Forum - View topicMaid Cafés Aren't Just For Male Otaku Anymore
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Columbo
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It never was just for males.
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SenpaiDuckie
ANN Community Manager
 Posts: 531 Location: PH |
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For one, I definitely enjoyed this article!
Thinking back when I was traveling in Japan, I really did notice the majority of maid cafes to be male. I didn't find it odd, but like the locals, I found it common. Furthermore, it is indeed a common notion to think that the customers that would go to a maid cafe, is a male otaku. It's just an instant click indeed, to think such a way. Reading about this now, how the game has changed for this industry, it is something that, now, I would like to visit and and experience it. I am happy that such cafes are surviving despite of pandemic, and due to social media, it became a platform for other people to see this, and be interested on trying it out. 
I just hope now that the next few months, it would be easier to travel! *crosses fingers* 
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NeverConvex
 Subscriber Posts: 2576 |
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I've never really had much interest in maid cafes, but it's neat to hear about the cultural/clientele change they're undergoing.
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4668 |
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I think that is something the article says. At least from the perspective of the cafes, they didn't do anything different, but circumstances have caused a shift where the customer demographics have shifted. Sometimes a service/product appeals strongly enough to a demographic that it gets perceived as not being "for" others, even though there was no intention to do so. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18506 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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The one time I got to a maid cafe in Japan (back in 2016), it was with a mixed-gender group. The female attendee got into it every bit as much as the guys did, so it doesn't surprise me at all that the cafes are drawing more female clientele. (I can also confirm that the waitress knew English well, although our tour guide did make sure to find us a place which specifically had English-proficient waitresses; apparently not all maid cafes are accommodating to foreign tourists.) It was a fun and unique experience that I highly recommend for anyone who has a chance to visit Akihabara; I still have pics somewhere of the elaborate parfaits and the Polaroid taken both with the waitress and while I was wearing some kind of animal ears. (You can purchase those as package deals with the food.)
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Moonsaber
 Posts: 343 Location: USA |
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So fun! Thanks for the article.
I wonder if Japanese tourists would enjoy Medieval Times, who in another way tries to make for an immersive experience. Love those places, but I bet the Maid Cafe has better food... and far less jousting. |
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capt_bunny
 Posts: 364 |
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Next thing I am going to see is an article about how there is tons of women who are shounen jump fans or liking the "moe" art style. :roll: Excuse my sarcasm here for I never like to be disrespectful to any journalist no matter the article. However, I find this very obvious.... It makes me annoyed when I see countless articles about how women are more into the male demographic yet I see anything to the female demographic to be looked down or ignored. |
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NeverConvex
Subscriber Posts: 2576 |
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I wonder if there's any way to be more quantitatively precise about it? I suppose probably the maids or owners themselves have the best subjective impressions of clientele mix. I doubt they, or regular pollsters, make or keep any kind of records on gender/sex mix of people who're customers.
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zztop
Posts: 650 |
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Not exactly maid-cafe related, but how does the butler cafe subculture fare in popularity compared to maid cafes?
I ask this because butler cafes appear to operate on a more exclusive, private capacity compared the maid cafes I'm aware of. Like the Swallowtail butler cafe in Ikebukuro which is located in a discreet basement of a building and appears to operate on a booking system (no walk-in entry) while maid cafes like Akihabara's Maidreamin' advertise prominently on main streets, have staff outside to pick up customers and seem to be walk in entry. |
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NeverConvex
Subscriber Posts: 2576 |
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What about the article made you think the author was complaining about male otaku? I thought it was just a mildly eye-catching headline. The article doesn't really complain about male otaku culture or anything. Some ANN folks have done that in other places, I guess, but this seems like a weird article to level that complaint at.
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Cutiebunny
 Posts: 1770 |
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I've missed the cafes. Didn't think I'd like them as it felt pandering (either to one specific preference or milking a particular anime/manga) but, despite the overpriced food and drink, they were fun.
...except the pancake breakfast at the Sailor Moon pop-up café in Tokyo in 2019. I still have nightmares about pancakes being paired with salad.. Not all maid cafes (or theme cafes, for that matter) have English speaking staff. A good chunk of them don't, even those that have popular themes or are in tourist-heavy locations. Google Translate can do wonders. |
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
 Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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While its easy to realize the business and social landscape has evolved due to both technological changes and the pandemic, I'd also like to point out one other consideration I feel the article overlooked. Perhaps this is mostly a consequence of said technological changes, or the reliance we all have upon it these days, but what the phrase "male otaku" actually means, I believe, is also evolving. Fans for whom that label might have described in the past no longer identify with it for various reasons.
This is because both words, male and otaku refer to very specific things that don't ONLY exclude people who happen to be female or happen to be casual fans of Japanese culture. This implication is also true of the label "female otaku," not to mention the various sexual orientations that might compel one to visit a maid cafe or not. |
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