All the more reason why Mobile Suit Bar Zeon, located in the
Akihabara 1-Chome District and nestled within a bunch of those dire maid cafes,
is such a breath of fresh air. Oh, sure, it still boils down to a group of cute
girls in funky outfits serving drinks to socially awkward otaku, but the devil
is in the details. While your typical maid cafe offers you a generic childish
fantasyland, Bar Zeon offers you nothing less than a Gundam fan’s paradise.
From the get-go, rather than gals greeting you with overly
polite Japanese, the “Operators” at Zeon, dressed in the uniforms of the series' Earth Federation or Principality
of Zeon, greet customers with salutes and cries of being enlisted. The place’s
décor consists of figures and models from Gundam’s
40-year history and a large projection screen that plays whatever series strikes
their fancy at the time. However, things skew distinctly towards the series’ original Universal
Century continuity, eschewing alternate universes like Gundam 00.
The menu is a joy however for the Japanese-speaking Gundam dork. Every item on it is named for
characters, mecha, items and even famous quotes from the series. Separated into
“Federation” and “Zeon” drinks, selections include “Beam Saber,” the swords
used by all Gundams; “He was a spoiled brat”, named for Char’s stinging eulogy
to a fallen comrade; and “Black Tri-Stars”, a three shot cocktail named for
three powerful Zeon Mobile Suits. And the ladies, who all seem to be quite the otaku, all seem to know
the drinks from heart.
Really, what sets the bar apart from so many maid joints and
typical Japanese watering holes—funky theme aside—is the social aspect. In much
of Japanese society, one gets used to being isolated in the crowd. Unlike an
anime convention, a casual out-of-nowhere conversation is not a common
occurrence even in Akihabara, the so-called geek capital of Japan. Cold shoulders are the order of the day
here.
But these things change with alcohol, and when mixed with just a
bunch of otaku, the results can make for some fun memories. Whether it be the
guy who comes in with every Kamen Rider
belt since 2000 and let’s you henshin*
for (rider) kicks; the salaryman who passes
you a card for his trading company with the URL for his Ragnarok Online blog; or just the barkeeper who overhears a
conversation about the otaku dramedy, Genshiken,
and chimes her opinion on the characters. It’s like Cheers with laser shots.
It’s enough to make one say “Seig Zeon!”
*henshin –
literally means “transformation” in Japanese. It’s often used in anime, manga, and dramas
to indicate when a character transforms into a superhero. The term, “henshin”,
is mostly used with the Kamen Rider
series and can be
also be heard in the Viewtiful Joe video
game series.
