#maybe animate akiba has it's own thing toi

[blackidyll]

I cannot freaking believe I have enough photos for this, but have a YOI things in Japan post, Part 3:

1) Funny story. I was at Shibuya and I figured I'd drop by the Animate there (which was hell to find, btw) to see if they had any unique YOI merch. I wandered the store and couldn't find the YOI section, and I thought maybe unlike Ikebukuro, they're trying to keep the hype equal across all series. BOY WAS I WRONG. I turned a corner and was faced with this wall.

2) Turns out YOI gets a WHOLE cornered off area by itself. Look at this gloriousness. 1.5 walls of screencaps from the anime. Plus a TV screen playing the first episode.

3) The middle of the room are stands and tables with official merch. Directly across the screencap wall are the rest of our boys. They also had a little display with all the mags related to YOI. See that empty space at the top right? That's Otomedia with the Valentines podium family cover, which is also sold out at Ikebukuro. I guess they'll restock soon though, since it's the Feb edition. They also had mags featuring Hanyu Yuzuru :D

4) Another wall, where you can post birthday wishes for Guang Hong and Chris, whose birthdays are coming up soon!

5) Hahahaha I wanted to post this. These are new merch. If I'm not mistaken they're being released staggered at different stores; Shibuya has these from the 16th to 29th. Everything with a red tag is sold out. So basically - that's everything sold out lol. A lot of these are blind boxes too.

6 to 8) More Kubo-sensei doodles :DDDDD. Victor's says: "Katsudon? I really like it." lololol

9) Here’s Victor but also, that display shows all the new merch (that sold out lol). We're not allowed to photograph the merch display but we can take Victor, and I realized you can see some of the merch in this pic.

10) So like. Animate knows their customers. They had a promo where you get a free postcard (given blind, and those envelopes are sealed tight mind you) for each 1000 yen you spend on YOI merch. I got Guang Hong and Minami-kun from Ikebukuro (mags don't count or else I'll have more postcards). In Shibuya, because of the new stuff, you get both a postcard AND one of six coaster with the new merch dessert designs. I purposely bought above 1000 yen to get the free coaster, but I didn't know I was still entitled to the postcard. And I got Yuuri in all his sparkly glory! The coaster was chosen by the Animate staff who rang up my purchase (it didn't come in an envelope or anything) and I don't know if I'm lucky or if it's the first one on the pile or he picked Victor for me because I spoke English and hence outed myself as a foreigner... But thank you kind sir TwTb

And then I had Katsuya katsudon today (thanks for the rec, @cannedebonbon!). I was hunting down the nearest post office this morning to mail some postcards and the restaurant was right there. In hindsight, it was a sign today would be a YOI day as well hahahaha.

[atopearth]

Steins;Gate 0 Part 4 - Kurisu Ending and Leskinen Ending

Kurisu Ending Although I’m not sure why there’s a Kurisu ending, I do appreciate seeing all the lab members gathered together, and then changing time lines to the future! I’ve always been curious about more of Suzuha’s life “back then”, so it’s cool to see the devastation of the future, and how everyone was doing. I like how the VA for Luka really seemed to sound a bit more masculine but still retain some feminity, but I guess the saddening thing is we can only hear it in Luka’s dying moments. It was so sad to hear him say that he finally felt like a part of the group only after he used what he learnt from Okabe to protect Mayuri and Faris from the enemies. Luka was always a part of the group! It’s saddening that he never felt that way for the whole 25 years Okabe was asleep (since his mind was broken and Daru and them needed to find his memory data they stored for Amadeus to get Okabe back). It’s also saddening that the battle for Kurisu’s time travel paper and her memories is what caused all this, but I guess it’s also because of it that they met Maho and she could recreate the PhoneWave for Okabe to change things again. Okabe saving Kurisu by releasing [Kurisu] from Amadeus huh? It’s been too long, it’s about time Kurisu’s memories and everything stopped being fiddled with I guess. Kinda sad that we didn’t get to a bit of the 3000 time leaps he had to do to get back to 2011 though, I think it would have been nice to see a bit more detail in the changes of the world and his emotions but oh well😭 We know how he feels through Luka’s death and all the rotting and dystopian feel 2036 had, so I guess it’s fine haha.

