Below are a few pictures from the much inferior Ogikubo Anime Museum in Ogikubo (near Mitaka). The museum was free, so I guess you get what you pay for. The museum was also a 30 minute walk from the train station and very difficult to find. I had to ask at two police boxes before I found the museum, which was nestled on the third floor of a discreet office building in a back alley.
The main problem with the museum was that since it is not associated with any major anime house (such as Bandai, Toei, or Action Comics), there were no exhibits on characters one would actually know. Thus you’ll see the generic anime characters below (if you know who these characters are, let me know!). The only character I knew was Gatchaman, a comedic superhero from 30-years ago who is very similar in design to Junior Birdman.
There was also no one in the museum except for me. One of the volunteers became my human shadow, following me around the museum and watching me look at exhibits (I guess she grew tired of sitting at the front desk and surfing the web). About halfway through my visit, the founder of the museum appeared with a film crew and began shooting a promotional video or news segment, pausing at each of the displays to talk about its significance.
The centerpiece of the museum was a booth where you could record your own dubbing for Tezuka Osamu’s action cartoon Blackjack. I had two problems with the activity: 1) the recording mechanism didn’t seem to be working, and 2) the words moved so fast on the screen that I couldn’t actually read them in time. Thus, when the machine played me back my work, I was treated to a nice scene where my character Blackjack did his best Helen Keller impression.
The only neat thing about the museum was a room where one could sit and watch any of the museum’s anime DVDs at a small TV station. There were also manga books and magazines you could peruse in the same room as well.
All in all, while I don’t feel like it was a total waste of time, I certainly wouldn’t put the Ogikubo Anime Museum on my list of recommended Tokyo sites. Visit if you wish, but prepare to be disappointed.
B.E.W.
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