It’s my second day in Tokyo. It’s only 8pm right now but it feels like midnight because the sun sets at 4pm…
We overslept and missed Tsukiji, and ended up spending the whole day in Ikebukuro. (Otome Road in particular.) This is what happens when you don’t plan your itinerary in advance.
This is the fourth time I’ve been to Japan, but it’s the first time I’ve stayed in any place other than Ikebukuro. I have stayed in Sunshine City Prince (east Ikebukuro), Hotel Metropolitan (central Ikebukuro) and Grand House Chang Tee (west Ikebukuro) on three separate occasions, so you can say that Ikebukuro’s the place that I am most familiar with in the whole of Japan.
Ikebukuro
Bleach movie
I really want to watch this
This is a small cinema
Tokyu Hands
Sakura Cafe
Entrance to Sunshine City
Fire hydrant
Pepsi
Waiting for Tokyu Hand to open
hikoukigumo
Arcade opposite Tokyo Hand
I realize that I suck at taking pictures for introducing a place. But it’s okay because these parts of Ikebukuro are unimportant. By the way, Tokyu Hand is a really cool franchise store that sells all sorts of awesome things from ant farms to plamo to DIY supplies to marble Rube Goldberg kits. Some examples:
Amuro!
I cannot comprehend people’s obsession with Zeon
Tape fixes everything, even broken holy lances
Otome Road
The most important area in Ikebukuro is the Otome Road. It has tons of BL and yaoi (hence the nickname), but don’t let that deter you from visiting this awesome place. (Unless you are a fujoshi, in which case further convincing is not needed.) The shops along Otome Road have awesome deals for secondhand item and limited edition collectibles.
Here’s a map of Otome Road. I will include the locational names in Japanese below so you can compare.
Walking from the south, the first place that you’ll probably see is the main branch of Animate (アニメイト本店), the biggest anime chain store in Japan, and probably the world.
Animate main branch
The main branch had a renovation since the last time I visited over a year ago. They shifted the position of the main entrance for some reason.
Bleach movie ad again
Too many
Way too many
The old main entrance
A few steps further down the road from Animate lies an inconspicuous stairway to Lashinbang (らã—ã‚“ã°ã‚“). This is a secondhand store that sells doujinshi, event-limited collectibles and various other rare character goods. You can find some good deals here, but it’s hard to say for sure as prices are often set quite arbitrarily and can vary greatly from store to store.
Moving on, we find K-Books’ anime section (K-BOOKS　アニメ館). This is similar to Lashinbang, except that it does not sell doujinshi. The last time I was here, I bought an episode script for Kimi ga Nozomu Eien. (The kind that seiyuu use.) You can get some really rare stuff here if you can afford the premium. If not, look for cheap deals and enjoy the secondhand savings.
K-Books panders quite a bit to the fujoshi crowd, so it’s wise to stay out of any area with suspiciously-pink decor. The next store is K-Books too, this one with more doujin-related items.
Mandarake (the shop is in the basement)
Next we have Mandarake (ã¾ã‚“ã らã‘), a famous franchise store for doujin products. Their Ikebukuro branch deals exclusively with BL, so proceed with caution.
Finally, K-Books has two additional outlets farther down the street. The doujinshi section (K-BOOKS　åŒäººé¤¨) deals with BL and yaoi doujinshi (K-BOOKS　コミック館), while the comics section has awesome deals for secondhand manga, often with entire sets up for sale.
Cheap as they may be, manga are absolutely the worst thing you can get in Japan as a tourist due to the weight limit placed on your check-in luggage.
But still, the price is tempting.
Well, that’s about it for Otome Road.
More Pictures
Trees
Tree
We ate at this underground (literally) Chinese restaurant
The waitress spoke Chinese
Spot the Bleach movie ad!
His Master’s Voice
Wendy’s
Real movies that are not Bleach
Denny’s
Pachinko parlour
Toranoana’s Ikebukuro Branch
“Christ’s blood will save the world!”
McPork
On a closing note, for those of you who are wondering about the doujinshi…
From left to right, top down:
- Paper Crown – Blade Works (crap)
- T2 Art Works – Entangle
- Kagi No-do – HowTo Hatsune Miku (okay)
- Lost Rarities – Industial (decent)
- Kohakutei & Sakai-Hamachi – EDEN -Rei7- (frigging awesome)
- T2 Art Works – Nekomimi Batoraa
- T2 Art Works – Watashi wa Kyozetsu suru!
- Hiro Suzuhira – Heart-Work 2005
- Hiro Suzuhira – Heart-Work 2007 Summer
- Hiro Suzuhira – Heart-Work 2006 Summer
Total expenditure (food and transport included) today: ï¿¥7,367.
so…when’s that kara no kyoukai showing for you.
How much were each of the T2 works? I bought (the only remaining copy of) Tony Taka’s RUNAR! from one of the Otome Road K Books for an eye-watering JPY 3,000; was frigging awesome though. :)
sunshine city = suntec city ripoff?
suntec city = sunshine city ripoff?
