Waking up to our first real day in Japan, the first order of business was to get our bearings. The fact we were staying at a different hotel than last time, and the fact that half the signs on the restaurants in the area were Korean was more than enough to make me a bit nervous. So we walked around Korea Town for a bit, and noticed that it had to be garbage day, because every business had bags and bags of garbage piled up on the side of the road. Giant crows were pillaging the garbage, and there were quite a few homeless people (some of which seemed to have swine flu or something from the amount of coughing and wheezing that came from them). We grabbed breakfast at a Yoshinoya and went vending machine window shopping for drinks. I was really uncomfortable in this filthy area - it went against everything I knew of Tokyo thus far. It was run down, dirty, and sparsely populated (although that changes later in the day), and I really never felt comfortable there. Something about the whole place just felt...uneasy.
We found some Pepsi NEX again - delicious - and then went back to the hotel. Eventually, we ended up in Akihabara with Travis, where (with Lisa's permission) I took him to... THE MAID CAFE! This was the same one I went to last year, so I knew exactly what to expect. They gave us an English speaking maid, and we each ordered one item on the menu. I helped with communication when the Japanese-only maids would come over and talk to us. The food we ordered wasn't bad (two parfaits and an iced coffee), but obviously overpriced and the 700 yen "sitting fee" really didn't help much either.
Those of you familiar with Otaku culture might find this interesting. I asked the maid in Japanese to explain to Travis the concept of "Moe" in Japanese. She refused, saying "meaning is difficult in English". We explained it after the fact, although I'm still admittedly a little confused on it myself. There doesn't seem to be sexual connotations to moe, but it's not entirely innocent either. Kittens are apparently not considered to be moe, but catgirls are. So yeah, I don't quite understand...
On the streets of Akihabara, which were shockingly busy for an average Monday, there was a group from Cave holding a playable demo of Mushihimesama Futari, which comes out on Thursday. They had promotional posters there while they were setting up, and I asked if I could have one - but they said no. It turns out they needed them to tape all around the demo table, apparently. They did end up giving out some swag (a plastic Mushihime fan) but by the time they started the demo there was already a line 15 people deep to play it, and all of them looked like they knew what they were doing, so I decided not to wait in line.
Instead, we went to Akihabara HEY, where I tried out - for the very first time - BlazBlue: Continuum Shift. Now, of course, since the game just came out last week, every machine was booked on at least one side, so I had to challenge someone. I picked the easiest looking opponent and sat down to play, selecting the character I have the most experience with, Jin Kisaragi.
Big mistake.
Continuum Shift has changed the way Jin plays - completely. The Ice Car no longer travels across the screen and is only useful now as a combo tool. jB doesn't combo as well either, although 6C -> 5C -> jB -> -> C -> uC -> 5D still works (though it does look different). I didn't get a chance to combo much, because none of my moves were behaving as I expected, and so I got Nihonjin smashed right off the machine by a below-average Carl player. The fact he was playing Carl only added insult to injury. Japan - 1, Gaijin - 0.
And if you didn't understand any of the above paragraph, don't worry, it doesn't apply to you anyways. :-)
I did a little more window shopping and eventually ended up at another arcade with Continuum Shift, where I managed to knock someone playing Haku-Men off the game. I was floored by my combo-filled performance with Jin, although I still tried to Ice Car across the screen due to force of habit and usually ended up eating a combo for my negligence. Regardless, I won. Japan - 1, Gaijin - 1. "Now," I thought, "I can finally get some practice with the new mechanics of the game by beating up on some stupid computer opponents." HAH! Not in Tokyo, my friends. Not in Tokyo.
For those unfamiliar with the habits of your average Tokyo arcade-goer, they behave like this. When you see someone not playing against a human opponent, they are more often than not just toying with the computer. Either they aren't picking the character they are most experienced with, or simply playing through the game without really trying. So you hop on, and you trounce them. Normally, in an American arcade, getting trounced so handily is usually enough to make the trouncee get up and leave the game, fearful of losing any more money or ego. But not Nihonjin. Oh no. These guys are hardcore. If you beat one, they will wait about 30 seconds and then - like clockwork - immediately challenge you again. (Remember, in Japan, you can't see your opponent since the machines are back-to-back). When this happens, you are screwed. In that 30 seconds of time before the 100 yen coin hit the machine, your opponent was doing his best Son Goku impersonation, powering up and unleashing his latent Nihonjin Powers of Destruction (tm). When that second game begins, you will be fighting a completely different beast...and you will not come out of that match with a victory. Guaranteed.
And that's what happened this time as well. After trouncing Haku-men and noticing the person at the machine behind me failing to get up, 30 seconds into the match against the CPU I get pulled into a versus match against...a CARL. Another Carl. Who handily gave me my ass on a silver platter to the tune of an almost double-perfect. That puppet was moving so fast across the screen I could do nothing, and that stupid clap trap had me beat before I even started my offense. Japan - 2, Gaijin - 1.
There were a few more things that happened - we found a way to walk to Shinjuku station without going to Shin Okubo, we found a festival serving street food at Hanazono Shrine in Shinjuku, we found a beautiful Christmas lights display that was actually pretty amazing, and I ended up wanting to crash early because of the presentation the next day, which wasn't a universally well-received decision. I think I've rambled on enough for now. More interesting stuff to come.
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