Maid Station Cafe was the first maid cafe I ever went to, when I first came to Japan in 2007. It was a short visit, so I could only go to Akiba once, and after gathering all my courage, and also messing around with some friends, we decided to go to a maid cafe.
It was our first time in Akiba, so we had no idea how to look for maid cafes, much less what to expect. Was it going to be too ecchi for what we could handle? (Unlikely ^^) What we were sure is that it was going to be a new experience.
After the sun set, we started moving to the secondary streets and alleys in Akiba, if maid cafes actually existed, they would most likely not be right by the huge stores in Chuo street. However, after looking for a while, nothing seemed like it would be what we were looking for. It was getting a little late, so some talks about going back started to emerge. (more…)
When I go to Akihabara, I usually do so in the afternoon. However, this time lunchtime came while I was still there. This meant I would have lunch in a Maid Cafe.
Actually, this is the first time I do so, and I was not so comfortable with the idea, as food in maid cafes usually tends to be quite expensive (around 1000 yen, compared to 500 yen in the school cafeteria).
Nevertheless, for the sake of the blog (^_^;) I decided to spend a few more yen so I could give a review of another Maid Cafe. I had the Akiba Days guide with me, so I just decided to go to a random place I hadn’t been before.
The Maid Cafe I found myself in is called JAM Akihabara. Located in the B1 floor on one of the alleys, I have to say I had a little bit of a hard time locating it. The sign is quite small, and the place itself does little to stand out. This was clearly a place with a clientele different from those other large cafes, so it would definitely be interesting.

Maid Cafe/Animation Studio Popopure is a relatively large, and quite popular maid cafe in Akihabara, just by the AsoBitCity shop (not the one on the main street, but the one after crossing the street).
I first learned about this place because several maids stand just outside the shop handing flyers. You can either go inside by yourself, or you can simply approach one of them and ask them to show you where the shop is. I had crossed that place several times when going to AsoBitCity, until one day I decided to actually go in with some friends.
This cafe is unique in the sense that it is not only a maid cafe, but also, as it is implied by its name, it is also an animation studio. This means that for the small price of 1500 yen, you get the unique experience of dubbing a 60 second animated feature, with your voice and those of some of the maids, and get the resulting video on a DVD.