FF Cafe, Sustainability, & Creative Humor
From January 20, 2018
Hi hi! Today I’m writing to you from the Square Enix cafe in Umeda located under Yodobashi Camera. At the moment, the cafe is featuring the latest Final Fantasy Dissidia game that came out this month, which brings together a whole host of popular characters from the various Final Fantasy games. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a themed cafe. It reminds me that Japan is really an anime paradise, which makes sense. As my years have gone by here, I realize more and more how good (in an I guess not very good way when you think about it environmental wise) companies are at marketing goods to customers. There are often a lot of cafes, events, and exhibitions which feature your favorite animations/character which don’t get me wrong is really great for the fans and the people that love the anime (I’m always really excited when one of my favorites has an event going on), but I guess what concerns me about it all is the bottomless consumerism. I’m definitely guilty of buying into this…(forgive the pun ^^’) I’m trying to be more aware of the marketing and need to control my tendencies to constantly buy character goods. The YOLO mentality doesn’t really help either haha. Not taking things for granted and really appreciating what you have is a lot easier said than done.
This cafe is nicely put together with art on the walls, a little display case, and a giant screen with a few on the adjacent walls, playing scenes from the game. It’s really fun seeing the menu that they come up with that’s themed to the game. It’s mostly the names of the drinks and dishes and just a slight image of game elements that make them related. I ordered a roast beef bowl that was plated very nicely and had a black sesame sauce drizzled on top of it that really made it yummy and added a flare of theme to the the dish. :)
It’d be really great if cafe’s started being more eco friendly. A big thing at cafes is the coasters that they give out when you order a drink, and the kicker is that most of the time, these drinks come in plastic cups. Some people will order drinks until they get the coaster that they want ^^’ which is understandable, but also scary when you consider the implications of how much plastic these cafes must be burning up and how much customers are spending, though to each their own.
Concerts are my favorite of all the events that are held for anime, since they really pay tribute to an essential part that makes stories come to life: the music. I’ve been really lucky to have been able to see the very first Kingdom Hearts Concert and its recent world tour one. One of the best events I’ve ever attended was the Yuki Kajiura Sword Art Online Music Concert. She is so talented and creates music for Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica and other anime as well. It’s incredible to see all of the instruments that play a role in creating a great piece of music and how much goes into making something good. It’s also just really exciting to hear music that you know in real life and hear the vibrations of real instruments :>
Alright, I’ve relocated again to one of my favorite places to just chill and hang out at in Umeda. It’s the 15th floor of an office building that has a view looking out to the city. There are these curved wooden bench things that you can sit down in and look out at the buildings, or have a chat, read, or... type X> At the moment, one of the buildings across the way has some construction going on, so there are workers walking around on the roof. I wonder if they enjoy their jobs and find it exciting to sometimes be walking so high up off the ground. Hehe.
Anyway, I have some more school stories! This past week, I had my kids do some more heavy lifting with their minds to understand the stories of The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They found the animations that I showed them from YouTube rather funny. I always find it really interesting to see what makes them laugh. That’s my first years and I’ll be on the search for a blonde wig sometime soon as we gather the props to put on these mini plays. I’m looking forward to seeing how they do. ^-^
For my 3rd years I had them practice the phrase “Would you like...” and make quick little skits. The situations and dialogue they came up with were both impressive and hilarious. For one class, there was a pair of boys that wrote out their fantasy of meeting their favorite idol on the street and the idol asking him if he would like to shake her hand and take a selfie with her. Seeing it acted out was really amusing for the whole class, and we were in stitches. Sometimes just the fact that the students have to get up in front of the whole class and do something makes them so nervous that they get the niggles (nervous giggles) and start trying to say their lines, but start laughing instead and it makes the whole class laugh, too. In another class, one pair made a skit where a playboy was hitting on a girl and asking her out. At the boy trying to defend himself to say he wasn’t a player, they used the phrase, “I’m sorry, it’s not me, but it’s me!” XD The next class was full of more surprises as one group used the phrase, “Would you sing for me.” and the boys broke out in song and dance. Another duo used “would you like to hear a joke” and proceeded to share janken (rock-paper-scissor) jokes. The group which was perhaps the most entertaining was a pair that used some pre-planned ingenuity to procure props from their friends. The skit seemed like a normal school greeting situation when all of a sudden one student asks, “would you like to eat some breakfast” and erasers start flooding out of his hand and pockets on to the floor. Turned out they were some kind of eraser eating creature students. XD Oh gosh these kids. *heart* They’re so great. One of my measures of a successful lesson is the amount I see my students smile and laugh. I think it’s safe to say for these classes, mission accomplished! ^-^
p.s. Here's another thing my students did to my stuffed animals as well. ^-^' haha?
