Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe (Part One)
Have you been to a Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe? In this post I’ll share about my visits to the Hunter x Hunter Animate cafes in Japan.
Update August 2021: Good News! Animate is having another HxH collaboration cafe from 25 August 2021 to 27 September 2021! Check out the details at the “2021 Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe” section (Can someone help me buy goods?)
Good news! Seems like Animate Cafe will be selling some of the 2021 cafe exclusive goods online after the campaign ends! ^ ^ Wil update when more information is out!
So, a couple of moons (okay 2 years) ago, I managed to visit the Hunter X Hunter Animate Cafe in Japan. The best thing about it was that I visited it not once but THRICE in a year! That was back when global travel was still easy and not under a cloud of uncertainty (*sigh*), let’s hope everything gets better soon.
You can read about my third visit to the Hunter X Hunter Animate Cafe here. The third visit had a different theme + collaboration menu, so be sure to check that out too.
*Do note that this cafe collaboration was held in 2018 and has since ended.
Page Contents
Overview
In 2018, Animate Cafe ran a year long (quarterly) campaign for Hunter X Hunter. The campaign was divided up into 4 parts, with each part covering a major arc of the series.
- 幻影旅団 Part 1 (The Phantom Troupe Part 1)
- Greed Island
- 幻影旅団 Part 2 (The Phantom Troupe Part 2)
- Chimera Ant
I was fortunate enough to visit 2 of the 4 Hunter x Hunter Animate cafe collaborations: Part 1 (幻影旅団 Part 1) and Part 3 (幻影旅団 Part 2). I actually really wanted to go for the Chimera Ants theme i.e. Part 4 of the cafe, seeing how it was the arc that I felt was the best of the entire Hunter x Hunter series (so far). If you haven’t watched it yet, do yourself a favour and watch it! It is absolutely brilliant. I’ve re-watched the arc so many times. The 2011 remake is on Netflix for those who has a subscription.
Alas it didn’t fit into my travel dates. Oh well~ I still very much enjoyed my three visits to the cafe. ^ ^
Note: For the Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe collaboration in 2018, reservations were required i.e. no walk-ins were allowed.
Note: For the2021 Hunter x Hunter Animate cafe, it is a mix between free entry and web reservations via balloting on certain days.
What was so great about this collaboration campaign was that the Animate coasters and the food & drinks menu differs for each part. This meant that every part of the collaboration campaign would be a whole new experience with new things to try and collect for repeat customers! How neat is that? In addition, every part also had new merchandises and goods YOU can buy. Read about my visit to Part 3 of the Hunter X Hunter Cafe Collaboration here.
Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe
Part I
The first theme “幻影旅団 Part 1” was held in both Ikebukuro Animate Cafe 2 (Tokyo) and Nagoya Animate Cafe. As I was in Tokyo and staying in Ikebukuro, I opted for the Ikebukuro Cafe. (Note that there are now 4 different animate cafes in Ikebukuro itself. Animate open another branch in 2020!).
I was fortunate to get a reservation via Animate Cafe’s online balloting reservation system on 2 separate days. (Yes, you’ve read that right! I went to the Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe a total of 3 times in 2018! LOL) Twice for Part 1 and once for Part 3.
Note: If you are not familiar with Animate Cafes and/or have a question or two about reservations etc., check out my guide and tips on Animate Cafes: Animate Cafes (How-to & Tips)
As with all Animate Cafes that requires a reservation, a staff will be on-site outside the cafe for identity verification (to see if your name matches the one on the reservation list). Turns out the staff for my session was in cosplay mode. Guess who she’s cosplaying as! ^ ^
I took this after the end of my first visit session (which was the last time-slot of the day), hence the empty queue. Make no mistake, the cafe was filled to the brim. ^^ And I had gone on the last 2 days of the Part 1 campaign in May 2018.
Please note that this was taken before the 2020 situation (2018 to be exact), so Animate Cafe has introduced new rules to adjust to the situation.
