Fans can drink Lina’s fireball and eat Naga’s jiggling chest.
The otaku entertainment industry moves pretty fast these days, so for a franchise to have stuck around for 30-plus years, it must be doing something right. In the case of Slayers, though, which debuted as a light novel series in 1989 before getting its first anime adaptation in 1995, it’s actually got three trusty tricks up its sleeve.
For starters, it’s an unabashed heroic fantasy adventure, with no self-insert character who was sucked into another world to amaze the natives and enthral their women with their mundane real-world-Japan life skills. Second, it’s full of snappy, character-driver comedy. And third, it’s packed with all sorts of descriptions and depictions of fantasy food, making it totally appropriate that two Slayers cafes are set to open in Tokyo and Osaka!
Officially called the Slayers Cafe Doramata-tei, the restaurant has an extensive lineup of character and lore-themed fare, plus, of course, limited-edition merchandise. On the food front, several dishes are recreations of meals eaten by Slayers’ eternally hungry sorceress protagonist Lina Inverse on her wandering journeys, such as the Black Dragon’s Tribute (sesame miso pork and cabbage) and Running Mushroom Hotpot, from the fourth and seventh books, respectively, in the Slayers Special light novel arc.
Dessert options include the mixed-dessert Valentine Plate, available from February 11 to 17 and decorated with character macaroons of either Lina or fellow female spellcasters Amelia and Naga. There’s also the dinner-time only Naga the Serpent parfait, a voluminous, jiggling mass of caramel pudding ice cream and panna cotta meant to evoke sweet mammary memories of Naga’s prodigious bikini top-bound bosoms.
It’s practically part of Japan’s food and beverage code that anime restaurants provide some sort of randomized character artwork coasters when you order something, and the Slayers Cafe follows this protocol with a whopping 15 designs, including brand-new illustrations from series illustrator Rui Araizumi.
The drink menu is also full of clever in-jokes. The maraschino cherries atop Lina’s berry/blood orange non-alcoholic cocktail resemble the fireballs she chucks when she gets mad. Gourry’s drink has a light-up ice cube (a nod to his family heirloom the Sword of Light) and a strip of “jellyfish” (in reference to him being as dumb as a brainless marine invertebrate).
Meanwhile, cursed-with-a-body-of-stone Zelgadis’ hot coffee is paired with a selection of chocolate rock candy, and Princess Amelia’s royal milk tea is topped with an edible version of her kingdom Seyruun.
There’s no ale on the menu, but alcohol is accounted for with the Fireball (spiced hot red wine) and Freeze Bleed (vodka and blue soda sherbet), both named after in-series black magic incantations. And while the Giga Slave (non-alcoholic sparkling wine with lemon) doesn’t have a chance of accidentally destroying the world like the spell it’s named after, you do have a 50-percent chance, decided by the roll of a die, to win a special illustrated card if you order it.
The sure bet to walk away with some new Slayers merch, though, is to simply buy some from the attached shop, which will have keychains, notepads, a teacup featuring the entire chant necessary to cast the destructive Dragon Slave spell, and artwork prints.
The Slayers Cafe is a collaborative effort hosted by the Good Smile Animate Cafes in Tokyo’s Akihabara and Osaka’s Nipponbashi neighborhoods, and will be open from January 15 to February 17.
Cafe information
Good Smile Animate Café (Akihabara) / グッドスマイル×アニメイトカフェ（秋葉原店）
Address: Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Soto Kanda 1-7-6, Akiba Cultures Zone, 5th floor
東京都千代田区外神田1-7-6 AKIBAカルチャーズZONE 5F
Open noon-3:30 p.m., 4 p.m.-9 p.m.
Website
Good Smile Animate Café (Nipponbashi) / グッドスマイル×アニメイトカフェ（日本橋店）
Address: Osaka-fu, Osaka-shi, Naniwa-ku, Nipponbashi 4-15-17, 2nd floor
大阪府大阪市浪速区日本橋4-15-17 2F
Open noon-3:30 p.m., 4 p.m.-9 p.m.
Website
Source: Animate Cafe via Comic Natalie via Otakomu
Top image: Animate Cafe
Insert images: Animate Cafe (1, 2, 3, 4)
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