Tokyo, 17 December, /AJMEDIA/
For a lot of otaku, the idea of living the life of an anime protagonist sounds like it’d be pretty awesome. Luckily for them, there’s an opportunity to do just that coming up, with a special event that lets you experience what it’s like to be Makoto Ito.
While Makoto’s name might not ring as sonorous a bell among casual anime fans as, say, Goku or Naruto, he’s still a leading man of some renown, as the male lead of 2007 anime TV series “School Days.” Adding to the ostensible appeal of living Makoto’s life is that “School Days” is a harem anime, based on an adult dating simulator computer game, and so living Makoto’s life means getting to romance multiple beautiful girls. Pretty desirable fantasy to dip your toes in, right?
There are, however, two very big catches. First, “School Days” is infamous for the mercilessly violent comeuppance it serves Makoto for treating the women in his life like disposable pleasure vessels, and second, the event, called “Makoto The Real,” is a collaboration with Japanese haunted house designers Kowagarasetai.
Kowagarasetai is the team behind the Zekkyo Kyukyusha/Screambulance haunted house delivery concept, and “Makoto the Real” is its latest iteration. Pitched as a “sound horror” experience, it has similarities to an audio play, as guests listen along, from the perspective of Makoto, as he goes shopping for paired rings with Kotonoha, one of his possible romantic conquests.
The “Makoto the Real” event kicks off on Dec 24, considered the most romantic night of the year in Japan, at its venue at the Fuji Soft Akihabara Building in Tokyo’s Akihabara neighborhood, operating from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day between then and Jan 3, and then on Jan 8-10, 15-16, and 22-23. Tickets are priced at 2,000 yen per person, with up to six guests able to participate per session.
