I sort of went to the NieR: Automata cafe in Tokyo

Not so Nier

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I was planning to do a front page thing, showing off the NieR: Automata cafe in Akihabara, but I couldn’t eat so I made this a blog. Then Niero said I should put on the front page. Here we are!

Ending tomorrow,  NieR: Automata is the current theme for the Square Enix cafe that’s nestled in the corner of Yodobashi Camera near Akihabara Station. Since I didn’t get a chance to actually sit down and eat (booked throughout the day), I can’t comment on the food or table presentation but ultimately what I did see matched my opinions of other themed cafes like the Gundam cafes: meh.

When you theme something, I expect a little more than some posters and character art on the menu. The coolest thing is that Taro ball thing, but my curiosity to see if it turned out like the image or like a Sonic ice cream bar will remain un-satiated. The rest of the cafe shows some imagery related to Square Enix and its various franchises, including a small gift section, but ultimately it just felt like a regular cafe that isn’t worth the price or hassle of getting a reservation before the promotion ends.

The first question I ask myself is probably the same one you’re thinking: what did you expect? I honestly don’t know. There’s nothing wrong with these themed cafes: it’s a fun thing to do if you can go and it gives Square Enix some extra business, but I can’t help but feel a little let down.

To turn the entire premise into a section of the game world and have waiters/waitresses cosplay, in this case as 2B and 9S, wouldn’t be feasible most likely. Anyway I probably sound more down on the whole thing than I really am; it’s a novel idea that could use more effort. Here’s my photos. What do you think of theme cafes? Have you been to any in Japan or elsewhere?


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Author
Cory Arnold
Pretty cool dude in Japan. 6/9/68