“Life In The So-Called Space Age”
An advert for a host bar on a street near Sakae, Nagoya.
An ad for a mobile game in Nagoya station.
Nagoyan pork katsu mascot. This pig is a common sight in Nagoya.
At SCMAGLEV as part of the exhibit showcasing the race (in a manga) between Cyborg 009 and a bullet train.
Posing with two ‘Onsen girls’ in Kawaguchiko.
At the Disney art collab in Shibuya.
At the Ultraman Expo at Tokyo Dome.
Posing with the two leads from Ultraman Arc.
That’s me on the way to the Ultraman Live Show we attended yesterday. I was excited, since we attended one last year and it was fantastic and my expectations were high!
That’s me posing outside the venue (the Prism Theatre at Tokyo Dome) with Ultraman Zero and Z. There were all sorts of banners and signs outside, and a fairly large crowd for a 10 am performance on New Year’s Eve. My excitement level rose.
Inside the venue there were many things to see, including kaiju suits and a large display of upcoming product releases. Lots of standees as well, and plenty of advertising for the upcoming movie.
That’s Dark Arc, from the upcoming film. You could buy advance tickets at the event, which came with an exclusive promo card for the Ultraman TCG. Even though I wouldn’t have been able to use the ticket, I was tempted to buy it just for the card 🙂
Even though we purchased out tickets only the day prior they were pretty good. This is a photo from my seat of a (cute) Pigmon, part of the warm up act that taught the audience the rules and how to interact with the show. At this point my excitement levels couldn’t have gotten higher!
And of course it was great! Photos are not permitted except at specific moments, so all of these come from the ‘post show’ portion where other Ultras made an appearance.
The main show was an Ultraman Arc story where he saved us all from evil robots created by Alien Mefilas, and there were cameos from Ultraman Blazar, Earth Garon and Sevenger. Dozens of kaiju made appearances, and the sound and light effects were top-notch. I loved it!
I said this last year but it beats repeating: it’s so unusual that the actors from the show are in these stage shows! The above is Yuki Totsuga, who plays Yuma (Arc’s host) in Arc, and we watch him every week on the show. This must be incredible for kids who are young enough to still think of him as the character.
Sho Kaneta, who plays Shu on the show, also appeared. He probably had an even bigger role than Yuma (who naturally left the stage when Arc himself was present), and it was very much like seeing the character live. That’s Ultraman Arc in the photo btw. Was he looking at me?
As I said it was wonderful, and I’m already looking forward to the next time I can see one. Afterward we visited the large and well-stocked shop (I didn’t buy much…) before heading to Tokyo station for lunch and a bit of shopping.
We had originally planned on going to Asakusa shrine to ring on the new year, but I was getting tired and feeling a little poorly so we went over earlier in the evening. I had some corn…
And a candy apple…
And bought an Ultraman Arc mask! It was cold and windy, so we bailed early to return to the hotel and watch idols on tv until we fell asleep.
Happy New Year!
We left Nagoya at first light, and this was providential since after our first train we were able to board the limited ‘Kaiji’ train and complete the return trip to Tokyo first class!
We’re staying in Akihabara for the next week, and after dumping out carry-ons luggage (and being reunited with our big luggage we had shipped to the hotel) it was time for lunch and some shopping.
We went to Shibuya, and spent a few hours looking in shops and making some purchases. The above photo was taken at a popup shop/exhibition of official Disney art by an illustrator. They had a section where attendees could write on post-it notes and stick them on a large wall. The face is of the artists design of a Mickey Mouse inspired girl. Her art was very good, and amongst the products for sale were large framed reproductions for ¥1,000,000 each!
Eventually we returned to Akiba to check in to our room, and it seems we got the best view in the hotel! We overlook the avenue out of the station, with the Radiokaikan building on the right. This is the main entry into Akiba, an iconic location, and during the day usually full of people.
More shopping followed, including a very special purchase for tomorrow. Details will follow…