Shopping Guide
Kotaku Japan recently visited a butler cafe in Finland, and we’ve translated their report just for you!
“Manga Cafe is closed. From here on out, it’s a sausage shop!”
The quote above was part of an April Fools’ Day joke that surprised customers at Manga Cafe, a manga cafe in Helsinki, Finland. Manga Cafe is Northern Europe's only manga cafe. You can visit their Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/MangaCafe?fref=ts.
On April 1, 2013 we went to report on their “Butler Night” event. The day of the event overlapped with Easter, so numerous stores were closed. Manga Cafe is only a five minute walk from Helsinki’s central station, but everywhere nearby looked deserted. We wondered if anyone would really be coming.
Despite such worries, and even though there were not many customers in the morning, 30 minutes prior to the start of “Butler Night,” all the cafe’s seats had become filled with customers. Manga Cafe was proud to have five handsome man butlers and one beautiful female butler wait on customers at the event. The butlers divided up the tables, showed customers to their seats, shared the menu, waited on tables, chatted, and played games. Similar to butler cafes in Japan, you don’t need a reservation, there is no time restriction, and no need to request a high-priced menu.
As far as we heard from those who visited or acted as butlers at the Manga Cafe that day, in Finland, there seems to be no similar historical butler culture, so the younger generation’s impression of butlers is that of traditional butlers such as the much-loved Alfred from Batman or Sebastian from Black Butler. In this sense, their impression is closer to that of the young generation of Japan and may not be very different.
Article to be continued
If you would like to read this article in Japanese, please check out Kotaku Japan. Kotaku Japan reports on entertainment news, games, otaku culture, and more.
http://www.kotaku.jp/2013/04/butler_night_0401.html
Photographers: Milla and Eevi
