So, in my mission to catch everyone up to speed on the last few legs of our week in Tokyo, I bring you this post about Akihabara, also known as the "Electric Town". :D
With Akihabara, I wasn't sure what to expect. All I knew before plunging into this fascinating metropolis a few stops away from our home base, Tokyo Station, was that it was a cosplaying/maid cafe paradise.
Oh, and it's also the hometown of AKB48.
Yes, this is all ONE girl group. - ___ -;;
And what is AKB48, you may ask? AKB is probably THE most popular recent pop culture phenomenon in Japan. In fact, in terms of sales and popularity, AKB is probably the ONLY franchise that can even begin to compete with the Johnny's. There are 64 rotating members that go through "general elections" each year to select which girls get to participate in making the CD singles. However, there are actually more than 200 members in the franchise, if you count all the girls in their sister groups, like the ones in Nagoya, Osaka, Indonesia, Taiwan, and China.
The point is that the main group is based in Akihabara (which is where the "AKB" part of their name comes from). They have a theater there, where they perform stage shows. As part of their creator's "idols you can meet" concept, the theater is rather small, which creates a more intimate feeling than the Johnny's Dome shows, and the girls apparently line up at the door when you leave so you can high-five them if you wish.
The AKB theater located on the 8th floor of this Don Quijote building.
It's a small wonder, then, that the AKB girls have such a devoted creepy middle-aged men "uncle" fan following, and an even smaller wonder that Akihabara is being labelled (by me) as "AKB Town".
In fact, I think the only reason why I only saw ONE major Johnny's-related plug in the WHOLE of Akihabara was because there are also AKB girls in the Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou drama. XD
Johnny's...a rare sight in AKB Town.
Delinquent Johnny's v. Angelic AKB girls.
I can tell you right now which side I prefer. XD
In case you couldn't tell...it's the guys! XD
Despite the presence of the AKB theater and a AKB Cafe & Shop right outside Akihabara's JR Station,
'Tis a scary place in there. Trust me, I've checked! XD
there are literally hundreds of shops with AKB merchandise or posters in Akihabara. Because not only are the girls live-action singers/actors/fashion inspirations, they also have an anime based off of them, which suits Akihabara's role as the manga/anime mecca just fine. XD
Yes, this actually exists. ^^;;
Speaking of Akihabara's manga/anime leanings, we started off our journey with an attempt to visit the UDX Anime Center, a suggestion of my traveling companion, who is a HUGE fan of anime/manga.
This is literally right next to that AKB48 Cafe & Shop. XD
Unfortunately, the Anime Center of the building was closed for renovations - apparently since February - which kind of sucked. :(
Because of this, we quickly went on to explore this electric town in order to hit up the spots of my friend's agenda.
Also right next to the AKB48 Cafe & Shop was this Gundam Cafe,
which looked infinitely more intriguing. XD
There are electronics out the wazoo here! XD
Everything was like this.
I'm pretty sure Akihabara is the MOST modern-looking part of Tokyo we've been in! XD
Anime stuff galore. Even I started recognizing stuff after a while. XD
However, probably because it is the paradise for many otaku, it's also a somewhat awkward place to walk around sometimes, especially if you are not used to the diverse world of anime/manga and all its kinks.
Akihabara is also home to the maid cafe,
which meant a lot of girls dressed up in maid outfits trying to get you to go into their shops.
Also, the home of lots of super sketch places, like this one,
or floors of stores devoted completely to hentai.
Or yaoi, depending on what sex that floor is supposed to be pandering to. XD
Anyways, after entering a couple anime/manga stores, including the massive 9-floor Mandarake,
Yup. 9-floors of eye-opening awesome.
we decided to brave the AKB Don Quijote building.
Entering the mouth of the beast.
To our surprise, this venture was possibly one of the most fun of our entire Akihabara trip!
You see, the Don Quijote building was 8 floors of anime/manga stuff + AKB merchandise + the randomest stuff possible. We were amazed seeing elaborate cosplay costumes being sold alongside of kitchen pliers. XD
In this Don Quijote, you could buy clothes so you could dress like AKB...
Ears that moved according to your emotions...
Avengers memorabilia...
Unexpected cosplay costumes...
Awesome fashion...
Cosmetics, like circle lenses...
And even alarm clocks with characters on them! XD
The building even had an AKB-themed pachinko parlor (gambling place).
And a maid cafe! ^^;;
Speaking of maid cafes, my friend and I weren't about to miss out this unique Akihabara experience! We tried going into the maid cafe at the AKB Don Quijote. However, we soon realized that the staff wasn't very fluent in English, so we decided to go to the main store of this maid cafe chain that my friend's guidebook had suggested.
The @home cafe. ^^
We didn't have to wait long at the door before being given service. When we entered the cafe, the maid leading us rang a bell and introduced us, which made it seem as if everyone at the cafe was like one big family. It was a bit embarrassing at first, but we soon realized that no one seemed to be judging us, so it wasn't as bad as feared. X____X;;
Once we were seated, we were given English-language menus (what a relief!) and even these cards that explained combination options. My friend and I chose the combination option that allowed us to have a drink, take a picture/play a game with the maid, and receive a souvenir for 1,400 yen. :)
My cafe au lait. ^^
Despite the steep cost, we decided it was worth it. XD When we got our drink we were told to make hearts with our hands and say, "Nyan~", when we had enough liquid sugar for our drinks. :3 We were then called up individually to take pictures with the maids. I chose bunny ears and to make the "Nyan~" pose, which is like a cat's (think Nyan cat...that's where that's from. XD).
Wonky introduces my maid picture. :D
After that, we felt like we had finally gotten a full Akihabara experience, and after visiting a few more shops, went back to the hotel. :)
Anyways, if you're wondering about what the Johnny's reference in the title for such an AKB-filled post is, well, it's in the first part. XD
"Bokura no Machi de" (click on the link because Youtube is being butts and doesn't have the PV), or "In Our Town", is a song by the now five-membered Johnny's band, KAT-TUN. Akanishi Jin used to be in this group before he decided to pursue a solo career in 2010...and then proceed to get married, pissing off Johnny-san. XD Ironically, "Bokura no Machi de" is from the first time that KAT-TUN released something without Akanishi because it came out during his sabbatical in 2006, when he left for Los Angeles, California in order to study English. (It is also probably the most boring of KAT-TUN's single songs, but we won't talk about that. XD)
I thought it was appropriate to use the English meaning of the song title for this post since Akihabara seems to be AKB's town. :)
The entry for our next adventure, Ikebukuro will be in coming soon, which means bye-bye for now! ^^
No comments:
Post a Comment