Blazing speed and precision of Osaka restaurant owner shows that even when she’s cosplaying, she’s still hard at work.



One of Japan’s favorite street-side snack foods is takoyaki, bite-sized dumplings with a morsel of octopus in the middle. If you’re not used to eating eight-legged seafood, that may sound like challenging exotic fare, but the major flavors in takoyaki come from the batter and sweet sauce, making them widely loved.

But for as broadly popular as takoyaki are, their simplicity means that there’s not all that much variation in taste from one takoyaki stand’s food to another’s. Especially in Osaka, the birthplace of takoyaki, vendors can be competing with dozens of other takoyaki stands within walking distance, and so they have to do something special to get individual attention. In the case of Goonies, a takoyaki stand in Osaka’s Nipponbashi neighborhood, the owner’s plan is to do anime cosplay while hawking her dumplings.

Nipponbashi is also known as Den Den Town, and it’s Osaka’s largest gathering point for anime fans and otaku in general. So to help attract eyeballs and customers, Goonies’ owner Yukio often slips on an anime costume. But Yukio isn’t just getting by on her looks, as a video from Japanese Twitter user @MSigunasu shows the chef’s amazing skill and blazing speed.

Takoyaki aren’t particularly complex to make, but their small size and low price means that in order to make a living selling them, takoyaki pros have to be able to whip up large batches in a short time, simultaneously cooking dozens of dumplings by stirring them to keep the heat even and prevent burning.

Chefs use an ice pick-like tool to do this, and Yukio’s deftly dexterous displays of prowess have taken eyeballs off of her cosplay and onto her hands.

Those who have kept their focus on her outfit, though, have found yet another layer of performance to appreciate. In the videos above, Yukio is dressed as Anzu Futaba, a character from anime/video game franchise The Idolmaster. Anzu’s defining personality trait is that she’s lazy, being such a stereotypical layabout NEET that she’s sometimes depicted wearing a T-shirt that says “If you get a job, you lose.”

▼ More of Yukio’s Anzu cosplay

▼ Yukio, joined by a man cosplaying as Idolmaster’s “Producer”

The subversively industrious take on the character looks like it’s been good for business at Goonies, as the videos of Yukio cooking up a storm have racked up over a million views, giving her word of mouth that even Osaka’s Michelin-featured takoyaki stand can’t boast at the moment.

▼ Goonies’ standard sauce-covered takoyaki

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, yes, Goonies’ name is a reference to the 1985 Oregon-filmed adventure movie. There’s even plenty of American kitsch on display inside the restaurant.

The combination of that and Yukio’s cosplay means that a trip to Goonies is a way to indulge your love of the pop culture of both the U.S. and Japan at the same time, plus it’s another unexpected connection between the state of Oregon and anime.

Restaurant information

Goonies / グーニーズ

Address: Osaka-fu, Osaka-shi, Naniwa-ku, Nipponbashi 4-10-11

大阪府大阪市浪速区日本橋4-10-11

Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Website

Source: Twitter/@MSigunasu

Featured image: Twitter/@MSigunasu

Insert images: Goonies

Follow Casey on Twitter, where if he can get through an order of takoyaki painfully burning his mouth fewer than three times, he feels like he really accomplished something.