Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Pixiv Zingaro - Super Sonico the Animation

Pixiv Zingaro is an exhibition space on the second floor of the Nakano Broadway shopping complex. They usually have artwork exhibitions there, and when I went they had a Super Sonico the Animation one. The nearest train station is Nakano station. Inside Nakano Broadway there's maps on each floor, and on the second floor ones Pixiv Zingaro will be named in English.



Believe it or not, it's actually quite easy to miss this place because there's loads of interesting shops all around.




They had a lot of Super Sonico the Animation shots up on the walls.




More shots.




There were also some of these sketches.




More sketches.




And a display case with some goods.




When I was there they actually played the YuruYuri OP from one of the Super Sonico CDs.



Location map:



This location was visited on 2014/04/14.

Links:
Pixiv Zingaro official website

Ghibli Museum

The Ghibli Museum is one of the most famous anime tourist locations in Japan. I've been there once before, but I decided to visit it again on this trip. The museum is in Mitaka and the closest train station is Mitaka station.



You have to take a bus to the museum from the train station, but it's quite easy to find it. There's signs in English guiding you to the bus stop, and if you're lucky you'll get to take this special Ghibli museum bus.




Most people hurry inside the museum itself, but if you head to the left of the entrance itself you get to this sign.




And there's where this Totoro ticket booth also is. You can't actually get in here though, so head back to the real entrance.




Museum seen from the outside.




Took these two pictures while waiting in line to get in. The cage on the left is the stairway to the roof.




On the roof is where you'll find this statue of the robot from Laputa: Castle in the Sky.




And also this Command Cube from the same movie.




Back on the first floor you'll find this hand-pump well.




Closeup of the shed behind the well.




On the second floor there's this café.




The menu. The café is usually full though, as it was when I visited, so I didn't get to try any of the food.




Luckily there's also a takeout window where you can get hot dogs if you get hungry and can't wait for a free seat in the café.




You can also buy Valley of the Wind beer here.




I just got a hot dog though.




Building on the second floor. Oh, and it's not allowed to take pictures inside the museum buildings. That's why you only get these outside shots.




Drinking fountain.




Some characters from The Cat Returns in a window.




Heading back. There's these employees in uniform helping people on and off the bus at the museum and making sure pedestrians can pass.




Here's a scan of the two Ghibli museum tickets I got. The first one I got has 3 frames from Howl's Moving Castle which only shows some skies. I got a much better one this time from From Up on Poppy Hill which shows some characters, so I'm quite happy about that. ^_^



No map since this is a famous tourist attraction.

This location was visited on 2014/04/14.

Links:
Ghibli museum official website

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Kanon - Shopping Street

The shopping street in Kanon is based on Motomachi shopping street in Yokohama. Another location I had to visit! Motomachi-Chūkagai station is close by. In fact one of the exits of this station is named Motomachi exit which leads right to the shopping street. I arrived here late in the day, so some of the shots are dusk shots in this location.



Image from Episode 2 - 14m20s


This location is on the other end of the shopping street. Both sides have an arc entrance like this though.




Image from Episode 4 - 04m20s


Closeup of arc entrance. This is actually not a match shot since this picture was taken on the end closest to Motomachi-Chūkagai station.




Image from Episode 6 - 10m39s


This location is also at the end closest to Motomachi-Chūkagai station.




Image from Episode 1 - 13m44s


Just walk down the street and you'll spot a lot of familiar locations from Kanon.




Image from Episode 1 - 14m35s


This is maybe the most recognizable location since it was used in a lot of the episodes.




Image from Episode 6 - 16m04s


It's actually not a café in real-life though.




Image from Episode 18 - 04m51s


A lot of the side-streets have these decorations above them.




Image from Episode 2 - 21m22s


Except for the doorway that has been made smaller in the anime this matches pretty well.




Image from Episode 7 - 09m01s


The building in the background is a bit different.




Image from Episode 7 - 10m47s


Shop names have been changed of course.




Image from Episode 8 - 07m25s


Same with this one. You can still recognize the places though.




Image from Episode 10 - 06m23s


It was quite hard to get a full picture of this building.


Therefore you get two of this one. You can see the building on the left is similar too.




Image from Episode 19 - 19m25s


Another location that was shown in many episodes.




Image from Episode 21 - 04m31s


There was no taiyaki seller there when I visited though. ^_^




Image from Episode 21 - 11m22s


And to end this post, here's another shot from the end furthest away from Motomachi-Chūkagai station.



Location map:



This location was visited on 2014/04/13.

Links:
Motomachi shopping street official website

Special thanks to the ones who went here before:
http://punynari.wordpress.com/2010/10/09/kanon-anime-pilgrimage-part-2/