I guess with so many time leaps and everything, it was hard for Okabe to bear and think of himself as human anymore especially with the digitised memories, but at least Maho has kinda taken over Kurisu’s role to help him out with his troubles in her own way haha. It was really nice to finally see Okabe understand through his first hand experience how devastating the future is, and how he has finally picked himself up to do what he needs to do. It was cute to see him tell Suzuha to punch him so he could finally force himself to take on everything again, and as expected, it’s pretty nostalgic to see Hououin Kyoma back lol! Lmao when he started calling Maho a loli hahahaha. I love Maho’s deadpan expression towards Okabe’s weird chuunibyou “ceremony” to get himself back together, I also loved how he said El Psy Kongroo in a funny way hahaha. It’s saddening to delete Kurisu’s memory data, but it’s for the best and really unneeded since what Kurisu is will always be within them, and considering Kurisu’s personality, she’d definitely want them to delete it so that her memories wouldn’t cause wars and have so many people die.

It was obvious that Kagari would get caught, but it’s saddening to know and see more of the extent of her brainwashing. As usual, Reyes likes to ramble on about her cliche for the good of the world military antics on making intelligent and specialised AI soldiers, but I think a nice thing to see was Okabe finally vehemently denying that he would want Kurisu’s memories inside Kagari, and finally understanding that even if she has Kurisu’s memories, she can’t become Kurisu. And… I’m not sure how I feel about Reyes downloading “emptiness” (since Daru deleted the files right when she downloaded it into her brain) into her brain when she tried to put Kurisu’s memories into herself instead of Kagari last minute, I found it to be a really silly decision from her perspective.. But I did like the uplifting and more “complete” ending this time around. It was definitely nice to see the past and see a glimpse of how everyone was like (even though they were pretty much the same lol), but I think what I enjoyed most was seeing Okabe’s change in attitude by experiencing all this and then making the decision for himself to save the world and head to the world of Steins;Gate in a different way from the original. So yeah, definitely my favourite ending haha.

Back to the beginning! Not surprised Okabe wants to stop being a tester, especially when he’s starting to just think of Amadeus as the real Kurisu. But it seems everything is moving quite fast, especially with Kurisu’s mother’s house being burnt down and these dodgy people pretending to be the police collecting info etc. Well…that guy that tried to kill Leskinen, Okabe and Maho was pretty hardcore.. But anyway, Suzuha catching a cold! That is definitely something rare and nice to see, mainly because it was really heartwarming to see Mayushii, Yuki and Daru pamper her and take care of her. She’s always on guard and stressed, I guess her body can finally take a break for now lol. I felt so sad for her when she said she felt bad that she wanted to live the life of a normal girl. Suzuha really is the toughest one that has too many burdens tbh… Props to Daru for being a good dad haha.

Lmao at Maho’s first experience at the maid cafe, Faris’ language is definitely Akiba exclusive with how she makes up stories on the fly hahaha. I really liked how Okabe apologised to Amadeus Kurisu, it was really cute and nice of him to so earnestly do that. Christmas party for everyone!!~ Too bad everything gets ruined again by the changing world lines! It seems that people are catching on to the Reading Steiner thing, and it’s becoming more prominent in others too! Kinda crappy that Fubuki and them are stuck in hospital because of this Reading Steiner “disease” though, but it’s kinda weird to think about everyone having it now lol. I feel so bad for Suzuha though, she carries the heaviest burden, the future is relying on her, Mayuri and them in the future all believed in her and want her to change it all. So, it’s not weird for her to get desperate after Okabe told her that Russia is most likely experimenting with the time machine now, and that’s why the world line changed and reverted back. It’s always nice to see Suzuha and Daru bond, especially when she ended up being able to sleep peacefully for once after talking to him.

Lmao at Maho’s face when she kept losing at the crane machine, reminds me of when I try hahaha. It was so sweet that she wanted the stuffed toy because she knew it was something Kurisu held dearly in America, so she wanted to get it to give to Kurisu’s mum (because it probably got burnt along with the house), Maho is really kind and cute. The fight for Kurisu’s laptop is still up and going I guess lol, I’m surprised that she willingly gave it to Okabe, but I guess it couldn’t be helped.

