To get to Awashima Island, you have to take a ferry. And to take the ferry, you have to buy the tickets to the aquarium on the island. The Aqours actually came here to shoot a short film not so long ago (one of their videos was set in another nearby aquarium) so the Dia autograph was a nice little surprise. It was quite cute.
Got two nice shots of both the hotel and the aquarium, though neither Kanan nor Mari were anywhere to be seen. I mean really, aside from the lack of cute schoolgirls and actual sunshine, this place is exactly like the Numazu I pictured. The more I think about it, the more I am impressed by Sunrise's effort to tie the anime to its actual setting. Their attention to detail is crazy.
The aquarium itself wasn't anything special. Aqours might have saved Uranohoshi, but what they actually saved was Numazu's local tourism. In any case, they have a very well-stocked souvenir shop, with your typical anime mascots, clear files, wall scrolls and even Aqours bottled water. I heard that Kanan bottled them herself and every bottle is filled with love. I wish!
I wasn't really interested in sea-life in general, but since I bought the tickets, I thought I might as well give the aquarium a tour. It was okay. If anything I actually got a bit hungry since I kept on thinking about wanting to get sushi later. Fishes don't seem to like me very much - they do have some hilarious expressions that I see quite often when I try to approach women, ha!
A quick walk around the island. That's Uranohoshi Girl's High School in the far distance. Bit anti-climatic to be honest since the weather was so bad. They were hosting a seal performance which was really adorable - she even knew how to wave! Very well trained. There were about ten people watching in total, which was surprising since this wasn't a weekend and it was raining nonstop.
After that, another long walk to Chika's house. Unless you've actually been to Numazu, you won't understand what the Aqours meant when they say their school is remote and isolated. It was wet and cold, the day was darkening and the air smelled heavily of sea salt. It was actually quite a soothing experience listening to the sea waves and looking at cute girl posters on the windows.
Where's Chika-chan?
If you've watched episode one, you probably can notice the two locations shown above. The place on the left is another aquarium, the setting for their second single, 'Koi ni Naritai AQUARIUM'. The place on the left really needs no explanation. Even though the day had been exhausting so far, I was pretty excited to finally be here. I guess you could say my kokoro went all dokidoki, ha!
The aquarium itself was okay. It wasn't nearly as spacious as the Aqours music video, but it was interesting having a relaxing walk around the place. I think me and the other two Argentinians were the only people here who came for the idols. Everyone else seemed pretty normal .
The seiyuus left their autographs here as well. I think they visited here in March 2016, so it's been a long time. The aquarium is quite well-decorated with various Aqours stuff, which was actually a little jarring since it looked weird next to all the fish and crabs and whatnot. Also, best girl to the left.
By the time we got out, it was already dark. Raining a bit hard than before, so cold. Very miserable. The bus from here to Numazu station takes nearly fifty minutes. No wonder one of the Aqours (couldn't remember who) complained that the bus costs 500 yen. It was a lot of money!
For the last stop of the day, I visited the Love Live cafe near Numazu station. Prices are about the same as Akiba's maid cafes. I ordered the Chika drink, which is basically orange juice. Tasted quite nice and for a moment I fantasized about Chika-chan squeezing the juice just for me. Hey, a boy can at least dream, right?
Well, that's it for the trip. On the rock train back to my hostel, I reflected back on the day. To be fair, the trip was a bit anti-climatic. It was exhausting, a bit expensive, and the weather was bad. If anything, my biggest takeaway from the trip was that the anime did a really good job showing Numazu as it is - a rural gem full of nature, now spotted with cute idols here and there. I definitely won't look at Love Live Sunshine the same again now that I've been to the actual location.
Oh, and here's a photo of all the stuff I bought on the day. Just helping to grow the local economy, that's all!
