Completing my 12 moments of anime for 2009, here’s my most significant moment, #1:
My most significant anime moment of 2009 does not involve actually watching anime – rather, my first time visiting the anime center of the world, Akihabara in Tokyo, was my best moment. I visited Akiba twice during a 3-week sightseeing program in Japan that I participated in this past summer.
The amount of unique, high-quality anime products available at stores like Yodobashi, Animate and Gamers in Akiba was amazing, and makes the kinds of products you find at the dealers’ halls of American anime conventions pale in comparison. Animate has over six floors of anime goodies – DVDs, CDs, books, etc., – and two floors for my favorite kinds of anime products, character goods.
The amount of anime products at these stores is impressive, as is the variety – not just products from major series like K-ON!, Macross Frontier, Haruhi, and Evangelion, but also for lesser series like Earl and Fairy, Nogizaka Haruka, Spice and Wolf, and Kannagi. Among the products I bought were a Spice and Wolf multi-colored pen, a K-ON! mousepad, and a Shakugan no Shana folding bag. Where can you find such unique anime products except Japan? Take a look at my previous post here to see all the Akiba goodies I got =)
I took the below video while walking through the streets of Akihabara and passing many stores. Listen for Haruhi and K-ON! songs coming out of random stores.
I also did karaoke at Akiba too. Of course, I sang mostly anime songs…
…including Hare Hare Yukai. What’s awesome about karaoke in Japan is that animation footage from the show will often accompany the song.
My two visits to Akiba were probably my happiest and most exciting moments of 2009. For the first time I experienced anime fandom raw from its original source. I still think about Akihabara all the time and I hope to go back one of these days.
Anyway, I had a lot of fun with my first 12 moments of anime list! Thanks to everyone who’s been following! ^_^ Once again, happy holidays!
Click here to return to moment 2.
—–
Other bloggers participating in this year’s 12 moments of anime project: otou-san, schneider, doctordazza, Gargron, Scamp, zaon47, kevo, rabbitpoets, drmchsr0, Pontifus, ghostlightning, 53RG10, Vii, Seinime, _ETERNAL, FuyuMaiden, Eater-of-All, Shinmaru, calaggie, canon, Nazarielle, Cuchlann, Jinx, Janette, stringedsonata, animewriter
Yeah, I have fond memories of Akiba as well. It became almost a nightly ritual during my brief stay in Tokyo: a full day of sightseeing, followed by an evening raid on otaku central (read: Animate); repeat as often as needed (read: every night).
Akihabara at night is something to behold – the atmosphere is electric, both on the pavements and inside the stores.
Awesome! The place still rules? Great!
Nice to see you had a great time in Akihabara….Hope to visit it someday..I wonder how much money should I carry if that happens..:)
Happy holidays.
If I make it back to Japan, Akiba is certainly one of the places I must visit. I did stop through back in 1990 or 91, but back then, I was just tagging along with my anime buddy because I had nothing better to do at the time (I wasn’t into anime or manga back then).
Glad you had fun. ^_^
If I ever went to Japan, I would never want to leave, because I would think it was paradise with all the anime stores!^_^ Glad you had fun!
I visited Akihabara too and it was wonderful. I am a fan of japanese music and I bought lots of CDs for throw-away prices. Akihabara sells lots of wonderful and cheap goods. I ended up going there twice during my trip. The mangas are so cheap…too bad they’re in japanese. It seems to be a place for teenagers since I saw many there. There were lots of anime, manga, electronics, music and book shops. I loved it!