Detective Conan AniON STATION – Tips & Information

In this post, I will be sharing on my experiences at Detective Conan x AniON STATION (in 2018 & 2019) and a brief overview of AniON STATION.

Hi all! Today I would like to introduce another anime-themed cafe (or lounge space) you can check out as part of your anime and manga geek out trip in Japan!

I’m talking about AniON STATION.
[ アニON STATION ]

I personally have been to AniON STATION twice — and both times were for their Detective Conan themed campaign in Akihabara.

AniON STATION Akihabara is honestly a pretty chillaxing place. After a long day bouncing from shop to shop in Akihabara, it was the perfect place to rest my legs, have a drink or two with great music in tow. If you are keen to find out more about this anime cafe/lounge space, continue to read on! For more information on AniOn Station itself, please check out my guide: AniON Station (アニON STATION): A Guide and Tips

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Detective Conan x AniON STATION (Akihabara)

As with the annual Detective Conan Pop-Up Cafe in Japan, AniON STATION typically take its cues from the Detective Conan movie out that year too.

*Image of Amuro and Kid from https://www.conan-portal.com/#charaContent

In 2018, it was Movie #22 Zero the Enforcer. So naturally, 安室透 (Amuro Tooru) was the main focus of the entire 2018 AniON STATION collaboration. The campaign largely revolved around Amuro or on the topic of Amuro. More on this later.

 

Similarly, when I was there for the Detective Conan AniON STATION collaboration in May 2019, 怪盗キッド (Kid the Phantom Thief) was the focus of the collaboration. Why? Because Movie #23 “The Fist of Blue Sapphire” 紺青の拳 was headlined by Kid. Well, both Kid and Makoto but again we’ll get to that later.

AniON STATION cleverly created a 怪盗キッド对策講座 (loosely translated as Kid the Phantom Thief’s counter measure course) and featured Makoto (with others) to talk about Kid, covering both characters in one single swoop!

AniON STATION typically displays all the exclusive goods and novelty items you can get on a table at the reception/main lobby area. Refer to the respective “Detective Conan AniON STATION Goods” sections in this post for a closer view of the exclusive goods and novelty items.

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What can you expect at the Detective Conan AniON STATION?

• Each session is 90 minutes
• The first 15 minutes of the session is for you to get cozy and familiarize yourself with the menu. Oh and to simply soak in the decor of the studio room.
• A special anime episode/clip will be shown.
• Designated Free Time. This is the time for you to buy the exclusive goods, order your drinks/food and make your music (songs) requests. (You have to go to the counter to order your drinks/food and buy the goods).
• In the last 15 minutes or so, they will show the concluding part of the anime episode/clip. The studio doors will also open to signify that your session has ended.  

If no one makes a song request, the staff will just play the songs on the set-list. Sometimes there might be some MC talk (voiced by the anime seiyuus) as well.

Note: I’m using the 2018 visuals as a guide because while the theme might differ, the basic structure of each AniON STATION session is mostly the same. And…because I forgot to save a copy of the 2019 visual and the website is long gone. LOL

Tip: It is extremely likely that in 2020, AniON STATION will have yet another collaboration campaign with Movie #24.

It has already been announced that the 2020 movie will revolve around Akai. After Ran, he’s my favourite character in Detective Conan so I’m really, really looking forward to the collaboration events next year!

Look out for updates by AniON STATION under their ‘news’ section for details. Click on the button below to reach it.

If you like to know more about AniON STATION, please refer to my separate guide on AniOn Station here.

You might also like to check out my other Detective Conan Post: Detective Conan Cafe 2019 for more information and tips on enjoying the various Detective Conan annual events in Japan.

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Advance Reservation & Admission Fee

When I visited AniON STATION in 2018 and 2019, both times required me to pay an admission fee for the Detective Conan collaboration campaign. Advance reservations (via LivePocket) is highly encouraged but you can also buy a ticket at the counter, providing the session you want isn’t full.

Image of Conan from https://www.conan-portal.com/#charaContent

Priority goes to those who had made an advanced reservation online so for us overseas fans, I’ll always advise to just get a reservation.  (Reservations are not always required for non-Detective Conan campaigns.)

I think it is safe to assume that the 2021 Detective Conan AniON STATION collaboration requires you to pay an admission fee too. Do note that the fee differs from campaign to campaign.

Here’s a guide to how much the admission fee for Detective Conan was in 2018 & 2019:

Admission Fee: 1000 yen (before tax); primary kids and younger: 800 yen (before tax)

Novelty Item: You’ll get a music (song) request ticket with Detective Conan characters on the ticket, as well as an entrance postcard/sticker. These are all randomly given to you by the counter staff so you can’t choose the designs you like.  

For more information on how to make advance reservations, check out the “AniON STATION Advance Reservations” section in my AniON Station (アニON STATION): A Guide and Tips post.

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2018 Detective Conan AniON STATION

So back in 2018, I visited AniON STATION in Akihabara for the very first time. I found out that Detective Conan was having a collaboration campaign with AniON STATION during the dates I would be in Tokyo, so I immediately added it to my list of to-do anime activities.

