Tokyo’s new video game/anime eatery has a lot to love (and eat).

June 12 is the grand opening of the brand-new Square Enix Cafe in downtown Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighborhood, and the eatery has released a sneak peek at what’s going to be on the menu. As you might expect, food and beverages inspired by the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest franchises will be on offer, but there’s one other dark-horse candidate for your dining and drinking attention, and an anime/manga mega-hit too.

Beginning with Final Fantasy, the entrée options are the Chocobo and Moogle Spice Curry, milder Moogle Kids Curry…

…Chocobo and Friends Burger Plate (with a special appearance by Cactuar on one of its mini buns), and Chocobo Balanced Salad, designed as a for-humans equivalent of the Gysahl Greens so loved by the avian steeds.

And for dessert, Final Fantasy fans can look forward to the FF Version Purin Parfait, a Japanese-style custard pudding served in a classy cocktail glass with toppings including a marshmallow Chocobo and ice cream.

The “FF Version” part of the name suggests the existence of other pudding parfaits as well, and the DQ Version, of course, stars Dragon Quest’s adorable Slime.

The DQ mascot monster also appears in the Slimes Draw Near Jiggly Sweets Plate…

…and there are savory Slime plates too, such as the Healslime Burger Basket, in which the restorative creature’s tentacles are represented by a sliced sausage, and the Taco Rice-Style Hamburger Plate with Bubble Slime On Top.

Getting back to that third video game inspiration we mentioned, it’s none other than Nier: Automata, whose version of the purin parfait gives you a triple dose of Emil marshmallows…

…and his smiling (?) face is also present in the Lunar Tear Milk Tea Float plate.

Things get a little abstract with the 2B YoRHa Skirt-style Crepe Salad (with edible bamboo charcoal the most likely ingredient giving it its color), and things get really abstract with the On-Site Procurement Bullet Hell Pasta, meant to evoke memories of the enemy bullet barrages in the game’s shooting segments.

Now we come to the anime/manga part of the menu, which is saluting Fullmetal Alchemist.

Though Square Enix is most famous for video games, the company is also a major manga publisher, and within Japan handles the tale of brothers Al and Ed Elric, who are featured in a purin parfait, plus steamed buns with sweet custard and savory stew fillings. Fellow alchemist Roy Mustang also contributes to the menu with a Flame Alchemist shrimp pasta topped with shredded chili for extra heat.

Drinks come in two tiers, with the fancier ones consisting of a Final Fantasy Potion, Dragon Quest Traveler’s Healing Herb Set, and Fullmetal Alchemist Dwarf in the Flask.

The lower drink tier is made up of standard soft drinks such as coffee, tea, cola, orange juice, and melon soda. The cold drinks come with your choice of illustrated cup sleeve…

…while hot drinks let you pick one of two latte art designs per series.

The Square Enix Cafe has a service charge of 1,200 yen (US$7.60) per person, but that price does include one lower-tier drink of your choice, plus an illustrated placemat (you can pick which title you want, but the exact design is random).

▼ In keeping with Nier’s unabashed weirdness, its placemats are vertically oriented.

And as anyone who’s been to one knows, you can’t have a proper themed cafe in Japan without art coasters, and you’ll receive one at random when ordering any of a series’ associated food items or premium drinks.

Prices for the premium drinks and desserts are generally in the 1,000-1,500 yen range, with most of the main dishes priced between 1,500 and 2,200 yen (though the Fullmetal Alchemist steamed buns are just 770 yen each).

Again, the Square Enix Cafe’s grand opening takes place on June 12, and while walk-ins are allowed if space is available, reservations can be made through the restaurant’s website.

Restaurant information
Officially Licensed Square Enix Cafe & Shop Shinjuku
Address: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku 3-36-1
東京都新宿区新宿3丁目36-1
Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Website

Source, images: Officially Licensed Square Enix Cafe & Shop Shinjuku official website
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It’s a critical hit!

The hit role-playing video game franchise Dragon Quest is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and one way they’re marking the occasion is by teaming up with Rohto Pharmaceutical. These two brands have teamed up in the past to release versions of Rohto Z! eyedrops in containers that resemble the game’s most popular monster, the Slime.

The first version came out in 2017 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Rohto Z! and the second came about in 2023 for the 25th anniversary of Dragon Quest Monsters. But for a milestone as big as this, they decided to take things up a notch and create a limited edition King Slime Rohto Z!,  which went on sale on 10 June and has a bottle shaped like a King Slime.

For those unfamiliar with the game, a King Slime is a larger and stronger version of the Slime monsters, sometimes formed when multiple regular Slimes appear and merge together. In addition to being a more formidable foe, the King Slime knows ice magic spells, which also makes it a perfect muse for limited edition eye drops with a cooling sensation.

Three types of eyedrops were created, each with a different level of ice spell from the game. Rohto Z! regular strength drops are based on Crack, the lowest-ranked ice magic attack, Rohto Z! Pro is represented by the mid-level spell Crackle, and Rohto Z! Contact is the top-tier Kacrackle. Also in honor of the King Slime, these eye drops come in a larger container, bumped up from 12 milliliters to 16 milliliters.

