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Akihabara Liberated!
30 June 2007 will go down in history. On this day, Otakus of all stripes and flavours took over Akihabara in a peaceful show of force.
Akihabara Libre!
The turn out for the 6.30 Akihabara Liberation Demo 「6・30アキハバラ解放デモ」 appeared to be better than expected.
More than 400 hot blooded Otakus turned out for the march. It’s a remarkable figure, given the oft reclusive, introverted nature of geeks.
March of the Otakus
Spotted something? (No, not the cellulite-free perky rear of the black bunny gal!). That’s the same gaijin Peter Galbraith, the Dragonball Z Super Saiyan cosplayer who performed CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA in the heart of Akiba last month.
The March
The marching contingent stretched for miles….
…and they marched
…and miles (even though there’s only about 400+ of them, just under the size of an infantry battalion).
The demo took place under the watchful eyes of public security officials.
Big Brother Watches
As the Otakus are a peace-loving lot (in spite of our indulgence in hyper-violent and sexy anime, manga & video games) and the event proceeded without untoward incidents.
The Rally
The 3L33T Otakuism Alliance (オタク先鋭派 革命的オタク主義者同盟), Revolutionary Moeism Alliance (革命的萌え主義者同盟) and the Revolutionary “Rejects” Alliance (革命的非モテ同盟) rallied the Otakus for this demonstration.
Akihabara Liberation Demonstration (captured by Animaestro from Heisei Democracy)
The leaders of the three organising bodies formed the vanguard of the demonstration.
The Otaku Radicals
The radical Otaku activists were dressed in hard hats, dark glasses and a towel covering the nose and mouth (to ward off the stinging tear gas). Its a fashion that harkens back to the days of radical student activism during the 60s. Young readers can catch up with this chapter of history in the manga “MEDUSA” 「メドゥーサ」 by Kaiji Kawaguchi (川口 開治), who’s known in the West for his English-translated political thriller works such as “The Silent Service” (沈黙の艦隊) and “Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President” (イーグル).
There’s some familiar staples in the marching contingent:
Suzumiya Haruhi cosplayers
Haruhi
A felt-capped Char Aznable
Felt Cap Char Aznable
…and there’s Vending Machine Zero!
Vending Machine Zero
*note that Vending Machine Zero has claw-manipulators like that of the MSM-07- Z’GOK.
Meido & Ultraman & Darth Suit Vaders
And how can any geek assemblies not have Star Wars representation? Here you have Darth Vader cosplayers appearing Reservoir Dogs style.
Darth Suit Vader
Was it Danny Choo in his new Darth Vader armour?
Nope. Because Danny Choo was dancing away in the streets of Akihabara in his Stormtrooper armour.
Tokyo Dance Trooper
For a geek, he sure can dance. (The real trick to dancing well is to loose all inhibition and move to the rhythm of the beat. It’s that simple. Putting on Stormtrooper armour boosts your confidence too.)
Pictures of 「6・30アキハバラ解放デモ」 taken from 秋葉原写真博物館(´･ω･)アキバフォトギャラリー『アキハバラ一歩行者の記憶』, アキバ総研 and Don’s Blog.
Check out more reports on the demo:
Danny Choo: Akihabara Liberation Demo
Heisei Democracy: Akiba Liberation Demonstration
秋葉原史上最大級規模のイベント！？アキハバラ解放デモ (A blow by blow account of the demostration)
6・30アキハバラ解放デモ 女装・やらないか・ハルヒいろいろ 400人？以上が参加
突如アキバで“6・30アキハバラ解放デモ”発生！ 彼らの言葉に耳を傾けろ！
アキバの路上で「6・30アキハバラ解放デモ」決行！ 三派系全学連、2ちゃんねる共斗委員会、「ハルヒ」SOS団支部など500人以上が参加