Inside the Cafe: My Table!
For Animate Cafes, you can’t choose your table/seat, so it’s always a surprise where you will be sitting. And for my first visit to the Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe 幻影旅団 Part 1…
I got Feitan (フェイタン) & Bonolenov (ボノレノフ) ^ ^ Unfortunately, unlike other anime cafes such as Capcom Cafe and ufotable Cafe, fans can’t bring the table place-mats home. The place-mats are also not for sale too. At least I get to enjoy a meal with Feitan 🙂
For my second visit the next evening, I got Hisoka (ヒソカ) and Machi (マチ)!! No need for guesses which side of the table I will be sitting at. 🙂
Oh and in case you are wondering, here’s how the cafe looks like inside.
Apologies for the blurry photo. I was in a rush to get a photo of the cafe layout before the other customers came in that I didn’t check my settings. >< Anyway, don’t be fooled by this photo. During both days I was there, every table was accounted for. Ikebukuro Animate Cafe 2 is one of the larger Animate Cafes in Japan.
Note: Animate Cafes itself has a few distinctions: The larger cafes generally serves both food & drinks. Animate Cafe Shop is smaller and usually just have a drinks and dessert menu. Animate Gratte Shop typically has a smaller space as well, with just drinks and character-printed cookies.
Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe Part 1 Collaboration Menu
Here’s the food and drinks menu for The Phantom Troupe Part 1 – 幻影旅団 Part 1 theme:
As with all Animate Cafes, every food/dessert and drinks ordered gets you a random coaster. Refer to the sections “My Loot” and “My Food and Drinks” to see which coasters I got!
(For more tips and a guide on Animate Cafes, check out Animate Cafes (How-to & Tips) for more information.)
While I would have loved to try everything on the menu (what’s new?) ^^ there was only one of me and so much I could order without wasting food… so hard choices had to be made.
Fun Fact: I usually will try to order the food/drink of my favourite characters in any anime cafe. Unfortunately, even though I adore Hisoka, I really couldn’t get past the pink potato fondue concept. I like my potatoes as its original colours lol.
My Food & Drinks
I was really fortunate to score two reservations via online balloting for the Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe: The Phantom Troupe Part 1 during my trip to Japan in May 2018. As a result, I ended up being able to order more items than I typically could at an Animate cafe. ^^
First visit
As I already had dinner earlier (my reservation slot was from 8.10 pm to 9.40 pm), I opted for a light main and some drinks.
I ordered a total of 4 items: 3 drinks and 1 mains that day. ^^
For the Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe collaboration cafe in 2018, there were character cardboard standees that all customers could use to take photos with. And boy, did I take lots of photos. ^ ^ Look at how much nicer my photos turned out to be with these standees. By the way, I did not hog the cardboard standees. I quickly took a snapshot with the food and drinks and returned them. 🙂
Oh and the random coasters for my first food/drinks order were Kurapika (クラピカ), Bonolenov (ボノレノフ) and Nobunaga (ノブナガ).
Side-note: The names on the coasters are the official spelling of the HxH characters’ name. OMG! I have to tell you that despite being a fan of the series for many years, I wasn’t aware until that moment. I’m still used to the romanized spellings of the HxH characters, especially since I read the manga in Chinese as well. ^ ^
- Curapikt = Kurapika
- Vonnornoth = Bonolenov
- Hyskoa = Hisoka
- Colhtophy = Kortopi
- Quwrof = Chrollo
Close-ups of my first visit food and drinks!
Leorio’s (レオリオ) Green Smoothie. The menu described it as a healthy drink for the body and comes recommended by Leorio. ^ ^ I have no idea what went into it though hahaha. The ingredients were not listed. This was pretty good. The drink comes with a wafer of Leorio’s glasses too! So cute….!
