a.k.a. fangirls gonna fangirl, whatever the situation is in the real world.
The cafe collab was announced in late December (28th December), which I thought was a bit too late, especially since most collabs are announced way in advance (3 months or so). I guess the company was confident that fangirls would drop everything at a drop of a hat to attend; more on that later.
I managed to get a slot for the first cafe session on the very first day. My friend T also somehow managed to get a slot so she and I went together to the venue. Because of the cafe rules, we wouldn’t be able to sit with one another; that means if we’re seated on the tables, the “person” facing us is the standee of one of the sixteen lords.
We queued until they started to allow us in, and as soon as I got to my table, this greeted me:
When the person after me did not show up, I was asked by the staff if I wanted to get seated across from him.
At that point, I was openly yet silently laughing to myself, then resigned myself to my fate.
At that point, I just started laughing internally to myself because, of all characters I had to get seated with, it had to be him. Nothing against the character, but he’s simply not my type.
At one point, an attendee told me that I was lucky to have been seated with Saizo-san as she took photos of the standee; it took everything in me not to laugh blatantly at the complement, so I simply replied with, “Ah yeah, I guess so…!”
After settling in my seat, I began ordering food.
I’m a big eater, so I ended up getting a lot of food, namely:
KoiRan Hana Set Meal
The tempura was so good!
Panwiches were also good and crispy!
The glutinous rice was a bit dry, but it’s a good substitute if you’d like to have a taste of Japanese sweets.
Also, the maccha got sweetened. Blech.
I also got drinks:
Spoiler: I ate it all ٩(๑><๑)
More photos of the standees in the cafe interior:
Since I bought some merch and added a single bromide to my purchase, the sole bromide I took from the basket ended up being Saizo again.
Since I was too in awe of the cafe and wanted to take more photos (too busy eating in the first session), I decided to go for the third session later that afternoon with T. Y was due to attend the third session as well, as that was the slot that she got randomly assigned to.
For the third session, I got Yukimura as my “date”.
Got Hideyoshi-sama’s Calming Jasmine Tea
Because I ate so much earlier, I ended up getting parfait, tea, and soda water only.
Still delicious.
I got soda water next to cleanse my palate:
It’s only now that I realized that I got all three unifier’s signature food and drinks; who would have thought I would unconsciously order these? I was pretty much experiencing food coma at this point…
Also, because I ordered the parfait, I got a bonus A4-sized placemat… which turned out to be Saizo yet again.
At least I got a Masamune coaster for my troubles:
Hilarious fact about the third session: everyone knew everyone, so people were a bit more talkative (with masks on, of course), and at one point, the girl who had Saizo sitting across her hit the standee, launching the standee down in front of the table, as if he was doing a headdesk. Immediately, she screamed, “I’m so sorry, Saizo-san!” and set him upright, all the while rubbing the standee’s forehead. Everyone laughed so hard over that.
Day 1 was overwhelming yet subdued in a sense; because of the situation, people couldn’t really stand up and freely talk to one another, nor could they trade their goods in the cafe, which was usually tolerated, based on past events I attended.
Also, while they limited the number of attendees per session, it still wasn’t as full. I guess it was because the cafe was done on a weekday, but based on the chats I’ve heard around me, a lot of the usual attendees have quit playing the game, which means that they’ve also stopped buying goods and attending events. And these were the whales who spend for both in-game and in-person events! Add to that, everyone I spoke to mentioned that it was “all too sudden”; I’m pretty lucky that I can request for a day off two weeks before the date that I want, but for most of the attendees who work for traditional/domestic companies, they would need more lead time.
Whatever the case, I’ll see if there would be more people attending the weekend sessions, as I’ve signed up for a slot over the weekend. That, and I intend to take more photos of the standees.
I’ll order everything on the menu at least once just so I can determine if the food in The Chara Cafe is really better than Animate Cafe’s.
Till next time!
Wanderlust 