 The
Darwin Summer Shop was open for all of August, 2004. It was the first time
they had opened a true store outside of the internet, and was semi experimental.
They rented out a small building in Shibuya, the DA Family stronghold of
Japan. This building was perhaps big enough for 10 people to fit comfortably
inside at one time. Yes, it was that small, after they loaded all their
merchandise in. They painted said building bright pink and pastel blue,
decorated the windows with Daisuke, Annie, Alex, and D.K stuff, so we would
easily find it? It was crammed into a secluded alley, which was a pretty
place, but no place you would realize was there without a map.
Inside, there could be found
directly to your left, some sort of concert outfit that had been worn by
Daisuke or D.K (usually Daisuke, D.K only had about one week of fame).
They also had the famous statue of THE Darwin, that creepy little alien
guy who's gender is unspecified and who's staple diet is "Iceman's Rhythm"
(info from Undergate Book). Too bad Iceman BROKE UP! No wonder Darwin is
so skinny. They rotated a few different Darwins, often dressing them up
in wacky outfits. Poor Darwin. Beyond him was a bench for sitting, or putting
more things on display, and posters on the wall. Then the sales counter,
and to the right of that, a TV that was always playing some candid videos
of Daisuke, D.K, or else it was a DVD being sold in the store. Quantum
Mechanics Rainbow was being pimped like the little whore she is, pamphlets
and CDs everywhere. When Sequence Virus 2004 was released, it joined the
pimp mobile. The Seeker's most recent stuff was also out. In the start,
they even had Iceman toys for sale... crazy! To the right of the TV was
often a rack of other costumes worn by DA or D.K, which could be purchased
for about $1000. Fuck no! Then more shelves stocked with goodies, early
on stocked with some Iceman leftovers! In the center was another counter,
with all the brand new Darwin SS exclusive goods... fans, buttons, pins,
bento boxes, T-shirts, handmade Annie & Alex paw prints, plushies,
yaddayadda. Under those things was some old TMNetwork stuff also, even
Naoto Kine solo postcards. Weird dude, what do they have to do with Darwin?
Even the POSSUM had goods... some Smoker lighters, postcards, and original
artwork copies could be bought. If it wasn't all my money to even GET to
Darwin SS, I would have SO been there. They also did everything they could
to get Kenichi stuff out of the mix, even removing his postcards from Seeker
postcard sets. Which made me angry, I would have bought those! They also
didn't had any Mads merchandise. I wonder if this was their doing, or Kenichi's...?
Various events and promotions
were held to attract us, like... doggie days, D.K days, yukata days, fan
club days, etc. To my knowledge, Daisuke made one appearance, during which
he threw stuff at people. Free stuff. Good times!
~Personal Reports~
My first trip resulted in
no bought merchandise, but I got to meet Daisuke's famous doggies, the
wan wans themselves, Annie and Alex. They were delightfully playful, and
as it was a disgustingly hot August in Japan day, they shed and slobbered
on everyone and our goods. I got two shots with them, because Alex refused
to look at my camera. I was scratching his neck in the second to get him
to cooperate. Silly pups.
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On my third trip I met Ms./Mr.
Daichi Kuroda, who was just delightful as hell and charming to boot. He
pranced, waved his fan, and made faces at us. This is how we communicated...
broken Japanese, and faces. It was a wonderful time with a cute cross dresser!
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Here are some of the costumes
that were on display during my various trips to the shop. Hover your mouse
for explanations!
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