Cruising the Anime City: An Otaku Guide to Neo Tokyo

by Patrick Macias and Tomohiro Machiyama

Book Overview

What is the Anime City? It is Neo Tokyo, a modern metropolis whose soul has been rewired into a pulsing monster machine of pure pop culture. Where on every corner you may see a cosplay gal, a Bishojo... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1880656884
• ISBN13: 9781880656884
• Release Date: November 2004
• Publisher: Stone Bridge Press
• Length: 140 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Required reading for any serious Anime fan.

Awesome reference if one is coming to Tokyo, great book even if that is only a dream!

Very helpful on the latest trip!!

We bought "Cruising..." while preparing for our third trip and first solo excursion to Japan. Not only was it an interesting read, but the neighborhood information and maps were invaluable once we arrived. The turnover for small businesses in Japan is high, however, most of the things we were looking for were still available. I highly recommend adding this book to your collection!

Geeks Guide to Tokyo

This is the geek's guide to Tokyo-and much more. It is guidebook, social commentary, and a peak into the latest trends on the otaku scene. And all before they hit the shores of the West. Cruising the Anime City: An Otaku Guide to Neo Tokyo covers the studios that produce anime; includes interviews with the movers and shakers in the industry; discusses the toys, museums, film "locations," music, etc.; and has detailed maps of that otaku mecca Akihabara. Macias has written a comprehensive guide that does not speak down to beginners. It is written in a witty style and handsomely illustrated. Then, in a piece de resistance, there is the Great Gathering, the Mythical Beast of the Otaku Calendar: the annual Comiket 65. This is the yearly "Comic Market," a three-day festival held at Tokyo Big Site. All the sub-cultures are featured here; it is geek nirvana. Macias covers this with élan and humor. For those thinking of making the trip to Comiket or Tokyo itself-or just read about this fascinating world from home-this is the indispensable guide.

Written especially for hardcore Japanese animation fans

Cruising The Anime City: An Otaku Guide To Neo Tokyo is a guide written especially for hardcore Japanese animation fans, video game players, and the like who want to know what to expect if they visit Tokyo in person - or who just want to armchair travel and imagine shopping! A street-smart guide in plain English, brightly illustrated with full-color photographs throughout, Cruising The Anime City discusses where to get the best deals on Japanese comics, where to find collectible toys, how to avoid cell-phone scams when crusing games from pachinko to porno and everything in between, a guide to finding memorabilia relating to one's favorite idol singer, and much more. Though basic travel information (lodging concerns, roadmaps and the like) is deliberatetly left up to more traditional guides, Cruising The Anime City is a "must-have" for the collector who needs to know "the" hottest shopping spots in Tokyo!

Planning a trip to Tokyo or not, you'll love this book.

If I did some day get the chance to go to Tokyo, I don't think this would be the only book that I would bring, as it most likely wouldn't make for a very good stand alone travel guide. HOWEVER, it does detail many of the essential otaku-points-of-intrest in the anime city. If anime, manga, model building, idols, cosplaying or Tokyo are subjects that grab your attention, then you won't be dissapointed. I found this book to be exceptionally well written with detailed pictures and very informative, whether your going to Tokyo or not. In fact, It made me want to call my travel agent and start learning Japanese. Kudos to Patric Macias (and the other guy too).