This one hour show definitely deserves its own blog post. I first heard about Robot Restaurant on Anthony Bourdain's show Parts Unknown. Sarah also read about it on TripAdvisor. Everything about it looked crazy, but we figured that it would be unlike anything we'd seen before (or will ever see again). We were right.
If you are ever in Tokyo and have a free night, you should check this out. Yes, it's campy and overdone (and will probably give you a headache) but it's worth it. I'll give you the play-by-play here but the pictures can hardly do the live show justice.
We took a quick subway ride up to the theater (scratch that, basement is a more appropriate description) where the show is put on several times a day. I paused to snap a quick picture on the way in.
Once we picked up our tickets we were escorted into a waiting room to have a drink before the show started. I was overwhelmed just by this room itself...I mean where else do you sit in gold seashell bucket chairs with glowing tiger walls??? Answer: nowhere.
As we got a few minutes closer to show time, a herd of 20 or so businessmen showed up (maybe they've been before?) and a band came out to entertain us. These costumes were just a glimpse of what was about to come...
After a few songs from these guys we were escorted down a bizarre staircase to the main stage. We walked down about four flights of stairs and I think everyone was disoriented by the time we arrived.
Once we took our seats it was time for the show to begin. First we saw a "traditional" Japanese drum show. So far so good.
Then they added a dragon. Still pretty normal.
Quick costume change, then we heard Lady Gaga songs sung from a rhinestone-encrusted horse with a lazer show in the background. This is the type of stuff that we were expecting.
After this, things started to get a little weird. Did a panda ride a cow across the stage? Yes. Did a monkey hang onto a wasp with fire wings? Yes. How about a dragon - did a girl come out riding a dragon...? (Yes, obviously.)
Just when I thought we were done with these animal props, this happened:
The shark attack was the finale of this part of the show. The crew cleaned up the stage for a few minutes, then the "real" robots took center stage. It felt a little like we were on the set of the next Transformers movie.
Once these robots had done a few laps of the stage it was time for the grand finale: four giant lady-robots with three actual ladies on them! I have no idea who thought this up!
All in all it was a fun, weird, contemporary Japanese experience. We were going to head to a karaoke bar but decided to come here instead and we definitely think we made the right choice. You can watch people sing Journey songs badly everywhere but you can't see anything like this anywhere else. Come when you're here and brace yourself!