Manga Anime Online Shop ANIMAXIS

About "MOE" Business in Japan. If you go to Akihabara - the sacred place of Otaku, you'd encounter with girls dressed up as maids and in various other costumes, handing out fliers of their shops, services, or cafe. Few years back, you'd feel "lucky" if you find someone handing out fliers like this around the Akihabara station (the original Otaku sanctuary). But now... you'd bump into them everywhere, and if you walk down the main street of Akiharaba and found no one doing this, then you'd feel really strange.

The costumes of the girls have evolved through time. First, the main trend was girls in short-skirt-maid-outfit + white katyusha (hair bands) + pair of over-knee-socks. Nowadays, they go for something unique and eye-catching, aiming for differentiation. For instance, there are "Sengoku Maid" who wears purple and florescent pink Japanese-armor-like-outfit, "Rabbit Shrine Priestess" who has a pair of rabbit ears and Japanese traditional-like-priestess-kimono-like-outfit. And there are girls who dressed up as high school girls... (they have fake high-school-like-uniforms that they wear after taking off their own high school uniforms!) And lots more. Where exactly are they heading to? What's coming up next? We have no idea!

...and while I'm writing this entry, I've spot a news that from October 4, a new shop at Akihabara will open where you "pay 1000 yen for a round of face slapping (back and forth; we call it as "oufuku binta") by a girl"...! Hello? There are people who want to pay money to get slapped by a girl? Well, not me for sure.... Really, where is this town heading to...!?

Oh, speaking of Maid girls, I've been to a Maid Cafe few years ago. It was very interesting to see "Gohoushi Ryo (service fee): XX yen" on my receipt they gave me. Something I can't forget from my old days at Akihabara...

If you are willing to share this wonderful and somewhat queer experience at Akihabara, we recommend this "Culture Cafe" called "schatz-kiste". Unlike the main stream "hype-you-up" version Maid Cafe where the girls say "Moe Moe" and "Goshujin-sama (my master) (with lots of heart marks at the end)", this place is settled and has a nice, tranquil atmosphere with a solid concept of "experiencing Akihabara through its culture". You can dine here, but you can also enjoy looking at mini exhibits, reading their artworks, leaving your footmark illustration inside the notebook they have, etc, etc. You can tell how sophisticated this place is, by looking at their official site. Even if you can't read Japanese, you'd be able to see how lovely this place is!