Get ready for a trip down memory lane today with our trip to The World Ends with You (TWEWY) Cafe at Square Enix Cafe in Akihabara, Tokyo. For those of you who don’t know what TWEWY is (or are too young to really remember it), it was a game originally released for the Nintendo DS in 2007. It followed a moody young man named Neku through Shibuya as he becomes part of a game he never signed up for and has no memories from his past. As the game progresses, you begin to learn the dark truth of what is actually happening in Shibuya, and who all the characters you meet really are.

TWEWY was and continues to be a beloved game by many players. It had a unique and exciting story with a lot of twists and turns, memorable art and music, and brought Shibuya to life in a realistic and fun way. There are few other games that have even vaguely comparable gameplay. It’s no surprise that after being re-released for mobile to great success that TWEWY will be coming out on the Nintendo Switch next. And that’s why it was being celebrated at the Square Enix Cafe - celebrating a 10 year anniversary, and a Switch launch under the title The World Ends with You: Final Remix.

Square Enix Café Akihabara Info

The Experience

Upon entering The World Ends with You Cafe, you’re immediately hit with the iconic art style on display everywhere. The main bar is decorated in the bright, colourful art all around it, including posters for the upcoming game re-release and original art as well. What really hit us the most when we stepped into the cafe though was the music. Anyone who played TWEWY will remember that great soundtrack that brought Shibuya to life and added something special to the game. It took us right back to playing it ten years ago, and nothing hits quite as hard as that kind of nostalgia! Even though it had been years since we played the game, being surrounded by the art and hearing the music made it easy to immediately become a part of the TWEWY world again - and that was before we even sat down.

But before getting seated, don’t miss the wall of exclusive merchandise just inside the door. While there wasn’t a huge selection, there was something for nearly every budget. All the characters in the game, including the new one especially written for Final Mix, had acrylic keychains for sale. There were also plenty of file folders with the game’s art on them, along with coffee mugs and small plastic character cut-outs. They even had Shiki’s stuffed cat for sale with pose-able limbs. One of the highlights of the merchandise area was the capsule machines full of pins. If you played TWEWY before, you may remember that the combat was all done by collecting pins with special moves - and you could get some of the most memorable ones from the capsule machines!

But above and beyond all of this, of course, the TWEWY Cafe is about the food! There were a few themed main dishes, one themed dessert, and themed drinks for each of the main characters. The main dishes were all foods that you could order in the restaurants in the game, such as the black ramen (made with bamboo charcoal) and a jar of salad to improve your HP! There were also two simple soups, corn potage, and minestrone, both of which we ordered. The soups were served on a Shibuya scramble background and featured uniquely curved spoons with extra flavour to add into the soup.

As for the dessert, we couldn’t resist the cupcake platter. It had a chocolate cupcake for Neku and a raspberry cupcake for Shiki, along with vanilla ice cream and the iconic TWEWY skull logo made of powdered sugar. It was a lot of fun to eat! It was definitely hard to pick from the selection of drinks created in the images of Neku, Shiki, Joshua, Beat, and Rhyme - each one was really different and either the colours or flavours reflected the characters somehow. For example, Rhyme’s drink was lime flavoured, since it rhymes with her name!

In the end, we ordered the Neku drink which was mostly purple like his outfit complete with gold stars, a fluorescent jelly, and tapioca beads, and the Joshua drink, which was meant to look like his attack of using fire and ice at the same time and tasted like berries. For every drink ordered, you received a free random coaster featuring art from the game and the name of the cafe. If you got one you really liked, you could even buy a case in the store to turn it into a keychain for your bag! The coasters weren’t the only free gift though; for every food dish ordered, we also got a cool original mini poster with more artwork when we paid.

As for the dessert, we couldn’t resist the cupcake platter. It had a chocolate cupcake for Neku and a raspberry cupcake for Shiki, along with vanilla ice cream and the iconic TWEWY skull logo made of powdered sugar. It was a lot of fun to eat! It was definitely hard to pick from the selection of drinks created in the images of Neku, Shiki, Joshua, Beat, and Rhyme - each one was really different and either the colours or flavours reflected the characters somehow. For example, Rhyme’s drink was lime flavoured, since it rhymes with her name!

