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That's a 旅, too:

25th of April: Tokyo - Ikebukuro, Shinjuku Imperial Garden



Today we decided to have a somewhat relaxed day, and went anime/hobby shopping. Thankfully, we live really close to the Otome Kan, an area of Ikebukuro with immense anime shops. Otome Kan is different from Akihabara because it mostly tailors towards "the needs of women".

And that means comics about handsome men, and comics about boys love.

This isn't exactly our jam, but we decided to give it a go.



9 floors of anime goodness in Animate Ikebukuro, then few more floors of Animate Ikebukuro Annex, plus at least five shops of K-BOOKS, and a few more extra shops.

Lots and lots of BL ("boys love"), moderate amount of mainstream stuff, very little yuri ("girls love"). Yuri isn't a very popular genre.


"2.5D" category is funny. It refers to anime cosplayers, theatres and musicals. It's a bit uncanny to have cut-out figurines with real humans


One of the floors is all about anison (anime music). Signed discs on display are lovely


There's plenty of merch for hololive. Apparently, VTubers is a very big deal!


Registers have never ending ads for new anime.


Ave Mujica, my beloved anime gothic metal group, has released their first album, and there's an event space for it


I should've taken a photo with them😱
https://youtu.be/cVfQBLdIUXk



Artists leave their autographs in the store


We didn't find what we looked for in Animate, so we checked out other "for women!!!" anime shops. So many thin books, endless thin books...

* "Thin book" refers to a fan-made unofficial comic book, often of erotic content, very often portraying relationships that were not really explored in the original artworks


"Durarara" themed vending machine spotted, right next to K-Books shop

Durarara is an anime set in this area, after all.
https://youtu.be/ov3eHJaWnkM


We found what we were looking for (sort of!) in an unassuming shop called Melonbooks just a few minutes away from the Otome* Road. A half of the shop was definitely aimed for men, though. Its enormous 18+ section was frankly disappointing

* Otome = "lady"


But hey, they have "I'm in love with the villainess"...


... And green lesbians, and all the works of Kuzushiro except for the latest volume...


The choice of regular, non-BL, non-18+ thin books (also known as doujinshi, "magazine for kindred spirits") is adequate. There's also "order online, collect in the store" system with over 10,000 yuri thin books (allegedly) which we might or might not use in the future.


Today's haul:
* three doujinshi for "Sound Euphonium" (you'll hear about it more in a few days, no doubt), then
* doujinshi for "Bocchi The Rock",
* "16 bit sensation" artbook,
* New Ave Mujica album (comes with a random single CD and a limited edition photo card),
* whaledontsleep OST for "Senpai is an Otokonoko",
* And a commemorative doujinshi from a cafe called The Anchor.



Speaking about the café Anchor: it is likely the only yuri café in the world. It is located in Shinjuku's 2nd neighbourhood, known for its strong LGBT vibes and burgeoning night life.


People go to the Anchor to have a cake and read some yuri books. Their yuri book collection is roughly six times as large as mine.


I forgot to take the photos in the café, but it is exactly as you would imagine a café for lesbians who love reading: quiet, full of sofas and books. The cake was great. The guest book was full of warm messages from all over the world.



Anchor is just a few stone throws away from Shinjuku Gyoen ("Shinjuku Imperial Garden"). The area used to be the residence of the lord of Edo (Old Tokyo), then it was converted into a botanical garden, and then it was destroyed during the World War 2. It is now a huge landscape garden in the heart of Tokyo. There are many tourists, but it's relatively peaceful and quiet.


The heron isn't afraid of humans.


Have you seen this rain shelter before?


Maybe you have!


Makoto Shinkai's "The Garden Of Words" is set in this park





It is a lovely park~ 😊

The next day