Killua’s (キルア) drink is a Blue Soda. The menu states that it’s a drink that sparkles with electricity. It is a mix of Lemon Syrup, Blue Raspberry Syrup, whipped cream and pachi pachi candy.
Fun Fact 2: I never knew there was such a thing as Blue Raspberry. A quick google search revealed that it’s actually a pretty common flavoring used for food and snacks. Apparently, the more accurate name for it should be white bark raspberry. Fascinating. Who says you don’t learn anything new from visiting Anime Cafes? LOL
Fun Fact 3: I actually ordered Leorio’s drink after I had finished eating/drinking from my first order. I think I was trying to get Killua’s coaster so I decided to try my luck. But I ended up getting Feitan instead which was still pretty cool. Check out the “My Loot section” for my eventual coasters for Part 1 of the cafe collaboration.
Machi’s (マチ) Soup Plate. The soup was a mixture of egg and vegetables, with a side serving of salad, and 3 types of small bites. It’s actually pretty good but the serving is small for the price.
Phinks (フィンクス) hot cappuccino. Yes I know the cardboard standee was Franklin (フランクリン) but someone else had taken his standee so I was unable to film his drink with his cardboard stand. Hence, I took Franklin as a stand-in. I doubt he would mind. ^^
Second Visit
For my second visit (which was also the last day of the Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe Part 1), I also ordered 4 items like the day before: 1 main and 3 drinks. I ordered the red tea and ice-cream set twice. ^ ^ All in the attempt to get coasters lol.
Notice how I had placed some coasters and acrylic keychains at the side of the table? These were my extras goods and coasters from the two visits. I was hoping to exchange them for other HxH characters that I didn’t have with the fans in the cafe.
Close-ups of my second visit food and drinks!
Gon’s (ゴン) Melon Cream Soda. This was a very pretty drink. As the name suggests, it’s made up of Melon Cream Soda + Whipped Cream + Cherry + a monaka wafer.
Fun fact 4: You will get either one of the Rock, Scissors, Paper design for the wafer (You know… Gon’s ジャジャン拳). It’s random and you can’t choose. I got the “Rock” aka fist.
Kurapika’s drink set consisted of a cup of Hot Cinnamon Fruits Herb Tea + Blood orange ice-cream with a monaka wafer. The menu states that his drink + ice-cream was red because the colour red represents the 誓約と製約 that he swears upon.
And with this, I realized that I’ve actually ordered all the drinks of Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio! Mission Accomplished. ^ ^
For my mains, I went with Uvogin’s (ウヴォーギン) Spare Ribs Curry. To be honest, the meat was quite tough so it wasn’t that great of a meal. The curry was nice though. As always, do adjust your expectations whenever you are at an Anime Cafe. The food is usually not fantastic, taste-wise, BUT I’m happy to share that the tastiness of the food in several anime cafes, including Animate Cafe has vastly improved over the years. ^^
Phinks’ Hot Cappuccino. Yup, I decided to order another cappuccino the next day. However, because I was too lazy to get his character standee, I didn’t manage to get a photo of them together. Hence, I’m using the version with Franklin again. I am so sorry Phinks!!
Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe Exclusive Goods
One of the highlights of being at an Anime Cafe is the range of exclusive goods you can buy. Animate Cafe goods are generally exclusive to the fans/patrons of Animate Cafe. The goods are only available for purchase IF you have a reservation at the cafe itself. Unlike Capcom Cafe and Anime Plaza Cafe, where non-diners can also purchase the collaboration goods, you can only do so within your reservation time-slot for Animate Cafes.
And with 4 different themes for the Hunter x Hunter collaboration in 2018, Animate really came out with a lot of exclusive (and cute!) cafe goods.
Look at how cute the chibi acrylic stands are!! As usual, these are sold in blind packaging, so you are not able to see the designs before buying. Check out the section “My Loot for the goods that I bought. ^ ^ Oh yes! There’s even a special teabag set which comes with a coaster. Anyone fancy a cup of “The Phantom Troupe Spider Blend” tea with some HxH cookies?
