Interest
Tōken Ranbu Fans Flock to Es Fest
posted on by Eric Stimson
While Comiket drew massive crowds to the shores of Tokyo Bay, another large crowd of fans gathered uptown in Akihabara: guests to this summer's es fest, a female-oriented character goods market organized by Kotobukiya. This particular installment focuses on Tōken Ranbu, an online game that depicts famous Japanese swords as attractive men.
Judging by the lines, the event is a great success. The queue was already long by the crack of dawn on Saturday morning and eventually stretched all the way into the neighboring district of Ochanomizu (see map below).
Even police cars were deployed.
It is estimated that about 3,000 fans appeared by 7 AM.
Among the character goods on offer were these sets of rubber straps, hand towels, fans, and shopping bags (4,000 yen/$32 each).
Fans could also pick up a bag of senbei (rice crackers) featuring Konnosuke, the game's mascot, and a badge featuring a human/sword character for 700 yen (or about $5.60).
[Via Yaraon! and Kotobukiya]
