Sunday, another busy morning for catering. Makes me wonder if Japanese people like staycations during weekends.

Clear sunny day so you can see Mount Fuji from the hotel if your room was facing that way.

Was planning to spend the day browsing around Akihabara. Still on the quest for a cheaper Figma Pokemon Red that doesn't cost £200, 5x its RRP.

On the other side of the Electric Town is where one of the Weathering with You spots is. Used to have a Gundam and AKB48 Cafe around here but both replaced now.

The IdolMaster decals on the Atre window was now replaced by Saiyuki Reload. I watched the original and quite enjoyed it back in my uni days but now I tried watching it again, I just realised how horribly bad the animation is...

I never really considered Akiba a tourist spot until my native Japanese friend told me it was. He never shops around here even though he's also a bit of an Anime fan. Manga mostly though like most adult natives.

While I was out at Akiba, I looked for the Heavenly Delusion (Tengoku Daimakyo) spots. People frequenting Akiba will probably recognise them right away.

Bit off on the direction here.

Then I found out there was a free figure exhibition going on so that took up most my morning. Saw them setting up a couple of days ago but didn't know if it was paid or not at the time. Or even press only.

Apparently this was only running between November 17 - 19 and today was the last day.

There were 3 floors full of figures and replica props. Brochures, leaflets, a little sticker and sample trading cards.

Spy x Family getting a movie it seems.

Never got into the show even though it's a hit mainstream. The comedy felt too repetitive.

Not sure what Shy is about but it kind of looks like a fan service show. It has quite a display though instead of just figures and had a leaflet you could probably pin up as a mini poster.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End kicked off just before I left for Japan and seems to be getting some good reviews. Will be waiting for it to finish before watching as I do with all shows.

They had some Marvel figures and even a few live action One Piece ones xD

Show actually turned out quite good even though sometimes it went in its own direction such as Zorro being a bit too witty compared to the original. Aesthetically it felt a bit too clean at times. Good casting though.

They managed the whole East Blue saga for season 1 so they should catch up with the Anime and Manga quite quickly at the same pace.

First floor here was Anime and game figures although mostly mainstream titles.

Never got into Elden Ring but fans will probably appreciate this Blade of Miquella statue.

There were two "Proplicas" on display showing off.

One showing off Zelda's Master Sword (complete with steam).

And Tanjuro's Nichirin Blade which didn't quite look as fancy...

Then we had the basement floor dedicated to 20th anniversary Saint Seiya. Never watched or know what it's about but you can tell they put a lot of effort in for the fans.

There was no escalator up to the next floor but somehow I came across it anyway while trying to find the other Anime locations around Akiba.

They were giving out a Gundam sticker. Plenty of Sunrise mecha, mostly Gundam. Witch from Mercury had quite a few displays. Haven't watched it but know the characters from the hype though.

Gurren Langann with the giant drill was pretty cool.

No idea about this Synduality show but the heroine was drawing a fair bit of attention.

Code Geass was a great show. Fairly much went head-to-head with Death Note at the time, both a battle of mind games.

I'm old enough to remember Mashin Hero Wataru. Never watched the entire show as a kid but remember the awesome armour transformation scenes.

Watched the first Macross show but not the rest. Had quite a display on where you could pose with the guitar from Macross 7 too.

Luckily I brought a hardback folder with me just for keeping all the flat stuff so no need to find a stationary store for one.

The last floor just happened to be in the Crossfield building which appears in quite a few Anime shows including Steins;gate and Sword Art Online. This area used to be a big open space with a basketball court back in the 90s apparently before the Crossfield buildings were constructed in 2001.

Apparently there's also a running joke where people call the nearby spot the "Kamo River" which is a reference to couples sitting neatly apart by a river of the same name in Kyoto.

There was some kind of promo event for the Akihabara Voluntary Clean-up Team where people volunteer to help clean up the place.

Good on them. How else can Japan look so clean?

I never knew about Donki Quijote until my last trip to HK while looking for new Anime merch shops to visit.

The QC3 power bank I bought from there has been working great so far.

Well, if you've read my previous posts you'll know I've already blown my budget on the 1/7 scale Steins;gate figure so, just window shopping for the day really.

Some stuff that caught my attention in the shops and arcades. There were some Bishoujo Transformer figures which is basically girls representing characters that aren't usually girls including Optimus Prime and Megatron...

And it was soon 1 o'clock Sunday, pedestrian only time. Never experienced the place with the roads closed off. Didn't even know about it although I did wonder how people managed to stand in the middle of the road for photos. Was interesting seeing people slowly spill onto the streets.

Not everyone knew about it so some looked confused when they saw people just freely walking on the roads at first.

This is where Kiruko and Maru camped for the night too of course.

Bit surprised HK jewellery chain seems to have opened a store here.

First time trying taiyaki. Usually it's red bean but went for custard filling. Don't know how natives eat snacks and then carry their rubbish around really.

Tengoku Daimakyo spot by the Mansei Bridge.

I don't know why but Akiba can be quite smelly these days. Occassionally you catch a wift of what smells like the sewers.

The arches which are actually station ruins apparently, isn't far from the bridge.

You can actually go inside the arches.

So found another chain Janbara not far from the Electric Town Exit and it sold QC3 power banks even cheaper than Donki (and Bic). Might want to try this place for tech stuff although some of their goods seem to be second hand.