Seeing how Hunter x Hunter is extremely popular in Japan, Animate Cafes had a limit on the number of goods one can buy per reservation session. (They usually do this for the more popular anime series). Every customer will receive a small paper order form which you have to bring along with you to the cashier counter every time you want to buy some goods. The staff would then tick off/cross out the numbers accordingly.
Each person can only buy a maximum of:
- Candy Can (with sweets) x 3
- Teabag Set x 3
- Can Badges x 10
- Chibi Character Acrylic Stands x 10
- Big Acrylic Stands of each character x 3
Snapshots of the actual goods on display in the cafe.
Made-to-order Tapestry
These cloth tapestries were only available as pre-orders at the cafe to be picked up at a later date. They are the same ones that Animate Cafes used for decorating the Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe Part 1 in 2018. Look at how dapper the Phantom Troupe members are in their formal wear! At 8000 yen a piece, these tapestries don’t come cheap. They are really huge though. Each piece is 65 cm x 161 cm! The tapestries were all made-to-order.
Bonus Cards
For the Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe Collaboration Campaign, there was an opportunity to get additional small character cards. These were not for sale and you can only get them via the HxH Animate Cafe stamp card that was given to all customers at the cafe.
Every 1000 yen spent at the cafe gets you 1 stamp. Thereafter, every 2 stamps earned gets you a random card. If you complete all 30 stamps (which adds up to 30 000 yen), you get to select an additional card. The stamps are very cute. It’s in the form of a chibi Chrollo. ^ ^
*Please note that this was before the Animate Cafe Stamp Card started.
Highlights of the Cafe
Most Animate Cafes will have large-sized cardboard standees of the characters that they have a collaboration with. Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe is no exception. Look at these beautiful standees of the Phantom Troupe! And before you ask, nope. There was no large sized cardboard standees for Gon, Killua, Leorio and Kurapika… because Part 1 of the cafe collaboration’s spotlight was on the Spiders.
Next, to all the eagle-eyed HxH fans, did you realize that someone from the Phantom Troupe is missing from the cardboard standees? I’ll give you a minute to look over the photos again. ^ ^
Yes, I actually missed out Bonolenov’s cardboard standee!! (o_o) In my defense, he was way out front at the other side of the cafe while everyone else in his troupe were clustered together LOL. You can see his standee in that blurry photo of the cafe at the top of this post though.
I really love how adorable these chibi cardboard standees are! Fans are encouraged to use them as photo props with their food/drinks. Which I totally did. ^ ^ You are also welcome to draw or leave a message in their “guestbooks”.
My Loot!
What’s a visit to an anime cafe without buying merchandises? As I already owned lots of can-badges at home and no place to display them, I decided to just buy the chibi acrylic stands.
I was trying really hard to get Gon and Kurapika to match my Killua and Leorio… but alas they eluded me. Oh well~ I got Hisoka which was a plus though. And I do have some extras to sell. Let me know if you are interested. The extras are those still in plastic packaging.
Oh and anyone realized that my coasters seemed a little different from the ones I received with my food and drinks? If you did, you are one sharp-eyed reader. Kudos! What happened was that there was a super Nobunaga fan and a super Kurapika fan who asked me if I could trade my coasters with them. I agreed and received Hisoka and Gon in exchange. The hilarious bit was that I ended up getting both Hisoka and Gon as my random coasters the next day, so I went from having none of them to two of them. LOL
I eventually did managed to get the whole team at my third visit to the cafe! Kurapika and Gon’s designs were actually from Part 2 of the Hunter x Hunter Animate cafe (Greed Island). Part 3 was selling the previous two themes merchandises which was how I got my hands on them! ^ ^ Although I would prefer to have them in the same themed outfits/design, I’m happy that I managed to get all four of them.