Since it was located in Akihabara and I already had reservations at the Card Captor Sakura x Good Smile Animate Cafe (coming soon) and Yowapedal Cafe Honpo (coming soon) in Akihabara ……  why not?

Although in hindsight, planning 3 anime themed cafes back-to-back in a single day was probably not the greatest decision. LOL My advice is too space out your cafe escapades if you can. 

Side-note: 2018 was a crazy year which saw me flying to Tokyo twice and stuffing my days full with anime events, cafes, exhibitions and doujinshi fairs. ^ ^
I really tried out loads of different anime cafes in Japan for the first time and eventually went on an ultimate geek-out sheer indulgent anime/manga fan-girling trip.

I plan to continue to share about my 2018 adventures and tips so do subscribe to my blog or watch out for updates! Please verify the subscription in your inbox if you do.

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Chilling and Relaxing with安室透 (Amuro Tooru)

As mentioned earlier, with Movie #22 Zero the Enforcer revolving around Amuro, it wasn’t much of a surprise that the Detective Conan AniON STATION 2018 collaboration campaign (similar to the other Detective Conan events of that year) took its cue from the movie.  

Indeed, the special anime ‘episodes’ were either about Conan asking Amuro quite a number of personal questions , Conan asking other Detective Conan characters on their views about Amuro, or some events relating to Amuro. (It’s been over a year and they were talking pretty fast without subtitles, so my recollections about the episode I saw is pretty fuzzy. ). I went in May 2018, so the anime episodes that I saw were those in the 後期.

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Case Closed – Drinks Galore!

Presenting my 2018 AniON STATION Detective Conan-themed drinks with my coasters and straw tags :

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Remember how I said I had planned 3 back-to-back anime cafes in Akihabara? Well, I kind-of overdid it at the Card Captor Sakura x Good Smile Animate Cafe (coming soon!) and was pretty stuffed by the time I arrived at AniON STATION. Mindful that I also have a dinner reservation at Yowamushi Pedal x Cafe Honpo (coming soon!) , I really couldn’t order any of the mains or desserts, even though I was really tempted.

In the end, I just went with drinks. I ordered 3 drinks because I was trying to get a Ran coaster (which didn’t happen). Every drink ordered gets you a random coaster and a straw tag which you can bring home with you.

Interestingly, I got Amuro for all my random goods/novelty items in the various Detective Conan events I went for in 2017, 2018 and 2019! How about that?

Next, did you see all those adorable character cut-out boards on the tables? I had a lot of fun using them for my photographs. 2019 did not have these adorable cut-out boards! Why???

The cut-outs of both Shinichi and Ran weren’t actually at my designated table. I kinda “borrowed” Ran from a nearby table and monopolized her cut-out for the entire session. Oops. Shhhh. I did return Ran to her original table before I left. 

Every table had one or two cut-outs on it. I was in Studio 2 and the room was basically fitted with bar-type tables with high chairs. There’s a large projector screen in the center of the room and multiple TV screens so that everyone doesn’t need to twist their bodies to watch the anime episodes.  

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Detective Conan Music Time!

Below are the music (songs) tickets you will receive with the admission fee. There were 10 designs in all and randomly handed out by the AniON STATION counter staff. I honestly believe that most fans would rather keep the tickets in its entirety, rather than tear off a portion to submit a song request.

Well… I wouldn’t but someone actually did when I was there in 2018. The staff sounded really excited by it. For my visit in 2019, no one submitted any song requests hahahaha.

I really wanted the one with Shinichi and Ran but I ended up with Conan on the skateboard instead. Oh well~

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2018 Exclusive AniON STATION Goods

By the time of my visit in May 2018, almost everything was SOLD OUT! I didn’t manage to buy anything.

Here are some random photos of the exclusive goods on display, along with the official goods pictures taken from the Detective Conan AniON STATION 2018 campaign website.

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2019 Detective Conan AniON STATION

The 2019 collaboration was titled: 怪盗キッド对策講座。Which was rather apt seeing how Conan (Shinichi) really needs to find a way to stop Kid from …… Ran.  No spoilers so I’ve left it intentionally blank, although everyone who has watched movie #23 will know exactly what I mean. ^ ^

As with 2018, I visited the Detective Conan AniON STATION Akihabara in May. It was actually nearing the end of the campaign by the time I was there. Moreover, with it being a late afternoon on a weekday, I wasn’t surprised to find my session relatively empty. There were perhaps about 5 other customers in the room with me. 

I had already paid my admission fee (1000 yen before tax) when I made my reservation online, so all I had to do was to show the counter staff my QR Code, scanned it and receive my physical receipt ticket + my song request ticket & postcard/sticker.

After collecting my tickets from the counter, I made my way over to Studio 03, which was where the campaign was being held. In 2018, it was at Studio 02.

AniON STATION has a really different feel to most of the other anime cafes I’ve been too and I really like the chilling vibe that they exude.