Leskinen ending Maho and Leskinen went back to America and half a year just passed like that?! Okay, lmao at Maho keeping the stuffed toy (for now apparently) and snuggling it to sleep hahaha, can’t blame Amadeus Kurisu for teasing her about Okabe all the time tbh loll. I’m surprised that Leskinen really does seem to be a part of this “conspiracy” thing with Reyes… Anyway, Mayuri in her school uniform really resembles the original game art and stuff, it’s so nostalgic seeing her like that. Honestly though, hearing Mayuri talk about the Rainet Kakeru movie makes me kinda miss the story of it from the original, it was pretty detailed, it could have been an anime itself haha, if only they continued the Kakeru story here too…

Well, that was weird. Anyway, Maho discovering Leskinen and Reyes collaborating was expected, her kinda being like “brainwashed” was expected too, but I have to say, out of all the times Okabe chooses to explain everything that happened to Maho, I personally thought the time in this ending was the least…realistic? Like, oh no, she’s crying and going ballistic over it, so I should tell her everything so that she won’t do the same thing as me, it just felt so…forced? Like, if you know they’re so unstable over it, you know they would do crazy stuff over it, I honestly thought it was a bigger reason to not tell her. But okay, for the plot, he tells her, she tells Leskinen and Okabe gets captured blah blah. Honestly, Leskinen’s thoughts and stuff for being a part of Stratfor etc was a chore to listen through, just like Reyes one in Maho’s route lol. On the other hand, Maho’s breakdown was uncomfortable but understandable considering the magnitude and consequences of what she had done. However, I do feel like Maho exploding on Mayuri and telling her everything about Okabe sacrificing Kurisu to save her was “logical”, but at the same time, it felt weird. I don’t know how to put it, but the whole interaction was just weird, maybe because, once again it was all a plot device to the ending so everything the characters did “makes sense” to an extent, but it just really doesn’t feel that much like “them”. Or maybe it’s just me not liking this game loll. 

Anyway, Kagari trying to kill Maho for hurting Mayuri was so refreshing tbh in this stagnant story haha. However, them skipping the whole “last fight” thing where Maho and Kagari go to save Okabe was very…interesting? It’s like they didn’t want to bother about that part even though you really have to question their capabilities etc especially when they need to save someone, but I guess even if we did get to see it, it would have been similar to the Maho ending but swapping Moeka with Kagari. Aaand then after they risk everything to save Okabe, he just thinks, well, after all this, he definitely can’t muster up any energy or fighting spirit within him to go against anything anymore and will just continue as is even though everyone is like gone and never to be seen again, including Mayuri. It’s like, this was a bad ending in both senses. Bad ending for the world, and bad ending for me because the writing, the flow of it and everything killed me because I literally took days to read it. But I guess a lot of this game is like that, it really likes to heap on unnecessary slice of life stuff that is nice, but totally neglects the plot points leading to the ending and just haphazardly slaps everything together in like a “finale”. It’s just so…boring tbh. Like, the things that happen are “understandable”, it’s just how the whole process went to getting there was just sometimes either so illogical or tedious that I just don’t “feel” it happening. Mayuri is like my favourite character and I have to admit, I hardly care about her anymore…

[sirnighteye]

sO i might be going to Japan in October (Tokyo area) and I was wondering if you had any go-to places I should visit? :o Akihabara and Shinjuku and Odaiba are on my list (whereImayormaynotbecosplayingMimiTachikawatoRIPmyweebass) but I was wondering if you had any others or specifics? :0

man oh MAN i hope you are ready for me to ramble a lotso about food + toy stores. please forgive me if you have any food sensitivities i am not remembering :’(

I have pretty large gaps in the galleries/fine art/spiritual side of things, unfortunately, as THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH TIME TO DO WHAT I WANT. My experience is void, and I hope to grow it in the future SO FOR NOW I HAVE MANY SUGGESTIONS IN THE VIDEO GAME AND ANIME PLASTIC CONSUMERIST/FOOD-GUY GENRE OF THINGS (e: a friend might amend with good galleries and stuff, so keeep yr eyes peeled!)

Ima keep this public as my general DONUT’S TOKYO TOP PICKS list lmao

Shinjuku is my home base usually, as I like Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku- the location can’t be beat! Shinuku is really fun to walk around and sort of get an early feel for things but I don’t have a ton of ~musts~ there. My favourite katsu place is there, across from the aforementioned hotel I usually stay at.

A bit out of the way, but Artnia is fun if you care about having chocobos printed on pancakes. It’s kind of quiet and low-key, but all the merch there is pretty much what you can already find on the Square Enix website.