“The main branch had a renovation since the last time I visited over a year ago. They shifted the position of the main entrance for some reason.”
fengshui? I wonder if japanese practice that…
Hiro Suzhira artworks….do waaant :x
omo:
Well the last showing for the first chapter is on Friday, so I guess I have to catch it some time before that.
Zyl:
It’s all a huge scam. Lashinbang has a copy of RUNAR! for display at 3000 yen now. K-Books has two copies at 3150 each. I bet all the doujin shops have huge storerooms of them and only display a few at a time to jack up the price. >_>
I bought the T2 stuff for about 1000 yen each. I’ll consider paying 3000 yen for RUNAR! after Comiket is over and I tabulate my spending.
OMGOMG You got a Rei Doujin!!! WANT!!!
OMG GUNDAM POD IS ALREADY OUT IN JAPAN???
Damn! Singapore will only get it on January 2008!! Not fair!!
P.S DDR Supernova is 4-5 months late, it came out in Japan in August 2006, and it is only here in December 2006. And it is the same Japanese version! I wish MDA would give us an explanation other than stating the bloody hardware export laws in Japan.
I’d like a personal Gundam POD, but I doubt it would fit in my flat. Also, it might break the tenancy agreement.
The sights and sounds of Tokyo look really exciting. I would be broke after hitting up the comic/hobby shops and shipping the stuff back home.
IKnight you are lucky. Over here you need to acquire a government license before putting an arcade machine INSIDE your home (YES even for private housing if I am not wrong).
Besides I think the game is going to be something like “SOZ : Senshi no Wasuraenai”, with the exception of Initial D controls in which you get to blast another gundam into bite-sized pieces of metal while strafing around.
P.S I just watched Mendoi’s G00. Thanks to Darky for the translations even though he is on holiday.
T2 Art Works – Entangle
Kagi No-do – HowTo Hatsune Miku
Lost Rarities – Industial
humm these 3 have the nicest covers imo. especially Industial
Ahh T2 Artworks, Hiro Suzuhira, etc… Let me know when you’re coming back to SG, I’d wanna rob ya ^^;
Jokes aside, when are you going to Akibahara and make us drool moar LOL
“We overslept and missed Tsukiji…”
OH NO!!! That fish market has got to be one of the most awesome places in Tokyo…I would be horribly bummed if I had slept through the chance to hang out and eat sushi for breakfast. D:
What!? You buy stuff! They are not worth buying! You only get the paper. Join us pirates. Be cheap. Be a thief!
Anyway sarcasm aside, 撮影ãŠç–²ã‚Œæ§˜ã§ã—ãŸï¼ I think the shots are fine. Are you using your iPhone for them?
Ah, Ikebukuro and Animate… I remember getting stuck in there in the summer last year, and moreso with my sister this September (as she knows more anime stuff this year). We also tried to raid the K-Book stores thoroughly but that day all shops in Ikebukuro had to close early so we had to leave (and partly the reason why my sister didn’t shop long in Sunshine 60, of which more than 80% of the shops were closed in the beginning).
Missed Tsukiji? That’s unlucky. Anyway it is rumoured that there are plans to move the fish market to a different location. My sister talked to a local in an ice-cream shop there in the last trip, and apparently the decision of moving is still unknown as there are a significant number of people who are against the plan. Maybe you can find some more info for us.
“OMG GUNDAM POD IS ALREADY OUT IN JAPAN???
Damn! Singapore will only get it on January 2008!! Not fair!!
P.S DDR Supernova is 4-5 months late, it came out in Japan in August 2006, and it is only here in December 2006. And it is the same Japanese version! I wish MDA would give us an explanation other than stating the bloody hardware export laws in Japan.”
The gundam pod has been out for ages in Japan
In spite of your JLPT1, you appear to have mistranslated the board. It says “The blood of Christ washes away sin.” Doesn’t say anything about saving the world.
@Hayate-kun: Obviously, the satire is wasted on you.
Hey DM
Been trying to contact you. Got your pass. Let me know if you are interested in using it.
lol, saw that evangelion doujin b4 :D Enjoy reading it ^^
lolz… i stayed at Sunshine City Prince just a few days ago… without realising i was beside Otome Road the whole time….
I need to go back.. this time not as part of a tour group (too little time for self-exploration)..
Gah… and i thought the animate there was a small outlet..
I need some doujinshi as well.
but first, to improve in my spoken Japanese
Man those Bleach posters are everywhere its like somekind of propaganda. and you keep making me more and more jealous first you get to go to japan and now to have cheap doujinshi. I have to improve my Japanese urgently.
I’m kind of… erm, jealous. Yeah.
Save some money for Comiket and have fun there. :)
PS. Many thanks for awesome photos!
one day, I will raid your house for all the pr0n stuff in there ^^;
Mmm doujinshi… It’s a pity you missed Tsukiji but Otome Road makes up for it! If you’re hungry for food and hanging around Tokyo Dome or Shibuya, you might want to check out Ichiran. It’s a ramen joint where you eat in individual booths and do other anti-social things. It’s a great experience and the grub’s really good too. Mmmmm ramen.
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Que de couleurs. Je suis subjugué. Tokyo est vraiment une ville lumière…