From my experience in akiba, (I also went last May, and the march before that) I consider myself a gamer/pretty into anime, and it was quite overwhelming. Plus the PC stuff they sell there is way over priced garbage (I recall seeing a rtx 3060 selling for around 11万円). You’re literally better off buying pc parts from amazon.
I have to clarify that my recommendation to visit Akihabara is solely to visit and experiencing it, rather than to buy stuff from there.
In my lost version of my previous reply, I had included a better place to buy manga and action figures, such as the various Mandarake stores in Nakano Broadway. That’s if you REALLY want to purchase stuff in Japan, as they’ll obviously be cheaper online (depending on which country you live in).
That said, Nakano Broadway doesn’t compare in coolness level to a Tamashii Nations store, such as the one found right outside the Akihabara station. At the time I visited, they had some sort of tour, with a bunch of cool action figures on display, and a human size Gundam statue at the entrance. Again, it’s something you can only experience there (although they did just open a store in NYC, so maybe you don’t have to go to Japan anymore to experience it if you live there lol).
So, for those planning on visiting Tokyo, and like anime/manga/video games, Akihabara is the place to go. It’s one of those “must visit” places in Tokyo, IMO.
i got nothing to add except shoutouts to the carls jr. in akibara that i always visit whenever i’m in tokyo, you’re the best.
Yeah definitely fun to experience it. When I was there, there was a new digimon game coming out, so I got to see digimon mascots and such there. it’s fun to look around, but easy to get overwhelmed.
As I mentioned, I should amend that is is definitely a tourist spot, so everything will be more expensive.
Mandarake and Surugaya are my greatest frenemies – they have so much cool stuff and also my wallet is crying. The main Surugaya shop in 日本橋でんでんタウン has sniped me like…actually, I don’t think I want to count that number
Just to jump into the Akiba convo, I HIGHLY recommend going on Sundays because they close down the main street for a few hours, allowing pedestrians to walk on the road and it makes the crowds so much more bearable.