The Old School Otaku Lounge

Yeah, the friend I went to the 8-Bit Cafe with (the other American guy in the video) went to a Dragon Quest-themed bar the year before last. There used to be a Gundam-themed bar somewhere in Akihabara. Two actually: a Zeon bar and a Federation bar. But crap, those joints disappeared around the same time the Gundam Cafe opened in Akihabara. I've visited the Gundam Cafe just to do a quick video (it's on my channel, from about April 2011 or so), but I haven't sat down because there is always such a long line outside. They've opened up another location or two, one of which I believe is near Tokyo Station. I may have better luck finding a table there. But hey, going to Akihabara, a Gundam-themed place to eat seems pretty popular. They also have their own "Jaburo Blend" coffee you can buy in bags.

oh, yes! That's another place I'd love to go to. When a friend of mine was in Japan for a few years, she went there several times (I think she went multiple times in cosplay, too--I think as Haman, but I can't remember.) and she'd post pics of the food, which always looked awesome.

Love to see more videos like this Greg!!! These three are awesome!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVEGxK1 ... BE&index=1

In that case...
Here is a video of a place called Dopo, which unfortunately closed down last year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BKo6079CHk

A similar place called Kanteidan in Shizuoka City:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85hjixv7Wtk
(There's also a Kanteidan here in Fuji City and another one in Shimizu, to the west of here. I should take videos of those places too. There is another Kanteidan in Fujieda, a bit further west from Shizuoka, but I've not yet ventured that far.)

Lastly, there's a new place on the eastern outskirts of Fuji called Otakara Chuukou Ichiba (Treasure Used Goods Marketplace).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwWZj-rQ7lY
I'm tempted to go back here and take another video of just the anime soundtrack section. I've found that the bigger a store is, the less likely I'll be spotted by a dumb employee who says I can't record anything with a camera.

greg wrote:In that case...
Here is a video of a place called Dopo, which unfortunately closed down last year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BKo6079CHk

A similar place called Kanteidan in Shizuoka City:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85hjixv7Wtk
(There's also a Kanteidan here in Fuji City and another one in Shimizu, to the west of here. I should take videos of those places too. There is another Kanteidan in Fujieda, a bit further west from Shizuoka, but I've not yet ventured that far.)

Lastly, there's a new place on the eastern outskirts of Fuji called Otakara Chuukou Ichiba (Treasure Used Goods Marketplace).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwWZj-rQ7lY
I'm tempted to go back here and take another video of just the anime soundtrack section. I've found that the bigger a store is, the less likely I'll be spotted by a dumb employee who says I can't record anything with a camera.

Lol, I think I watched all your videos already. Enjoyed the Dopo! But no love for Dragon Ball?...lol...

kndy wrote:[ol, I think I watched all your videos already. Enjoyed the Dopo! But no love for Dragon Ball?...lol...

Yeah, I never had a nostalgic memory of loving DBZ. The first Dragon Ball show was cute, but DBZ, I thought, was boring. However, I do respect Dragon Ball Z as a show and its legacy, and in that respect, I like it, especially compared to Naruto, which tries to match DBZ in several aspects.

It's funny that with my anime club that was formed around the Anime Archive BBS, the man who did all the fansubbing and had an impossibly huge collection of both laserdiscs and fansub VHS did NOT have a single episode of Dragon Ball whastoever. When I first met him, I asked him about that, and all he said was, "Don't get me started on Dragon Ball." I caught a few episodes when it was aired on Cartoon Network. My friend used to watch it a lot. They were always searching for the dragon balls to wish somebody back to life, but then somebody dies in the process, so then after they wish the first guy back to life, then they have to search for the balls again to wish the 2nd dude back to life. Another episode had Goku summoning a spirit bomb or whatever you call the "kamehameha" thingies. All episode he was trying to make it big. Then he finally launched it at the monster and missed.

Dragon Ball never clicked with me at all.

greg wrote:

kndy wrote:[ol, I think I watched all your videos already. Enjoyed the Dopo! But no love for Dragon Ball?...lol...

Yeah, I never had a nostalgic memory of loving DBZ. The first Dragon Ball show was cute, but DBZ, I thought, was boring. However, I do respect Dragon Ball Z as a show and its legacy, and in that respect, I like it, especially compared to Naruto, which tries to match DBZ in several aspects.

It's funny that with my anime club that was formed around the Anime Archive BBS, the man who did all the fansubbing and had an impossibly huge collection of both laserdiscs and fansub VHS did NOT have a single episode of Dragon Ball whastoever. When I first met him, I asked him about that, and all he said was, "Don't get me started on Dragon Ball." I caught a few episodes when it was aired on Cartoon Network. My friend used to watch it a lot. They were always searching for the dragon balls to wish somebody back to life, but then somebody dies in the process, so then after they wish the first guy back to life, then they have to search for the balls again to wish the 2nd dude back to life. Another episode had Goku summoning a spirit bomb or whatever you call the "kamehameha" thingies. All episode he was trying to make it big. Then he finally launched it at the monster and missed.

Dragon Ball never clicked with me at all.

I think it was the same way here. I only watched DBZ in Japanese....even Central Anime Kansas never did DBZ. I only saw subtitled when I went to a con, but I've mostly watched it in Japanese for the original series, DBZ, and GT...including Dr. Slump.

I watched a bit of the old OLD first dub of both Dragonball and Dragonball Z, but after that it was mostly fansubs until they finally started releasing dual-audio DVDs here. I've still never watched the entire series, but I've watched a good bulk of both (and most of the movies, too, I think).

kndy wrote:

greg wrote:

kndy wrote:[ol, I think I watched all your videos already. Enjoyed the Dopo! But no love for Dragon Ball?...lol...

Yeah, I never had a nostalgic memory of loving DBZ. The first Dragon Ball show was cute, but DBZ, I thought, was boring. However, I do respect Dragon Ball Z as a show and its legacy, and in that respect, I like it, especially compared to Naruto, which tries to match DBZ in several aspects.

It's funny that with my anime club that was formed around the Anime Archive BBS, the man who did all the fansubbing and had an impossibly huge collection of both laserdiscs and fansub VHS did NOT have a single episode of Dragon Ball whastoever. When I first met him, I asked him about that, and all he said was, "Don't get me started on Dragon Ball." I caught a few episodes when it was aired on Cartoon Network. My friend used to watch it a lot. They were always searching for the dragon balls to wish somebody back to life, but then somebody dies in the process, so then after they wish the first guy back to life, then they have to search for the balls again to wish the 2nd dude back to life. Another episode had Goku summoning a spirit bomb or whatever you call the "kamehameha" thingies. All episode he was trying to make it big. Then he finally launched it at the monster and missed.

Dragon Ball never clicked with me at all.

I think it was the same way here. I only watched DBZ in Japanese....even Central Anime Kansas never did DBZ. I only saw subtitled when I went to a con, but I've mostly watched it in Japanese for the original series, DBZ, and GT...including Dr. Slump.

DBZ just wasn't our(Central Anime's) thing. Not to mention the episode where "Dead" Goku and friends were pursuing a guy and should have gone around the world at least once during their long conversation. Plus the long warm-up/build-up to use the "ultimate attack" which never is, since they come up with another one after that.

Here is our trip to Tokyo Sky Tree last weekend. We didn't get to see all the shops. We will go back for more another day!