Otaku Food Guide

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Hello everyone! When I started this blog I said that I would also talk about other things other than the main topic of this blog (which is video games by the way), so to add a bit of variety to the blog and given that these days I have a bit more of free time, I´m going to start a new section (soon I plan to start more) of the blog in which I will talk about... stuff. Several stuff. But fear not, all that stuff will always be related to what we love the most: being a geek, otaku or whatever you want to call it. Yes, it is about time you come to terms with what you are, because if you are reading this blog, that´s what you are... and that’s what I like you so much! Anyway, in this first entry of this new section I´m going to talk a little bit about Japanese “gastronomy” related to video games and manga/anime, and I specified “little bit” because if I have to mention all that has ever existed, or exists or will one day exist, I will most probably end up making the new Michelin Guide of the otaku gourmet, so I apologize beforehand if I don´t include your favorite establishment/product, but please be my guess and contribute to the cause by adding it to the comments (this said with teary desperate eyes).


Ahhh, Japan, Japan, Japan, what would I do without you... That Japan is a country that is just “different” is something that no one (specially among westerners) doubts, in fact even many Japanese seem to agree on this, and although at times it is indeed too... different, some of us love it that way, after all, if it wasn´t like that we might had never be able to enjoy the stories that came out of the minds of geniuses like Go Nagai, Hayao Miyazaki, Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, Akira Toriyama or Hironobu Sakaguchi among many others that I won´t mention here so I leave some free in Google servers for the rest. Although generalizing is not right, as many of you might already know Japanese give a lot of importance to presentation, and is not like the westerners don´t, but Japanese just do it even more. If we add to this their constant aiming for perfection, their obsession for small details and innovation, they impulse to make of everything an art, and their obvious talent for business, is not strange that Japan is the home for many important companies in a variety of fields such as Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Nintendo, Sega, Capcom, Konami, Bandai-Namco, Canon, Nissan, Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Yamaha, Mitsubishi and that it´s or I never end this entry. As I was saying before, Japanese apply this philosophy to ALL they do, and that includes also “food and restoration” (if you could call that what I´m about to show you), so you can already image the kinds of things they could come up with, and if you don´t, I will my pleasure to give you a small sample right away.

Biohazard Cafe & Grill

This restaurant/bar inspired in Capcom´s multimillion selling Survival Horror franchise was located (it´s already closed) in the restaurants floor of famous Parco´s department store building in the district of Shibuya, Tokyo. The restaurant used to do often different campaigns offering dishes and beverages inspired in the new releases of the popular zombie franchise.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBl4vXcUcLE

Capcom Bar

After the huge succes of the Resident Evil Bar, Capcom decided to open a new bar/restaurant in the district of Shinjuku, Tokyo. This time around the place is inspired by all of Capcom´s most famous franchises. You can also buy several goodies related to Capcom´s franchises.

Website: http://www.paselabo.tv/capcombar/

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzrIjLZVhbI

The coffee of the real samurai.

Square- Enix Artnia

Of course, it´s impossible to talk about merchandising without talking about Square-Enix. The house of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy (among many others) also has its own cafe/bar in the district of Shinjuku in Tokyo, and which serves at the same time as the official goodies shop of the company, which means we will get to enjoy our creamy Chocobo coffee and delicious Slime ice cream, or a potion elaborated with “materia”, while listening to the tracks of the adventures of Cloud, Sora and the rest o the gang and checking all the mountains of goodies that surround us so we can already think in advanced what will spend a few yens on, for if you are a big fan of Square-Enix, trust me when I say you will, as they have about everything you can imagine and more.

Website: http://www.jp.square-enix.com/artnia/en/

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7qMAlmehVQ

A Slime draws near your dish!

¡Goodies, goodies!

Luida´s Bar

And if we talk about merchandising, in Japan few can compete with legendary RPG series Dragon Quest. In fact, the franchise has its own bar/restaurant in the Roppongi district (the party place) in Tokyo. The restaurant even has a private special room we can reserve to play Dragon Quest with friends while we have a bite or a drink. What better that a good potion to restore your HP and specially “magic” (if you know what I mean) before a party night in one of the many nearby clubs.

Website: http://www.paselabo.tv/luidas_bar/index.html

 The private game room.

You can buy cookies and candies to take away plus other items related to Dragon Quest.

Gundam Cafe 

One of the biggest classics of giant mechas manga/anime just couldn´t miss the party and also decided to open its own cafe/bar, and what a better please for it than the “otaku town” of Akihabara in Tokyo, just a few meters away from the main railway/metro station. There´s nothing better that enjoying a good coffee in a Gundam base after completing the hard mission of buying the special edition of your favorite game or after finally finding that retro game that you hoped to find so long.

Dragon Ball Beverages, Energy Drinks and Bubble Gum 

Of course, one of the most famous and successful manga/anime ever didn´t want to miss neither the chance to join this party of flavors and smells. Although Goku and his buddies have never opened yet their own restaurant (at least as far as I know), they did count several times with their own beverage and bubble gum in Japan in order to promote the different animation series of this popular franchise created by Akira Toriyama. Now you will be able to the perfect cosplay by making your breath smell jyst the same as Goku´s...

Soft drink the promote the release of the Dragon Ball Kai series with soda taste. The special can was Son Goku.

The same as above, but this time with cola taste. The special can of this version was Vegeta.

Dragon Ball Bubble Gum

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker Beverages

For the release of the new adventure of Big Boss on PSP, hype´s god Hideo Kojima and his team designed a huge marketing campaign in Japan to advertise the new entry of one of the most successful game franchises ever as it deserved, which included from clothing to Mountain Dew beverages with limited edition cans inspired on the game´s main characters.

Final Fantasy “Potions” and "Elixirs"

As if their own bar/restaurant and all the merchandise related to their most important franchises was not already enough, in several occasion videogames Japanese giant decided to share their secret formula to create potions with the world (well, or just Japan) in order to help the players to recover their strength while they played the new entries of their most popular RPG franchise.

Potions to promote the movie Final Fantasy VII Advent Children.

Potions to promote the release of Final Fantasy XII for the PS2.

Potions to promote the release of Final Fantasy Dissidia inthe PSP.

There were two different versions with different tastes.

Elixirs to promote the release of Final Fantasy XIII on the PS3.

You could also buy a special pack with all the can models and a special edition thermo mug.

Capcom´s Beverages, Energy Drinks and Sweets 

Other that seemed to think they still didn´t have enough merchandise available was Capcom, who has also released from time to time in Japan all kinds of beverages, energy drinks and sweets related to some of their most popular franchises.

Monster Hunter energy drink.

Monster Hunter soft drink

Mega Man energy drink and candies.

Mega Man Japanese traditional sweets.

The Dragon Quest Diet 

As I was saying before, when it comes down to menchandise few can compete with Dragon Quest, and a good proof of that is the countless products related to video games´ most famous blue slime. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the franchise, Square-Enix released in Japan several “eatable items” so that the fans of the popular series could taste the yummy world of Dragon Quest.

Steamed meat buns. You could buy them at any convenience store or "konbini".

By the way, they tasted much better than they looked.

Drink to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the series.

Lime bubble gum to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the series.

And what happens when the Japanese get tired of all this kind of places or products? Well, then they just make use of their tendency for art and innovation to create their very own “special dishes”.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the first entry of this new section, and remember: next time you visit Japan, there is something else you can taste besides all those delicious sashimi and noodle bowls, just remember to plan it well in advance for those places are often insane crowded, specially on weekends.