Clever visual tricks and delicious desserts draw us to a new cafe in downtown.

Tokyo has no shortage of eateries that take inspiration from the 2-D media world. There’s a permanent Sailor Moon musical restaurant and cafes for both the Pokémon franchise and Square Enix Cafe video game realms, plus limited-time pop-up venues like the Ranma 1/2 Cafe.

But the brand-new 2D Cafe in Tokyo’s Shin Okubo neighborhood isn’t called what it is because it’s a salute to settings and characters fans have seen on the screen of their TV. Instead, it makes the real, three-dimensional world look like a flat illustration.

The interior uses some clever tricks to fool your eyes. The décor seems to be entirely monochrome, with white floors, tables, and chairs.

However, the furniture is actually all two-tone. While the flat surfaces are white, the edges all have soft, uneven black stripes, in the style of sketch lines.

In some cases, though, there’s no deception at all, and what you’re seeing is indeed flat-plane artwork, like with the curtains and flowers pictured here.

When it comes to food and drink, the 2D Cafe takes a more conventional approach. The upside, though, is that thanks to the snow-white surroundings, the colors of whatever you order look extremely vivid.

We opted for strawberry shaved ice (1,250 yen [US$11.50]), which is extra-tasty by virtue of the chefs first freezing creamy milk, then slicing it extra thin into a bowl, instead of just pouring syrup over plain ice.

We also got a brown sugar assam black tea with tapioca (650 yen), since boba has never been more popular in Japan than it is right now.

In addition to these items, the 2D Cafe has a full lineup of teas, coffees, juices, and shaved ice desserts, so we think we’ll be stopping by again the next time the three-dimensional world is feeling like a bit too much for us to handle without a break.

Restaurant information
2D Cafe / 2Dカフェ
Addrss: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Hyakunin-cho 1-7-5
東京都新宿区百人町1‐7‐5
Open 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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