In the end, we ordered the Neku drink which was mostly purple like his outfit complete with gold stars, a fluorescent jelly, and tapioca beads, and the Joshua drink, which was meant to look like his attack of using fire and ice at the same time and tasted like berries. For every drink ordered, you received a free random coaster featuring art from the game and the name of the cafe. If you got one you really liked, you could even buy a case in the store to turn it into a keychain for your bag! The coasters weren’t the only free gift though; for every food dish ordered, we also got a cool original mini poster with more artwork when we paid.

The main dishes and dessert were all between ¥800 and ¥1500 each, and the drinks were about ¥800 each. These are very standard prices for concept cafes in Japan, and the food quality matched the price. You cannot split the tab at the Square Enix Cafe, so be ready to work out the money with your friends later if you need to!

Ordering is done entirely on an iPad at your table. It is simple to click on the picture of the food and drinks that you want to order, but be warned that the device is Japanese only. If you want to know more details about any food, it’s better to translate them in advance. If you don’t feel confident speaking Japanese, you don’t need to worry as there is little to no interaction with the wait staff as they deliver what you order. Nearly everything is done through the iPad. You are free to take pictures of anything in the cafe and even walk around to check out the artwork and any displays as long as you do not bother other diners.

Additional info

The World Ends with You Cafe is a limited theme at the Square Enix Cafe in Akihabara, Tokyo (where we visited) as well as the Square Enix Cafe in Umeda, Osaka. It also has limited themes items at Artnia Cafe in Shinjuku, Tokyo. If you visit one of these locations, you can get a stamp card saying that you went. If you can manage to visit all three cafes before the theme changes, you can get a super exclusive mystery coaster! Considering not a lot of people can visit both Tokyo and Osaka regularly, it’s a pretty exclusive souvenir.

The TWEWY Cafe has proved to be quite popular, and thus a reservation is the safest bet to guarantee a seat. From within Japan, you can make a reservation directly via the Square Enix Cafe website. You simply choose your day and time slot, along with how many people, as long as that space is still available. You then receive a time-limited code to take to Lawson's convenience store. From there, you pay ¥500 per person to secure your spot. That charge also comes with your first drink free from the non-themed drink menu.

If reservations are already full the day you want to visit, or you are just visiting Japan, you will definitely want to get to the cafe early in the morning. Each time slot always has some additional spaces that aren’t available for online reservation, and you can grab a spot without the ¥500 down payment just by being there early enough. The Square Enix Cafe Twitter usually posts what time slots are still available every morning quite early, so it’s a good idea to check there first if you’re worried. Finally, the final 9pm time slot of the day is always walk-in only, so you can always try your best to get in then!

If you just want to check out the merchandise, the Square Enix Cafe store is open all day. You can see the exclusive TWEWY merchandise just inside the front door, and there’s more merchandise for other Square Enix titles like Kingdom Hearts and Monster Hunter just upstairs. You don’t need a reservation or to buy anything at the cafe to go to the store! A few menu items are also available for take-out if you visit the outside window just beside the main door, so even if you’re in a rush or can’t get a reservation you can at least take something home with you.

Final Thoughts

The World Ends with You Cafe had the ability to leave old fans with a satisfied feeling of nostalgia, and get new fans pumped and excited for the new release. It didn’t have overly themed food like some concept cafes, but the food tasted good and the presentation was true to the game’s style. The music and artwork in the cafe transported gamers right into the game, and there were plenty of free coasters and posters up for grabs along with a nice selection of new merchandise to purchase. It was the kind of video game cafe that both old fans and curious newcomers can enjoy and understand. Just be sure to arrive early or reserve in advance to get a seat!

Did you make it to the TWEWY cafe? Would you like to go? What would you order if you went? Do you have any questions about how to make a reservation for the Square Enix Cafe? Drop us a comment and we would love to help!

Writer

Author: Jet Nebula

Living the dream in Tokyo, where you can find me working at a theme café catered towards women. When I’m not writing for Honey’s, I’m working on original dystopian science fiction or blogging about Tokyo’s trendy coffee scene. I spend my free time in Harajuku and Shibuya wearing alternative Japanese street fashion. I love video games, J-rock, tattoos, and Star Wars.

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