There are also lots of game references and easter eggs hidden in the packaging, or rather, I should say there “were” lots of references, because by the end of 10 June, they all appeared to have already sold out. In fact, some places even sold out the day before their release because they were put on shelves ahead of schedule. Either Rohto underestimated the sheer popularity of King Slimes or there was a sudden outbreak of mass digital eye strain.

Normally in Japan, when something becomes hugely popular like this, resellers emerge to grab as many as they can and then post them for sale online at an inflated price. There were some reports of King Slime eyedrops appearing on the Mercari flea market app, but they were quickly taken down for violating the usage terms that prohibit the sale of pharmaceutical products. Mercari was very quick about it too, because not only does it violate their rules, but it’s against the law to sell pharmaceuticals without a license. Even attempts to sell empty boxes and bottles were shot down.

▼ “This BS is an obvious violation of the rules. I mean, it’s even a violation of the pharmaceutical law, so they can get arrested.”

ぶっちぎりで規約違反でクサ
なんなら薬機法で禁じられてるから逮捕案件 pic.twitter.com/M2anjA4Ckw

— たこやきまん (@xxx_takoyakiman) June 10, 2026

But even without the effect of resellers, King Slime Rohto Z! has become a very rare breed of monster, which some have compared to the encounter rate of the Metal King Slime in the games. So, if you’re exploring the world and a King Slime Rohto Z! draws near, be sure to hit it fast and hard with money attacks and don’t let it heal. Only then will you have one of the most coveted treasures in Japan.

Source: Shukan Josei Prime, PR Times, Hachima Kiko
Images: PR Times
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Eudaemonius posted a photo:

Critical Hit-flavor ice cream and Mimic containers among the sweet adventures waiting at Baskin-Robbins.

Generally speaking, customers wouldn’t be happy to see slimes at the restaurants and sweets shops they visit. But just like your kindergarten teacher told you, capitalization is important, and so the appearance of Slimes at Baskin-Robbins Japan is a cause for joy across the nation.

Yes, the mascot monsters of the Dragon Quest video game franchise have drawn near to Thirty-One, as Baskin-Robbins is known to fans in Japan. Among the treats that made their debut on June 1 is the Slimes Draw Near Ice Cream Cake.

This 11.5-centimeter (4.5-inch) diameter cake features a two-tiered Slime Island with edible frosting Slimes, decorative paper ones, and a command window-style chocolate plate with a message of your choice written on it (the one in the above photo announces “Papa has reached level 31!”). The cake’s interior is made up of four different flavors of ice cream: Double Chocolate, Caramel Ribbon, Strawberry, and Popping Shower, the last of which is so deeply loved in Japan that Baskin-Robbins had to remove it from the voting in their popularity polls.

Arriving at the same time as the Slime cake is a new ice cream flavor called Critical Hit Golden Pineapple Lemonade (or Kaishin no Ichigeki Golden Pine Lemonade in Japanese) that tips its hat to Dragon Quest’s RPG gameplay mechanics.

The looks here are a little deceiving, as the sky-blue sorbet here isn’t the Ramune/Blue Hawaii flavor usually associated with this color in Japan, but instead is a lemonade-flavor sorbet, while the yellow is golden pineapple sorbet. The “critical hit” comes from the red ribbons of sour lemon flavor and the mixed-in pieces of Baskin-Robbins Japan’s newly crafted pachishuwa/“fizzy popping” candies, giving this refreshing new ice cream flavor a stimulating kick too.

▼ The introductory video even features the Dragon Quest critical hit sound effect, plus pop-up damage scores of 31, 310, and 3,131.

Of course, Baskin-Robbins’ whole deal is that they have a bunch of different flavors, and if you’re in the mood for far more than just one, there’s a Dragon Quest 40th Set (since this year is Dragon Quest’s 40th anniversary) that puts eight ice cream flavors of your choice inside a Mimic. Each flavor comes in a special cup with Dragon Quest overworld map pixel artwork, and the bundle also includes a Popping Shower Slime keychain.

▼ In order to lure in gold-seeking adventurers, Mimics usually disguise themselves as treasure chests, but here in the real world is there any container more tempting than a box filled with ice cream?

And finally, for those focused enough to only need one scoop of ice cream, or perhaps those cultured enough to always want whipped cream and sprinkles, there’s the A Slime Draws Near Battle Sundae, which includes one of 10 random decorative character illustrations.

The Battle Sundae is priced at 580 yen (US$3.75), the Slime cake 4,300 yen, and the Mimic box 3,000 or 3,500 yen, depending on whether you choose small or regular-sized scoops of ice cream. The Dragon Quest collaboration is scheduled to run until June 30.

Source: Baskin-Robbins Japan via Otakomu
Top image: Baskin-Robbins Japan
Insert images: Baskin-Robbins Japan (1, 2, 3)
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