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On July 20, the dansō kissa 1 event Fairy Tale was held for the eighth time at Osaka’s otaku town, Nipponbashi. The event was a concept cafe where the female staff served the customers dressed up as males. Another peculiarity is that unlike the representative concept cafes, maid cafes, which target men, this type of concept cafe usually targets women. After stepping into the softly lit, cosy interior that was filled with soft music, the wonderful staff who were having a funny conversation with the princes and princesses visiting gave us a warm welcome. We interviewed three people from the staff, the blond-haired and blue-eyed Naoto Haijima; Yoshiharu Tsukiyomi, who has a cool atmosphere around “him”; and the slender, model-looking drinker, Akihito Shishido.
TOM: First, what kind of cafe is Fairy Tale?
Naoto: It is a cafe where we serve our customers in original cosplay. All the characters we cosplayed were designed based on the real us by staff member Yoshiharu. As you can guess from the name Fairy Tale, our concept is fairy tales, so there is a model fairy tale character for each of our characters. It is reflected in our appearance, and even in the kanji in our names. For example, my character is based on Cinderella, so I use the kanji for “ash” in my name. We are particular about details, for instance, the old-fashioned, round eyebrows of Yoshiharu, who is modeled after Kaguyahime (an old Japanese story where the protagonist is a princess who came from the moon) or the sweets-loving Kyōka who is modeled after Hansel and Gretel.
Akihiko: I am modeled after the Beauty and the Beast, so the lion ears in my outfit are a must.
TOM: You’ve just published a doujinshi, right?
Naoto: Yes. This was our first try, and thankfully, all pre-orders are sold out. In this doujinshi, we integrated the 4-panel manga we run on the blog and the original story we wrote for this event. According to the setting, all the characters live in the same apartment. And it’s precisely because of this flatmates setting that the relations between characters are born. It’s full of interesting episodes.
TOM: This is the eighth time the event has been held. How did it originally begin?
Naoto: Originally, there was an event association of another dansō kissa where I met a few of the present members. Unfortunately, that association broke up, but since a lot of good members had gathered, the subject of continuing came up... We firmly decided on the concept, and did the whole thing from step one. We always make efforts to be a charming dansō kissa, such as by calling out to customers through advertising on leaflets or SNS sites, or working hard on bettering the points we reflect on at the meetings after an event.
TOM: Dansō kissa is a genre different from cosplay. How did you think about doing this?
Naoto: I like cosplay, I’ve been doing it for six years now. As another hobby, I also liked going to maid cafes and dansō kissa, and as I did, I started admiring this way of serving customers in cosplay. At that time, the previous association was recruiting members, and challenging that was my chance.
Yoshiharu: I also have a long history of cosplay; it’s been seven years now. I used to have low self-confidence, and even coming into contact with people was hard for me. However, if it was a hospitality industry with such a cosplay style, I felt I could do it... It might something like being obsessed with changing your appearance. I enjoy it very much, as most guests understand the otaku culture and the boyish style I like so much.
TOM: When serving customers, is there something in particular you pay attention to?
Akihiko: As for myself, I try to keep in character when serving customers. My character personalities are shy and clumsy, so I try act like that as much as possible – such as act like I’m little scared... Actually, I’m not, but those are the settings and I have to follow them.
Yoshiharu: I was the one who designed the characters, so they reflect the type of personalities I like (laugh).
TOM: We hope you keep your enthusiasm for the dansō kissa events to come.
Naoto: There is a possibility that overseas customers who read this article might come visit us. We’re looking forward to it. The whole staff is waiting for the return of our princes and princesses from the bottom of our hearts!
Fairy Tale is an event-type dansō kissa, which periodically rents space and organizes events. Not only can you enjoy purchasing doujinshi and character goods, as well as taking pictures with instant cameras, but the menu is also abundant – it’s a wonderful place where you are free to feel at home. The details of the next event are still pending, but you can check the homepage at any time to see the latest information. We encourage you to go and experience this extraordinary cafe.
^1^ Dansō kissa is a type of concept cafe in which the female staff dress as men and serve guests.
Dansō Kissa Fairy Tale
Twitter: Fariytale_khm
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