Some Final Thoughts
I really had a lot of fun at the Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe. This was my very first Hunter x Hunter anime themed cafe and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Considering the events after the Zodiacs arc, I’m really glad that I got to visit the Phantom Troupe theme cafe.
I do hope Animate Cafe does another HxH cafe collaboration again and if they do, I highly recommend all fans to try to go for it if the chance arises. ^ ^
Do remember to check out my visit to Part 3: 幻影旅団 Part 2 (The Phantom Troupe Part 2) of the cafe. Everything was different and because I visited in August/September 2018, there was the whole mid-autumn festival vibe to the cafe as well.
I’m also leaving a link to the Yuu Yuu Hakusho Anime Plaza Cafe here that I went to in 2017. If you are a HxH fan, chances are you are also a YYH fan. And if you have never watched/read Yuu Yuu Hakusho, please do. It is one of the classic series in manga and anime history.
2021 Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe
Good news! Animate has nnounced that there will be a Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe collaboration in 2021! And it’s the Zodiac Arc!! ^ ^
Here’s the information announced so far:
Date: 25 August 2021 – 27 September 2021
Cafe Location: Ikebukuro Animate Cafe 3; Nagoya Animate Cafe 2
Event Page:https://cafe.animate.co.jp/event/hunterhunter2108/
The 2021 Hunter x Hunter Animate Cafe is a little complicated as it is a mix of Free Entry (walk-ins) and web-reservation via balloting (lottery). Basically Animate Cafe has set aside certain dates that require you to do a web-reservation. Otherwise, it’s free entry (walk-ins).
Dates that require Web Reservation via Balloting:
- Every Saturday and Sunday
- 25 August 2021 to 27 August 2021
Do take note of the closing dates for the web reservation balloting. You can apply for the reservations here.
Note: If you are not familiar with Animate Cafes and/or have a question or two about reservations etc., check out my guide and tips on Animate Cafes: Animate Cafes (How-to & Tips)
OMG! I would love to visit the cafe BUT with global travel as it is, I won’t be able to. T T
Let me know in the comments if you are planning to visit the cafe! As this is held in the Animate Cafes (and not Animate Cafe Shop), we can expect a full menu with food (mains), drinks and desserts!
My 2018 Anime and Manga Escapades
The anime stars were perfectly aligned for my 2018 Japan trip and I went to so many anime and manga related events in 2018 that my I hardly had any time for sight-seeing. (Totally not complaining of course, I had so much fun!) Some of my anime/manga escapades that year included: Click on the link to read more about it!
- Jump 50th Anniversary Exhibition Part II and Part III
- Jump 50th Anniversary Special Pop-Up Cafe
- JoJo Bizarre Adventure Exhibition 2018
- Card Captor Sakura x Animate Cafe
- Ace Attorney X Capcom Cafe
- Attack on Titan x Animate Cafe
- My Hero Academia X Animate Cafe Shop
- Kero Chan Cafe (Card Captor Sakura)
- JoJo Doujinshi Event
- Yowamushi Pedal x Collahonpo Cafe
- Detective Conan Anion Station
Geeky Good Guides
I’ve also done up a few guides on purchasing anime goods/figurines and the list will continue to expand. Do check them out as they might be useful for your own fan- collection journeys!
- Geeky Goods Spotlight: Forwarder, Buying Service & Proxy Bidding (Anime Goods)
- Nendoroids – A Guide on Buying Nendoroids
- A Kuji Guide: All You need to know and more!
As always, if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to let me know in the comments. ^ ^ Or you can always subscribe to my mailing list to receive first dibs on updates and new posts. Just enter your email below and click on the verification email in your inbox!
Check out my other Anime Fan Escapades!
- Mister Donut: Pokemon
- Attack on Titan x Aniplus Cafe
- Mob Psycho 100 Anime Review & Thoughts
- Pikachu Sweets by Pokemon Cafe
- Genshin Impact x Aniplus Cafe
