A District filled with Anime, Manga, Comic, Figurine, Video Games, TCG (Trading Card Game), Retro Vintage Video Games, Artbook, 2nd hand related stuff at a way much cheap price... Browing every store and taking time to enjoy can actually take 2 entire full day... Amazing pleasant experience for Tourist!! If only we had this in Singapore...
As a diehard anime, video game, and car enthusiast I'd visited Akihabara plenty of times, so for my first visit to Kansai I was very curious how Osaka's own anime district compared. Although understandably much smaller than Akiba it was great to see Den Den Town had a charm all its own that made it well worth the visit.
While Akihabara has a centrally located train station that shares its name, going to Den Den Town usually means going to a couple of train stations that are either just north or just south of it. As a result while Akiba greets you right away with a technicolor ad barrage as soon as you get near, Den Den Town starts off more subtly. In fact I had to double check my phone to make sure I was really in the right place as I walked north from Ebisucho Station since I wasn't seeing any obvious signs of anime or video game signage even after some walking.
The first definite evidence I was on the right track was a small street sign simply saying “Den-Den-Town” but it was still a bit further on before a large Gundam billboard confirmed I was in the right spot to indulge my geekery. While I was initially worried Den Den Town would be much less of a target rich environment for shopping, once I got to the heart of it Den Den was as densely packed with stores as any geek could want.
In the same way that Akihabara flows along Chuo-dori as its main artery and spreads out from there, Den Den Town mostly follows Sakaisuji Avenue but spills over into a parallel street affectionately known as Ota (short for otaku) Road. If you're well familiar with Akiba you'll find the same standby stores in Den Den including Animate, Volks, Mandarake, Taito, Kotobukiya, etc., branches of the popular maid cafes like Maidreamin and At Home Cafe, as well as plenty of smaller local shops.
While even the big name shops don't have as big a footprint as in Akihabara, hunters of anime, manga, and video game merch will find plenty to buy with some amazing bargains to be had (some smaller figures I saw had absolute fire sale prices and they were even from current series). It's also less crowded than in Tokyo making it easier to browse at your leisure, particularly on a weekday.
While not as prolific as in Akiba, plamodel enthusiasts will also still find plenty to scope out with several sizable stores catering to it, especially mecha kits. Based on my experience model car enthusiasts on the other hand will have to limit their expectations since it was very slim pickings. Although I did find some cool bargains in one store, it was just that one store with a limited selection – nothing like Akiba's TamTam Hobby or the other car-centric stores there.
Not to forget fans of more adult themed goods, Den Den also has “those” kinds of shops too, just like in Tokyo lol.
In the end, Den Den Town is like a quarter-scale version of Akiba, nowhere near as large but still just as full of energy. By being smaller it also feels less hectic and crowded which is no bad thing when you're scouring shelf upon shelf of great merchandise to choose from. Very much well worth the visit even if you've spent plenty of time in its Tokyo counterpart.