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怪盗キッド对策講座

Surprisingly, the special ‘anime’ episode screened at the AniON STATION was closely linked to movie #23: “The Fist of Blue Sapphire” 紺青の拳。 In fact, minor spoilers for the movie abounded! (Mainly on Makoto and Sonoko’s relationship). Think of it as a mini extension of the movie — with the “episode” set shortly after the events in Movie #23. The conversations in the clip even referenced some of the movie events!

Anyway, as sweet as Makoto and Sonoko are as a couple, OMG the lovey dovely lines uttered by the two in the special anime clips were so saccharine that I literally was cringing a little. I hadn’t watched the movie at that time so I didn’t exactly understand why the two were reacting the way they were. OR why both were so heavily featured in the clips.

It was only after the watching the movie that the whole conversation between the two and their massive screen-time made sense. Oh, and Kid’s reaction to Ran too. ^ ^ HAHAHAHAHA (Go watch the movie, if you haven’t!)

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Dessert and Drinks Galore – It’s a Makoto Day!

Having learnt my lesson from 2018, I only arranged for 2 cafes (including AniON STATION) on the same day. Unfortunately, I got horribly lost looking for the My Hero Academia x Myojin Cafe so I ended up having to skip it. *sigh*  

And so … tired, frustrated and disappointed, I made my way over to AniON STATION in Akihabara, hoping that it will provide a change of mood for me. I was confident that I could find the place since I’ve been there in 2018.

And it did! I really felt refreshed and relaxed after chilling for about 90 minutes over drinks and ice-cream ^ ^ The drinks and ice-cream were good. Slightly expensive but that’s the norm at character/anime cafes.

Turns out as with my Bungo Stray Dogs x Animate Cafe (which was a Chuuya Day) in this trip, My Detective Conan AniON STATION 2019 visit became a Makoto Kyogaku (京極 真) day as well!

For the parfait I ordered, the random monoka (wafer) came with Makoto’s chibi character. My random song request ticket was Makoto and I even received a Makoto coaster from my drink. I’ve also managed to get his acrylic stand sold in blind packaging. And the special name card I received for ordering the dessert? Well, I didn’t get Makoto but I got Sonoko, which is close enough by proxy since she’s the love of his life and all. ^ ^

Note: Food/desserts will get you a special novelty item. For 2019, it was a character “name-card” per each item ordered. For drinks, a random character coaster is given with each drink ordered. Please refer to the “2019 Exclusive Ani ON STATION Goods” section for the full range of designs.

When my first drink (Apple Juice!) arrived, it was with Conan’s straw tag and Makoto’s coaster. Hoping to get Ran, I decided to order another drink (the same apple juice LOL) and it came with Akai’s coaster and Kid’s straw tag!!! (Yay!).

The acrylic stands in the photo are the exclusive 2019 collaboration goods sold at AniON STATION. Although I didn’t get Ran (what’s new?), I got Akai and Amuro and Makoto so all’s still good.      

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Detective Conan x AniON STATION (Akihabra) Rules, Menu & Songs List

Here’s the menu! I actually remembered to take a photo this time.

One notable difference between Animate Cafe and AniON STATION is that for AniON STATION, you have to order at the counter and pay immediately. Animate Cafe practices table service and you pay for your food/drinks at the end of your session.

Check out the other general rules:

Detective Conan Songs List!

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2019 AniON STATION Exclusive Goods

Unlike my 2018 visit where almost everything was sold out, most of the goods were still available for purchase when I was there in May 2019. I think they had recently restocked some of the items? Anyway, trying to keep to a budget of sorts, I decided to just get the chibi character acrylic stands. I ended up getting 5 of them in an attempt to get Ran.

Above is a picture of my loot (Acrylic Stands!) – so happy that I got Amuro, Akai and Makoto! Would have love Ran and Shinichi too but oh well… Anyone interested in my extra Amuro and Makoto stand? Leave a comment or email me!  Here’s another close-up of the acrylic stands.

Click on the photos below for a larger view.

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And that concludes my 2018 and 2019 visit to AniON STATION for the Detective Conan collaboration! Phew… it’s a long post, ain’t it? Kudos to all who made it through!

I had a pretty chillaxing time at the studios and enjoyed my little respite from the hustle and bustle of my trip.

If you are keen to visit AniON STATION, do check out my brief guide on AniOn Station Akihabara for directions, reservations and tips.

*Image of Conan from https://www.conan-portal.com/#charaContent

Have you been to AniON STATION? As always, if you find this post interesting or useful, don’t forget to share it.

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Check Out My Other Posts!

Before you hit the X button and/or leave the page, you might be interested in some of my other anime fan escapades and guides:

• Detective Conan Cafe 2019
• Pokemon Cafe
• Nendoroids: A guide on buying Nendoroids
• A Kuji Guide: All You need to know and more!
• Geeky Goods Spotlight: Forwarder, Buying Service & Proxy Bidding (Anime Goods)
• Capcom Store Tokyo
• Animate Cafes (How-to & Tips)
• Nendoroid Guide: The Readers’ Questions Edition
• Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (鬼滅の刃) x Ufotable Cafe
• Animate Cafes (How-to & Tips)
• My Hero Academia X Animate Cafe + Other Plus Ultra Stuff!
• Shirokuma Cafe (Polar Bear Cafe)

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