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NEWS: CNN Article on Maid Cafes


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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6226
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 11:49 am Reply with quote
how ironic, i just saw a japanese special on these things recently, the waitresses actually have to go through acting auditions and all kinds of stuff before they get the job, there's even otakus who collect the uniforms. also they hold competitions between the cafes. it would be interesting see one in person.

Last edited by v1cious on Fri Feb 10, 2006 12:55 pm; edited 3 times in total
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 9902
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 11:55 am Reply with quote
...And I was just about to tell you guys that Japan's Ministry of the Environment has announced their cooperation with 16 Akihabara maid cafés to reduce the consumption of plastic bags. First 3000 otaku will receive limited edition of cloth bags and will be signed by maids. Laughing

This CNN article emphasized on Royal Milk Maidcafé & Aromacare. I couldn't believe that CNN even interviewed Hinaka-chan:


CNN wrote:
"Being a maid is all-consuming," said Hinaka, a maid at Royal Milk Cafe who goes only by her first name.

Um, as far as I know, she was one of its founder. Anime catgrin + sweatdrop

v1cious wrote:
there's even otakus who collect the uniforms.

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/dormcat&article_id=2496742

Look for Mr. Jun Yanai.


Last edited by dormcat on Fri Feb 10, 2006 12:40 pm; edited 2 times in total
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WEKS



Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 82
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 12:18 pm Reply with quote
CNN wrote:
Patronage is also on the rise among young women, some hoping to snag a geek and turn him into Prince Charming in a real-life imitation of last year's hit movie "Train Boy", a love story set in Akihabara that also became a popular TV series.


Oh you got to be kidding me.
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Zeiram



Joined: 02 Dec 2003
Posts: 317
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 12:26 pm Reply with quote
score one for the social misfits
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hikaru004



Joined: 15 Mar 2004
Posts: 2306
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 3:17 pm Reply with quote
I don't think that it's good publicity for that type of otaku. I think that it just reinforces one of the Ken Otaku Ryu assertions of gender inequality. (Not meaning to offend anyone here.)

Those misfits need to escape into a world where there's gorgeous females waiting on them hand and foot. It's sad that there are people taking advantage of them that way (for profit!).

I also think that it's even worse that there are females over there that think that those types would make eligible mates.
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The Ramblin' Wreck



Joined: 07 Apr 2003
Posts: 924
Location: Teaching Robot Women How To Love
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 3:28 pm Reply with quote
hikaru004 wrote:


Those misfits need to escape into a world where there's gorgeous females waiting on them hand and foot. It's sad that there are people taking advantage of them that way (for profit!).


Ever heard of strip clubs (or Hooters, for that matter)? Trust me, there is a much larger market for "being waited on by gorgeous females" than just "social misfits".
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hikaru004



Joined: 15 Mar 2004
Posts: 2306
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 3:41 pm Reply with quote
@ The Ramblin' Wreck: This article isn't addressing the larger market that uses sex to sell merchandise, but the smaller market that uses gender inequality in the form of female subservience (maids) to appeal to otakus, especially those with the maid fetish, to sell merchandise and services.

This type of consumer is a social misfit.
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Josh7289



Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Posts: 1252
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 3:48 pm Reply with quote
My God! This is really really degrading, for both the "maids" and for the "otaku"...Damn...Seriously, especially that Train Boy thing...

Crap...That's bad...
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Vantos



Joined: 20 Feb 2005
Posts: 102
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 4:49 pm Reply with quote
Stop worrying about it. No one's forcing anyone to go there or work there.

Aren't Japanese otaku, male or female, allowed to have fun like the rest of us?
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abunai
Old Regular


Joined: 05 Mar 2004
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 5:40 pm Reply with quote
Forget the phony egalitarian outrage for a moment, and remember that this is all intended to be fun. So it's a different "fun" than strip clubs and Hooters (as pointed out by The Ramblin' Wreck), and it caters to a different crowd (though I'm sure that I'd feel more at home with the otaku crowd in a maid café than in Hooters, all things considered -- I don't even own a pickup truck or a plaid flannel shirt). But it's still intended to be fun.

And for heavens' sake, can't we all agree that having fun isn't sinful?

Well, maybe we can't -- but that's your problem, not mine.

- abunai
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Jadress



Joined: 08 Oct 2003
Posts: 807
Location: Seattle. It purdy and nerdy!
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:03 pm Reply with quote
Yes, of course it's all in good fun, but unlike Hooters, where the idea is just "huhuh.. boobs/hot chicks, yay" I think people are just a little creeped out by the subservient idea. Of course it's just a little fantasy place. Still, something about it just feels a tad bit wrong to me, as much I know it's not that big of deal. I can just see a lot of those types of guys, who have a hard enough time with "real" girls as it is, just giving up on the idea of communicating with non-fantasy females altogether and hanging out in these cafes all the time. It just seems like an outlet for those too lazy/afraid to make the effort to have a real relationship with someone, instead of just looking for a cute slave.
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6226
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:05 pm Reply with quote
hikaru004 wrote:
I also think that it's even worse that there are females over there that think that those types would make eligible mates.


well think about it in retrospect: if a girl is giving him attention, he may not want to go back.
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Patachu
Past ANN Contributor


Joined: 08 Jul 2004
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Location: San Diego
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:44 pm Reply with quote
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6226
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:48 pm Reply with quote
Patachu wrote:


in Ikebukuro... i'd say a line has been drawn. Laughing
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Joe Mello



Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 2302
Location: Online Terminal
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:54 pm Reply with quote
abunai wrote:
And for heavens' sake, can't we all agree that having fun isn't sinful?


But I thought they outlawed human-animal hybrids Wink

(*coughnocatgirlscough*)

Quote:
I couldn't believe that CNN even interviewed Hinaka-chan:

Is this a good disbelief or a bad disbelief? (honest question)

Oh, and the problem with Maid Cafes is not the girls, it's the MINORITY of male customers who either are just bad people or have trouble separating fiction from reality.
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