#Sunshine city

[necroticboop]

✦ Sanrio Cafe inside Sunshine City in Ikebukuro, Tokyo [x]

[hazbin-helluva-itch]

So many Pikachus at Pokemon Mega Center in Sunshine City, Ikebukuro

[danny-pino-group-therapy]

Thank you Tokyo for having the cutest things.

[tamapalace]

Tamagotchi Original pop-up at the Bandai Namco Cross store ✨

[astrangefestive]

[littlebeanuc]

Where is this from?

[epiklab]

Where to eat in Tokyo? Sanrio Cafe Ikebukuro 池袋サンシャインシティのサンリオカフェ行きました

[nyannyannihon]

[ayeze]

in my &team era NICOCO PUFFS BY ME

[fluffykit]

I wonder which of us tastes better.

[hazbin-helluva-itch]

Failure is not falling down, it remains there when you have fallen.

IMPRESS

Found at Sunshine City, Ikebukuro

[yurikotigerisnotmaiwaifu]

Yuriko Tiger tweet 31/10/2021 Cosplay:  Power for Chainsaw man

[kiraratranslations]

4th Single Release！！Yonemura Kirara (24.09.11)

[astrangefestive]

[japantaketwo]

[kyndaris]

Weathering With You

The last Tuesday of our trip in Japan rolled around and it was wet and gloomy. Despite the rain, bleachpanda and I were not deterred, starting the day off strong with a grilled cheese sandwich at the bakery at our hotel, before we set off to Shinjuku's JR station.

Our destination for first half of the day? Ikebukuro! Home to Sunshine City and an aquarium. But it's also where the Mega Pokemon Centre can be found (where I can enjoy some more Pokemon shopping), along with Otome Road, a major shopping and cultural centrer for anime and manga aimed at women (where bleachpanda could try and buy items pertaining to her favourite characters from the visual novels she tends to play).

Now I'm not judging her for her tastes...but, ok, no. You got me. I do judge her for her tastes. And I found it wanting while we were on this trip.

Worse, many of the characters bleachpanda liked weren't exactly current and she found it difficult to find anything. Much like how I could barely find anything in relation to Fire Emblem or Like a Dragon. True, Fire Emblem Engage wasn't as popular as Three Houses but I couldn't even spot a Claude, Dimitri or stray Edelgard anywhere. Even the Persona merchandise was relegated to a small portion of one shelf in Animate.

Least, I had Detective Conan goodies to tide me over.

But no, we started our day in Ikebukuro, weaving our way towards Sunshine City through the light drizzle of rain. Down we went, inside the shopping centre, emerging out near the Sanrio cafe. As I'm always craving a hot chocolate, we stopped to try out some of the food and to take a few photos of the quaint little shop before following the arrows towards the Mega Pokemon Centre in Ikebukuro.

Unlike my first adventure here eight years ago, this time, I knew exactly where I was going. And once we arrived, I couldn't help but flit around the store as I bought souvenirs for friends. I also bought myself a sleeping pachirisu. It's no Eevee, sure, but it was cute and adorable.

It wasn't long before we ventured to the other stores in the Department store, including another Mugiwara (Straw Hat) store while I took another gander at the Disney store there. I even flirted with the idea of checking out the aquarium but we had also promised my two friends from the day before to catch-up at Akihabara. So, it was with a heavy heart that we headed out of Sunshine City and headed to the flagship Animate store. This time, bleachpanda led the way while I followed.

The rain, by then, was beginning to worsen, and by the time we arrived, our umbrellas were soaked. Still, we took the time to check out almost all the floors in the shop - about six, before visiting the nearby K-books for any otome items bleachpanda might fancy. Alas, it was not to be as most of the stores she went to were stocked with doujinshi or dull pin badges of characters she didn't much like or hadn't heard of.

From there, we also checked out the Don Quijote at Ikebukuro (mostly to escape the rain) where I bought myself a new backpack and bleachpanda drowned her sorrows of not finding the otome characters she wanted with other goodies for her friends and family.

By the time we stumbled back out into the rain, it was half past 1. Hungry, I searched for a restaurant nearby but couldn't find anything decent. So, off we trotted to the nearby JR station and took a train to Akihabara. Or, as its more commonly known: Electric Town - a buzzing shopping hub where weebs gather to purchase figurines of their favourite characters from manga, anime and video games.

When we got off the train, however, the rain only seemed to intensify.

Thankfully, I'd chosen to wear my waterproof hiking shoes, but bleachpanda's feet were soaked.

Still, we pressed on, heading to a gyukatsu restaurant right next to Radio Kaikan, and which proved to be quite novel in how it served its food - which needed to be lightly grilled over a hot plate. By then, I checked in to see if my friends were in the vicinity and if they wanted to catch-up.

Of course, they were right in the store next to us, so into Radio Kaikan bleachpanda and I went, going through all the stores meticulously to see if there might be something we wanted to buy.

Spoilers: there wasn't.

And after my eyes had gone crosswise by seeing the exact same One Piece characters for the umpteenth time, bleachpanda and I headed to the nearby Square Enix cafe to check out the store. Whilst there, I bought a few more items in relation to the more recent games Square-Enix had published, like Octopath Traveler 2 and Bravely Default. And since the cafe also offered takeaway items with free place mats and coasters, bleachpanda and I tried our luck to see what Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth characters we could get.

Turns out, we both ended up getting Turks. I got Rude while bleachpanda got Reno.

Then, it was off to the second Animate store of the day as the rain continued to piss down on everyone.

Honestly, if it hadn't been for the rain, it might have been decent but considering how poor the weather was, I was very tempted to call it a day and return to the warmth of our hotel. Alas, we pressed on. And even weighed down by our shopping bags, we took up my friends offer to have dinner at a ramen restaurant.

Unfortunately, due to the heavy rain, my friend took a wrong turn and we ended up at a Korean restaurant instead. Still, since I'd grown accustomed somewhat to Korean food, it wasn't terrible. And once full, we headed back to Shinjuku.

So ended our third day at Tokyo. It would not be long now before bleachpanda and I would be heading back home to Australia. Oh, how I dreaded the return to reality. And work.