes.

“CozbyCon is just a great fun day,” Silverthorne said. “We get so many the different types of people that come, and a lot of people we don’t necessarily see everyday come here.”