YOU MUST GO TO SEKAIDO. Three floors of art supplies! It’s interesting to see the differences between the Japanese and North American art markets- brands that are popular stateside are present in Japan but in very different packing, and everyone seems to manufacture an acrylic gouache. Acrylic gouache is the shit in Japan. The bottom floor has too many fun stamps and branded-pencils and washi tape. It’s so lovely.

A lot of people recommend the Golden Gai as an ~experience~ but I don’t drink, so I’ve never gone.

Honestly, I’ve spent a lot of time just failing horribly in the arcades around Shinjuku station 😅😅😅

Akihabara is overwhelming. There’s so much going on and it’s hard to feel like you’ve even scratched the surface. After spending a whole day there I realized I had visited four, maybe five shops and lost myself in a sinkhole of One Piece resale merch (gotta get ‘em Kakus).

It’s so big it feels impossible to find the more niche things when every storefront you pass is just a sea of thousands of itty bitty little bags of One Piece resale, haha.

I found some gems in Akiba Cultureszone, though. The ground floor Animate is kind of shit, and the second floor Lashinbang immediately drove me away with moe hell, but the third floor is a sweet spot of resale shops where you can find some really cool shit- I bought most of a set of cryptid capsule toys there, and gnawed on my own hand over the want to buy some exclusive Ghostbusters merch?

The Cospa Gee store is a smallll space, but Cospa makes some pretty cool stuff, so it’s worth a look. It’s also on top of a retail space that is entirely capsule machines and it is so good, so good.

Super Potato is pretty highly acclaimed vintage game store, buttttttt your mileage may vary: they straight up ignored my sister when she tried to buy a game, and I found the shelves pretty dusty and barren.

It’s worth it to head to Sunshine City in Ikebukuro and spend some time at the Pokemon Center. Sunshine City also has an aquarium that is fun to look at but maybe a little suspect on the animal welfare front :x

Directly across the street from the Starbucks-side of Sunshine City is the Ikebukuro Mandarake, which is just an overall good decision to visit: this one is alllll doujin, and it’s not all filthy but it is all cheap. I love buying doujin, it’s so neat to be in a space full of tangible artifacts of pure fan-enthusiasm.

Due to my dad’s illness our last trip I missed Odaiba so I can’t speak for anything there sadly :x

Harajuku is my favourite place to visit. Get off at Harajuku station, meander down Takeshita and enjoy the loud poppy fashion hell, and then keep going a little further and just… meander. There are so many amazing little shops down there in the sweet little side streets.  Stop by B-Side Label. Amazing stickers! I spent like $100 on them.

Off the side streets, Kiddyland is fun, and not too far from there is Dominique Ansel Bakery, which is always packed but is also??? fucking magic???

Also in Harajuku is Good Town Doughnuts, which is possibly one of my favourite places in the world. Their Blood Orange donut is really all i want out of life.

Shibuya is a place you’ve really got to wander and find what you want- I visited a lot because the One Piece store is there (IF U CARE, it’s in the Marui dept. store- the place that says OIOI on it.)- but they’ve got an amazing Tower Records. And please say hi to Hachiko ❤️

The basement floor of a lot of department stores are AMAZING AND BEAUTIFUL FOOD MARKETS- my favourite, right at Shibuya Station, is Tokyu Food Show. PLEASE GO HERE IT IS  SERIOUSLY SO GOOD. I bought croquettes from a shop in one far corner, scarfed them cold, and then cried.

Nakano Broadway is an aging trash mall that got eaten up by the hobby resale chain Mandarake- they have like twenty shops in this mall with varying hyperfocuses. It’s a good place to find some older treasures, and just gawk. I found some Final Fantasy VI keychains in a shop here- that’s shit’s from 1994!

Also, it is the main setting of Digimon Cybersleuth, which is kind of fucking amazing.

A few blocks up from Ebisu station is Blacows, the best burger I have ever eaten. They never disappoint. (Get a side of the fried chicken- best karaage I’ve ever had!!)

Chains you will see everywhere and might want to visit: Animate, Tokyu Hands, Taito Station Arcade.

Please eat and drink everything that even slightly interests you in convenience stores, you WILL not be disappointed. also mcdonalds has soft serve floats in coke and ANTIFREEZE GREEN “MELON” SODA. they are amazing

That’s aaaalllll I can think of right now off the top of my head, but I’ll reblog + update with any new remembers :’))) PLEASE HAVE A VERY GOOD TIME, OH MY GOD, I AM EXCITE FOR U!!!