Book Menu:
Still eating XD See last post
Song on Replay:
Lost One's Weeping (English + Piano Cover)【JubyPhonic】ロストワンの号哭 〜ピアノ〜
This song’s lyrics are pretty dark, but the tune is catchy to me ^^’
Hi hi! Today I’m writing to you from the Square Enix cafe in Umeda located under Yodobashi Camera. At the moment, the cafe is featuring the latest Final Fantasy Dissidia game that came out this month, which brings together a whole host of popular characters from the various Final Fantasy games. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a themed cafe. It reminds me that Japan is really an anime paradise, which makes sense. As my years have gone by here, I realize more and more how good (in an I guess not very good way when you think about it environmental wise) companies are at marketing goods to customers. There are often a lot of cafes, events, and exhibitions which feature your favorite animations/character which don’t get me wrong is really great for the fans and the people that love the anime (I’m always really excited when one of my favorites has an event going on), but I guess what concerns me about it all is the bottomless consumerism. I’m definitely guilty of buying into this…(forgive the pun ^^’) I’m trying to be more aware of the marketing and need to control my tendencies to constantly buy character goods. The YOLO mentality doesn’t really help either haha. Not taking things for granted and really appreciating what you have is a lot easier said than done.
This cafe is nicely put together with art on the walls, a little display case, and a giant screen with a few on the adjacent walls, playing scenes from the game. It’s really fun seeing the menu that they come up with that’s themed to the game. It’s mostly the names of the drinks and dishes and just a slight image of game elements that make them related. I ordered a roast beef bowl that was plated very nicely and had a black sesame sauce drizzled on top of it that really made it yummy and added a flare of theme to the the dish. :)
It’d be really great if cafe’s started being more eco friendly. A big thing at cafes is the coasters that they give out when you order a drink, and the kicker is that most of the time, these drinks come in plastic cups. Some people will order drinks until they get the coaster that they want ^^’ which is understandable, but also scary when you consider the implications of how much plastic these cafes must be burning up and how much customers are spending, though to each their own.
Concerts are my favorite of all the events that are held for anime, since they really pay tribute to an essential part that makes stories come to life: the music. I’ve been really lucky to have been able to see the very first Kingdom Hearts Concert and its recent world tour one. One of the best events I’ve ever attended was the Yuki Kajiura Sword Art Online Music Concert. She is so talented and creates music for Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica and other anime as well. It’s incredible to see all of the instruments that play a role in creating a great piece of music and how much goes into making something good. It’s also just really exciting to hear music that you know in real life and hear the vibrations of real instruments :>
Alright, I’ve relocated again to one of my favorite places to just chill and hang out at in Umeda. It’s the 15th floor of an office building that has a view looking out to the city. There are these curved wooden bench things that you can sit down in and look out at the buildings, or have a chat, read, or... type X> At the moment, one of the buildings across the way has some construction going on, so there are workers walking around on the roof. I wonder if they enjoy their jobs and find it exciting to sometimes be walking so high up off the ground. Hehe.
Anyway, I have some more school stories! This past week, I had my kids do some more heavy lifting with their minds to understand the stories of The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They found the animations that I showed them from YouTube rather funny. I always find it really interesting to see what makes them laugh. That’s my first years and I’ll be on the search for a blonde wig sometime soon as we gather the props to put on these mini plays. I’m looking forward to seeing how they do. ^-^
For my 3rd years I had them practice the phrase “Would you like...” and make quick little skits. The situations and dialogue they came up with were both impressive and hilarious. For one class, there was a pair of boys that wrote out their fantasy of meeting their favorite idol on the street and the idol asking him if he would like to shake her hand and take a selfie with her. Seeing it acted out was really amusing for the whole class, and we were in stitches. Sometimes just the fact that the students have to get up in front of the whole class and do something makes them so nervous that they get the niggles (nervous giggles) and start trying to say their lines, but start laughing instead and it makes the whole class laugh, too. In another class, one pair made a skit where a playboy was hitting on a girl and asking her out. At the boy trying to defend himself to say he wasn’t a player, they used the phrase, “I’m sorry, it’s not me, but it’s me!” XD The next class was full of more surprises as one group used the phrase, “Would you sing for me.” and the boys broke out in song and dance. Another duo used “would you like to hear a joke” and proceeded to share janken (rock-paper-scissor) jokes. The group which was perhaps the most entertaining was a pair that used some pre-planned ingenuity to procure props from their friends. The skit seemed like a normal school greeting situation when all of a sudden one student asks, “would you like to eat some breakfast” and erasers start flooding out of his hand and pockets on to the floor. Turned out they were some kind of eraser eating creature students. XD Oh gosh these kids. *heart* They’re so great. One of my measures of a successful lesson is the amount I see my students smile and laugh. I think it’s safe to say for these classes, mission accomplished! ^-^
p.s. Here's another thing my students did to my stuffed animals as well. ^-^' haha?
Book Menu:
Still eating XD See last post
Song on Replay:
Lost One's Weeping (English + Piano Cover)【JubyPhonic】ロストワンの号哭 〜ピアノ〜
This song’s lyrics are pretty dark, but the tune is catchy to me ^^’
Awww your students sound so playful and silly xD sasuga Osaka!
ReplyDelete<3 Yeah they're such good kids. Good times~
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