Right before I went on my vacation to Japan this year I found something about a Free! ES café! This café is in the theme of the anime Free! Eternal Summer and was from the 4th of July until the 30th of September. I secretly wanted to visit this café and thought you could just walk in. Still I was doubting this and my feeling was right. Thanks to a certain someone on Tumblr I discovered that the café could only be visited through a drawing of lots. The girl helped me out even more, because even as a foreigner you could participate in the drawing. Clicking here, typing there and done! Well, the waiting for whether or not you got a place started.
Great news was delivered because I was allowed to step inside the café on the 30th of July at 10:20AM! At the day itself I was already early at the café, which happened to be in a UFO catcher building. It wasn’t too hard to find in Ikebukuro. To kill some time I decided to play around with some UFO catchers and you could buy the Free! ES café merchandise in advance. (or afterwards, depending on your preference) That’s what I did in peace. The merchandise was for everyone, even for the ones that didn’t get a winning lottery ticket.
By the time that I was allowed to enter the café there was already quite a queue and you had to show your email and passport. Afterwards the rules got explained and the table numbers were given out. I had table number 6, a two person table. The room was on the small side but it was full of swimming stars! Wallpaper, television screens, placemats, coasters, etc. etc. I think there was room for about 30 people. The menu had pictures of the things you could order, which so-called were made up by one or more of the character from Free. My favorite character is Rei, so I had to pick something from him. I chose his drink, no idea what it was. To finish it off I chose the crêpe from Nagisa. What a combination 😉
Secretly I had hoped that there would have been guys walking around in swimming trunks, but there were cute girls dressed as maids who each worn a button from one of the Free characters. Nice as well! After a bit of waiting we got our order. Rei’s drink had a strong cassis flavor with a lemon slice added to it. It was a bit strange. Nagisa really did his best because his crêpe looked extremely cute, especially with the penguin cookies! Once the plated were empty it was almost time to leave the café because the next load of fans were already standing outside.
I walked around the café a bit to take photos and decided to buy a poster after all. You’re already there after all. As a gift everyone got a placemat which I now use at home whenever I eat. It was a nice and small café, entertainment wise it could’ve been better here and there, but you didn’t pay any entree fee of course. I also discovered that they do these anime themed cafés more often. Which one will be next?
For the menus and more information you can check their official website!
