Shokotan seeks ultimate otaku, finds ‘Akiba Hero’
In this TV special, Shokotan shows a video of her in Akihabara supposedly searching for the “ultimate” otaku.
First, she comes across a man playing “Taiko no Tatsujin” blindfolded, while several “otagei” performers dance behind him.
Next, she finds a street performance going on, with one man cosplaying as Haruhi. For fun, she joins in and gives her own performance for the crowd.
In the last part of the video, Shokotan cosplays as Rei and poses as a life-size figure in a figure shop, waiting to see if anyone will notice and recognize her. Many pass by, some stop and look, but ultimately, no one can tell it’s her…
Until one guy comes along, who does a double-take at the sight of Shokotan, and she finally reveals herself. She asks him about his outfit, and it turns out he’s dressed as his own self-invented character, A-Hero (short for Akiba Hero), protector of the otaku “holy land” (Akihabara). He has his own name tag, a sequence of poses, and lines to go along with it:
オタクの聖地を守る為
竜の国からやって来た
正義の味方
Aヒーロー 見参！
アキバにAヒーローがいる限り
オタクの聖地に終わりはねぇぜ！
or roughly:
To protect the otaku “holy land”
I have come from the land of dragons
I am A-Hero!
As long as A-Hero is in Akiba,
The otaku “holy land” will never come to an end!
So just how does A-Hero protect Akihabara? Well, according to him, he usually does it by going to different stores with other otaku, going to events like street performances, and other typical otaku things. Must be hard to be a hero these days, huh?