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SMAC! Web Magazine

TOKYO MANGA DEEP WALKER #014

The hottest places in the Manga & Anime industry, brought to you by the SMAC! News Team…
This is TOKYO MANGA DEEP WALKER!

Diving into Akihabara for round 2!

This week, we’re introducing a popular spot that’s frequented by tourists and gaming enthusiasts alike!

Without further ado, let’s take a look!

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The store that we’re visiting today is none other than the Super Potato Akihabara Branch!!

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This is it! The 3rd floor of this building is Super Potato!

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The store that we’re about to enter is a games store… but not just any games store! This is a specialty store that deals exclusively in retro games!! What treasures of the past will we discover?

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We’ve just stepped in the door, and we’ve already spotted some visitors from another country!!

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The amount of software in this store is absolutely breathtaking!!

So many classics that I played in my youth! Pokémon, Kirby and others that you just don’t see anymore! 

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And they also have the hardware!!

There are loads of items that you just can’t get hold of these days. This shop is definitely worth visiting if you’re a collector!!

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This store attracts customers from all over the world! While gathering material for this article, we saw many tourists browsing and purchasing game software.

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Here’s a commemorative shot with some English visitors! These two lovebirds were having fun looking at all the games here!

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And Super Potato is not just limited to games!

It also has a huge selection of character goods!
Nintendo’s goods are especially popular!!

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Iconic game characters like Pokémon and Mario have become house-hold names all over the world!!

Surrounded by all these lovely goods, it’s almost like returning to one’s childhood!

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Ah! And look who we’ve bumped into here! It’s Kenshiro!

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They also have Fist of the North Star games!!

Besides having anime & manga versions, Fist of the North Star also has quite a few video games behind its name!
In Japan, it’s not uncommon for a popular manga series to get made into a game.

They even have a Fist of the North Star game for the old NES system… I’d love to try that!

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There’s nothing like playing as your favorite manga hero! As such, games made from manga are a core genre here in Japan.

Here we have the gold cartridge editions of Obake no Q-taro and Kinnikuman! These are super rare, limited edition goods, with a value of over 1 million yen!!

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We had great fun here but… it seems that we’ve come to the end of Super Potato…

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But wait… where do these super retro stairs lead?

Actually, there’s a wonderful surprise waiting at the top!!

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There’s a game center above the games shop!!

The young couple that we took a photo with earlier are already engrossed in a game here!!

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This retro games center on the 5th floor of Super Potato has actually been nominated for “coolest game center in the world”!

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As a retro game center, it’s full of machines that you won’t find in any normal arcade!

It’s a treasure trove of super rare games!

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Street Fighter!!  Wait… what’s this note pasted on the machine… ?

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Command input for the HADO-KEN written in English! That is most thoughtful of management! You can see that this store is popular with people from other countries!!

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Last but not least, a photo with the store’s giant Mario!

Super Potato… a hot spot that’s worth visiting!

Even if you’re not a gamer, it’s still a fun place to check out. Be sure to drop by if you’re in Akihabara!
Super Potato Akihabara Branch “Retro-Hall”

Official Site

1-11-2 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Kitabayashi building 3F/4F/5F
101-0021

Business hours: 11:00 – 20:00 (open all year round!)
Weekends & holidays: 10:00 -20:00
Telephone number:  03-5289-9933

Link to English google maps

Photographer: Yoshio Kobayashi

↓↓↓ Missed our past articles? Read them all below! ↓↓↓

Tokyo Manga Deep Walker back number

 

Penmaru