To commemorate 30 years of the career of iconic mangaka Arina Tanemura, Animate stores across Japan are hosting the largest showcase of her series in “Arina Tanemura’s 30th Anniversary Exhibition: A Sparkling Tale of Girls’ Dreams.” With Tokyo and Nagoya, capital city of Tanemura’s home prefecture. This is including collaboration cafés hosted in conjunction with the event.
In Tokyo, the cafe was conspicuously tucked away on the third floor of a separate building. Which, is next to the city’s flagship Animate store in Ikebukuro, in Animate’s dedicated collaboration café space.
The café’s theme is Tanemura’s “hero and heroines,” centered around the visuals created specially by Tanemura for the exhibition.
Photo op cutouts were dotted throughout the space as well as posters lining the walls, as in the final area of the exhibition itself. Visitors were allowed to freely roam the space and get up-close pictures of our faves. Along with the chance to peruse the merch offerings as we waited on our food and drink orders. At the back wall was a signed message from Tanemura herself, also perfectly positioned for a photo spot.
Each of the seven drinks on offer were designed after a — male — Tanemura heartthrob. The food options were themed around a particular series, such as historical romance Sakurahime’s ochazuke — a typical Japanese dish of green tea poured over rice — or the so-called “Haine’s Classic Curry” from Gentleman’s Alliance. Two randomized complimentary coasters came with each item ordered via QR code. With the option to choose a hero or heroine version.
Having decided an “afternoon tea” vibe, I went with a dessert sampling called “Arina’s Milky Plate.”
Beyond its adorable plating, emulating a shooting star and 100% in line with Tanemura’s celestial aesthetic, it was a satisfyingly light and tasty variation of flavours and dessert types, with a ramune-flavoured jelly with sprinkles, a rich cheesecake with raspberry compote, and vanilla ice cream on the side. It went well with Takuto’s “New Future” drink, a butterly pea flower iced tea with a hint of lemon.
While I had had my fingers crossed for a Mitsuki and Takuto coaster pairing, it did feel serendiitoous to instead secure Princess Sakura and her beau Aoba, who happened to feature on the decorative wafer on the dessert plate.
Final Thoughts:
While relatively unassuming, the attention-to-detail in the menu crafting and the space itself made for a lovely few hours. The smaller venue also made for an easier time perusing the merch options compared to the frantic chaos of the exhibition.
Entry was pretty competitive and, unsurprisingly, lottery-based. The system required selecting a preferential date and time slots. You then had to wait for a confirmation email with only a week’s notice. It did however account for last-minute and same-day cancellations. For me, the trick ended up choosing a business day versus weekend. Which frustratingly means those without the flexibility in their schedule will likely miss out. Despite the hassle of securing a spot, it was still worth it to pop in and continue the reminiscing on Arina Tanemura’s dazzling career.
