I’m back in my old stomping grounds of Tokyo for a few days, enjoying the Christmas lights and revisiting old friends and haunts. This is my first trip back since returning to Japan, and it’s been a blast. I love the Shinkansen – there’s still a burst of excitement for me in every trip I take. And while I find one does lose their immunity to the mad crush of people that Tokyo is, I still find it to be the most exciting city in the world.
I managed to time this trip to be here for Jump Festa, Shokugakun’s free event celebrating all their massive media properties. This is my third Jump Festa and I enjoy it a lot, even though Makuhari Messe is a pain in the ass to get to, and to navigate once you’re there. While Jump Festa has grown bigger every time I’ve been (and as it’s been 4 years it’s really noticeable this time) I’m struck by the fact that is still offers no English-friendly content at all. Even Comiket, still nominally a fan event, has more English signage on online information. Given all the money Shokugakun has invested in making Weekly Shounen Jump a presence in English, that lack of effort here is surprising.
As to this year’s Festa, the one stage event I managed to see was promoting Kono Oto Tomare. I like this manga quite a bit and I’m looking forward to the anime, which was announced as a split-cour (Spring and Fall 2019). We’ll see how that plays out with the manga ongoing, but two cours is enough to give a good taste of this series’ charms. The big presences here are the ones you’d expect – One Piece is king and will be until the Sun exhausts itself in blaze of destruction and the Earth is vaporized. Boku no Hero Academia is still huge, of course, and the new debutante at the ball is Yakusoku no Neverland, which is obviously a huge part of Jump’s future plans for growth. Old standbys like Dragonball and Jojo are big presences too, of course.
As for my favorites, I was happy to see a bit of Hunter X Hunter hanging on here and there, both in terms of the newer manga chapters and the “Greed Island” cellphone game (and its prominent presence in the Jump Force battle game). Rurouni Kenshin has not been expunged from the record, though whether that means a reboot of the anime is still possible is another matter. What really warmed my cockles, though, was seeing this – it’s nice to see that Hikaru no Go is still remembered, even as an afterthought.
As for the rest of the trip, I’ve already made a stop in Akiba (which is crazy popular more than ever, and more mainstream)but I’m sure I’ll be back at least one more. Maybe Nakano Broadway too if time permits, but the cafe situation is interesting – there are both Golden Kamuy and Made in Abyss pop-up cafes in Shinjuku that I’d like to hit, and of course Shirokuma Cafe is still going strong in Takadanobaba…
Mika
December 24, 2018 at 12:23 amIs the Jump Festa always held at this time of the year? Are there any anime-related festivals held in autumn & which part of the country?
Guardian Enzo
December 24, 2018 at 1:03 amAlways this time of year. Of the top of my head I don’t know of any major anime cons in autumn, but there are calendars out there worth checking. At the very least doujin events are pretty much a weekly occurrence.
elianthos80
December 24, 2018 at 1:31 amHave fun and a warm fuzzy Kurisumasu.
While I’m biased towards Shirokuma I must admit I’m quite curious to see what’s on the GK cafè menu if you manage to hit it XD .
Guardian Enzo
December 24, 2018 at 7:48 amhttps://kamuycentral.wordpress.com/2018/11/06/golden-kamuy-treasure-cafe-to-be-held-for-a-limited-time/
elianthos80
December 24, 2018 at 8:18 amThank you :D. Hmmm less intense menu than I had imagined but there is a treasure hunt ohoh 8D.
Guardian Enzo
December 24, 2018 at 8:22 amAlso, there’s a HSG popup cafe going on. Damn…
A.Sade
December 24, 2018 at 12:34 pmOn another note they announced Haikyuu S4 at the event and I’m bouncing off the walls rn haha
Guardian Enzo
December 24, 2018 at 12:36 pmSurprised it took this long. Did they catch up to the manga?
leongsh
December 24, 2018 at 3:58 pmThey had a short gap between end of Haikyuu!! Season 2 before doing Season 3. It got close that there was not sufficient a gap between manga and where the anime reached. Since then, the manga has built up a substantial amount of material. As it stands now, about 142 chapters of material. Season 3 ended at Chapter 190 and the manga has reached Chapter 332 just last week. Enough material for 4 cours at a natural stopping point.
leongsh
December 24, 2018 at 4:04 pmGood to find out that you have started reading Kono Oto Tomare!. I recall being one of few who suggested this manga title to you some time back. The 2 cours should come up to a natural stopping point for the manga by adpating 2 monthly chapters per episode.
Guardian Enzo
December 24, 2018 at 4:20 pmIt’s like a sports manga with koto.
leongsh
December 24, 2018 at 4:39 pmIf you have the time available, do check out Ao No Flag. Not a sports manga. More of a coming-of-age manga. It started as a fortnightly release but is now on a monthly release schedule. The scanlation has reached Chapter 38.
Guardian Enzo
December 24, 2018 at 11:26 pmThanks, I’ve heard good things about that one.
kk
December 26, 2018 at 3:55 pmHikaru no Go is one of my favorite anime and, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest sports series of all time. I rewatched it as an adult and it was just as captivating as when I was a child – except now i can appreciate just how remarkable it is at accomplishing tension and portraying growth. It’s a real shame how it ended because I honestly could have watched a hundred more episodes. Glad to hear that it’s still alive in people’s memories and that you had a great time at Festa!
Guardian Enzo
December 26, 2018 at 8:11 pmYeah, I was thinking about it again today (after seeing an art book at Mandarake) and specifically, about what a shame that ending was. Because everything else about that series is absolute top-shelf whiskey.
Onix Franceschini
December 27, 2018 at 1:32 amI’ll be travelling to Japan in March… Any English-friendly anime hubs/stores/districts I should check out? I know Akihabara is the place to be, but anywhere else worth checking out? I’d love to find a HXH related cafe too if one still exists.
Guardian Enzo
December 27, 2018 at 7:58 amNo H x H cafes current that I know of. Where in Japan will you be? It’s a big country – bigger than California! Once I know that I might be able to offer some tips.
Onix Franceschini
December 27, 2018 at 9:30 pmI’ll be primarily in Tokyo and Osaka, with a bit of Kyoto/Kobe thrown in there. Thanks for taking the time out to answer!
Guardian Enzo
December 27, 2018 at 9:55 pmTokyo has anime stuff pretty much everywhere these days – Shinjuku has several venues, Ikebukuro remains an otome hub – but the main areas are Akiba and Nakano Broadway. As for Osaka, their “Den Den Town” (near Namba) is the Kansai version of Akihabara. Kyoto has the main anime shops (Toranoana, Animate, Animega) but no specific otaku zone – it’s more about anime tourism there.
If there are specific series that are of of interest, there are a lot of places associated with one or the other around Tokyo and Kyoto especially.
Onix Franceschini
December 27, 2018 at 11:31 pmThanks a bunch for the info! It’ll definitely come in handy! I’m really looking forward to experiencing Japan, and I’ve always been a fan of your trip posts, so thanks for the previews you’ve done, haha.