Kanda Fureai Bridge, another Steins;gate spot or more accurately, from the Zero sequel.

Quite a busy place so not easy shooting clean shots of the place.

You can see Yanagimori Shrine from here where Ruka stays.

Bit of history trivia.

The Akiba Shrine in Ueno was originally situated at where Akihabara Station is now apparently. At the time it was erected for warding off misfortune from the direction of Ueno and also acted as a firebreak space between all the wooden structures. Hence people nicknamed the space after the fire god Akiha, calling it "Akiha no Hara, Akiha's Space".

When WWII happened and a railway was needed, the shrine was moved to where it is today in Ueno and that might be how this area became known as Akihabara.

The actual Yanagimori Shrine itself wasn't used in the game. Instead the Akiba Shrine in Ueno was used for its model. A mix of both even since they swapped the foxes and lions around.

Abandoned plushie at the station.

Quick break back at the hotel so I could set up my main camera for a sunset transition time lapse before heading back out to Akiba again. Ueno is just 5 minutes train away so that's handy.

First time having an ekiben (station lunchbox) and didn't know you just eat them as is. Everything very stiff with this chicken one so not great first impressions.

This is what was given out at the exhibit (apart from the Shy leaflet).

As soon as I left the mecha floor of the Tamashii Nations exhibit I came across a Tokyo Atom store right outside which had a mini gallery running so popped in and bought some more anime merch. Not cheap...

Gegege no Kitaro paper clips set 2200 looks nice but when I opened them they had fingerprints and were rusted... Not so great. Also a Tokyo Gensou post apocalypse themed coaster 800 and set of post cards 1800. Didn't even know what the illustrations were going to be on the cards or the coaster because no samples were on display but, thought I'd gacha haha xD

Coaster not bad. Bisque absorbs water apparently. Was looking for a better, fun coaster than the promo glass one I got but this might just end up being decor...

12 postcard set is pretty cool too. Probably frame a few or get one of those mini wooden easels for displaying them.

While hanging around the Electric City exit, I got approached by a Philippines student again who approached me a few days ago. He didn't look like he remembered doing so but I remember him.

So, main camera left behind for time lapse, all mobile from here. Phone cameras have come a long way but none have a 1 inch sensor yet.

Anyway, I've been in and out of Ueno for a week now but only now I noticed these illustrated tiles on the ground.

While at Akiba station I decided to go for the pencil case at the Fujio pop-up shop after all, even though I didn't quite like the "I'm doraemon" logo. Quality isn't quite as good as the one at the Future Department Store but the inside was pretty cute with all the gadgets as a pattern.

An AI assistant "Sakura-san" at Akihabara Station... Not surprised. There was an AI newscaster on the big Crossfield screen.

Pikachu army at Biccamera ready to make you buy one and Bandai-Namco has realised Anime themed Tamagotchis is their new gold mine.

That said, the Evatchi is a nice collectible.

You see plenty of big department stores around Akiba but then you explore some more and come across places like this, one of the Surugaya chain second hand store where the stairs are outside.

The 100 yen section was swept clean, haha.

Caught sight of this "Secret TCG Base" store hidden away in an alley interestingly. Too bad I'm into TCGs.

"Kagemusha Ramen"... Fun name.

As it was now dark and I was looking up stores to visit, a middle-aged man and a younger man approached me. They asked if I had a moment and wanted to talk about some kind of Mount Fuji teachings.

When they heard my accent they decided to try and speak English which was just barely audible so, I continued talking in Japanese. They were quite persistent about joining their event but I said I was traveling and have places to go to so I left with the leaflet they gave me.

Must have been some kind of cult...

Not in Akiba if there's no Itasha, word play for Italian car but replacing the "ita" with "ita, pain".

Saber Lily scale figure I got is only worth 7000 when opened... K-ON still in demand it seems.

And that was Tamashii Nations exhibition getting dismantled for the night. Felt like it all happened the same day since I just visited today.

I brought 4x 128GB cards to Japan so I didn't have a laptop to lug around. Already bought an extra one before my trip just in case but a week into the trip now and already on my last.

Must be all the time lapse photos and 4K video.

After checking a few stores I ended up returning to Donki since the cheap tech store Janbara I found earlier didn't have 128GB cards. I don't know why but most of the stores only sell Micro SD.

Hmmm, 1000 more for a selfie stick with remote or just buy one separately for 300...

While browsing the other floors and figures, a Japanese guy asked if that was the only level with Anime merch and I pointed him to the floor guide. We ended up chatting a bit and I learned he was looking for Lycoris Recoil merch for his cousin who loves the series. Then we chatted about where I was from and how I've been touring Anime spots. Guy said he'd like to chat some more and hangout for a meal. I was a bit hesitant but I thought why not. That's how you meet you friends, right? So we ended up exchanging Line IDs.

Guess we'll see where this leads. Still on my guard of course.

Been seeing ads for Reverse: 1999 for a while back in the UK even though I don't play mobile games any more. Looking like another C-Anime hit in the works.

On the way back, a drunk guy crashed into me and his friends pulled him away. No apologies or anything.

Doraemon goods from the Fujio pop-up shop earlier.

And a new SD card for more vlogging.

10:30, bento for the night.

What a day. Most interactions with strangers I've had in a day during this trip.