But now is time for the post that everyone has probably been waiting for. A place that all anime/manga fans want to visit. It is time for....Akihabara!!!
One of the many sign posts up at the station. If you get off at the wrong side at this station it is not the end of the world. It is however the end of the world if you get off at the wrong side at Shinjuku Station.
Hide your wallets folks. It is time to be poor.
Time to spend money!!!
Once you turn onto the main road, Chūōdōri, this is what you see. Chūōdōri itself is not a very long street (well the parts that have anime). Where all the shops come from is the multiple tall buildings and their many different floors. So while people might pout that it is not miles and miles of stores remember....Tokyo goes up. XD
Is that a familiar face in the window? I toyed with the idea of going to the new manga opening they had for Haruhi but it was at midnight and I didn't want to be stranded.
Sadly like most of Japan one cannot take pictures inside stores. One must be like Danny Choo and have special permission. Or be a ninja. So most of my pictures are of the buildings outside or of the hallways inside the buildings. But Animate should be a must stop for any anime fan. Make sure you search every floor. Different items are on different floors so don't miss anything.
Also a time for boobies.
After visiting Japan I can see why people think anime is all about porn. Boobies everywhere folks. Shows that aren't even hentai in nature have naked girl products behind them. I did not need to see Asuza's boobies folks. :( And while the Japanese might be....shy about other aspects of their bodies boobies are everywhere folks. This isn't an anime convention where things are covered up. Over 18 material is everywhere so be aware of that if you have small eyes with you.
Went into one of the game centers. A lot of crane machines on the first floor. Coin pusher games on the top floors. And in between were regular game machines and machines that required you use cards to play them.
Only picture I could take before I was told NO! I forgot the rules in Japan sorry. :(
The goddess of Akihabara.
Gamers is also a store one must visit if they are into anime. Most of the stores have different merchandise bu there are some similarities. The first floor of these big mega stores are full of new merchandise (aka popular series) and magazines. We went on Sunday so it was super busy. Know where you are going or you will be run down. And fanboy funk does exist in Japan.
The Gamers store is slightly huge.
Taking pictures was a little hard on Sunday but we managed.
An event? What could it be for?
When we first arrived there were tons of people gathered around one part of the street. And everyone was fanning themselves with a certain fan. So obviously something is going on and we must get to the bottom of it.
A new anime?
Nopers. At the end of the day all this crazy was for a new type of Pachinko machine. I found that rather amusing as there are tons of pachinko machines already and the amount of anime clips in those games is minimal.
But maybe everyone was really excited for the half naked girls?
Somehow we got pushed to the front before the action happened. And then the girls stood in the same position. For over 5 minutes. It was probably more but we decided to run away at that point. I wonder how long they were out there for.
I can't see all the girls!
More of the Pachinko event.
Inside one of the stores. Every inch of the walls in the hallways and elevators must be covered to advertise the same 5 products over and over again.
Don't run us over!!!
When we first arrived in Akihabara it was still opened to cars. Here is Japan (or maybe just Tokyo) everyone is in a big hurry. So even when the crosswalk says go walk across cars are waiting very impatiently to kill you. Be careful folks.
Only cool bike I saw that day. XD
Time for walking in the streets.
I am not sure what time the streets opened up but eventually we were allowed to play in traffic. It felt weird at first. I kept looking around to make sure no one was trying to run us over. But eventually it was easier to go in the road than the crowded sidewalk. Also easier trying to see what store we wanted to go to next when we could see all the floors and not just the front.
Oh yes...maid cafes.
I know most fanboys dream of eating at a real cafe. But that was not my dream. And the reality is some of the maids are...well annoying. Well maybe it is their job to be annoying. They all line the street and try to force their flyers on you. And when the sidewalk is already crowded them trying to hand out flyers and people going out of their way to avoid them takes up a lot of space. But if you really want to go to a cafe there are about a million of them here, usually on the top floors.
Some stores are mostly porny but it is hard to tell before you get inside.
Be careful while walking around Akihabara. Most people were really not paying attention to anyone else and kept almost crashing into me. And when you are looking at items you don't back away to look at them. You need to be right next to the shelf. Makes it hard to see everything but that is how it is done here.
Do you need more cute?
I shall pass on these noms.
Mos Burgers were everywhere in Japan. But since my experience with burgers ended with onions INSIDE the burgers I didn't feel like trying this place. But they have many options for less picky people.
Take me to your anime.
Sofmap is mostly an electronic store. But on one floor of some of these stores there are anime products. It isn't anything compared to Gamers or Animate but one might find some good deals here. If one likes figurines they tended to have good prices on theirs. The only stores that had better prices were the consignment type shops. If I was you I would write down what I want and compare prices before making any big purchases.
Elevator advertisement.
If you are a fan of doushinji or self made comics this is the place for you. And a lot of these stores have them for reasonable prices, not the crazy crap you see at anime conventions. The yaoi stuff tends to have their own floors as the hentai infects every floor.
Some stores didn't have the product they were advertising. Most were a preorder system and it seems most stores don't order a ton of extras. That would explain why most stores did not have nendoroids at the moment but were advertising for new ones.
A lot of stores either had one tiny elevator or stairs. Yay for stores who had escalators (mainly the Sofmaps).
Even the most empty and unused staircase gets a little bit of love and attention.
Time to make friends weee!!!
While I was there the most popular animes (being pushed or actually popular) were Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, Special A, Hakuouki Hekketsuroku and Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko. And since the new Haruhi novel was coming out new products of that were being pushed out as well. There was some pokemon but it wasn't all over the place. Tsubasa was nowhere to be found....actually CLAMP did not have a big presence anywhere. Very sad for Tsubasa indeed.
But if you like the newer shows or manga (and can read Japanese) you shall have a good time. Just keep an open mind for boobies. Even if you like boobies it gets weird seeing them all the time. And it will be crowded on Sundays. XD
We had lots of fun in Akihabara even thought it was a lot of work dragging bags around and avoiding people. Just keep track of your money as it spends really, really fast. XD
I hope you enjoyed my Akihabara post. Day 10 is not the only day we traveled to the anime mecca so expect to see a few more glimpses of the place before we leave. Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for Japan Trip Day 11. Hopefully there will be less spending that day as Puroland and Akihabara have drained me dry. XD
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