Akiba Kiss: Prepare to be anime-zed

For Japanese culture aficionados -- and Bangkok has its share -- Akiba Kiss is like a geek orthodox church. Trying its best to channel the charms of Tokyo’s Akihabara district, this café-cum-comic book store in Central World gives customers a chance to dress up like manga characters and play Nintendo Wii against pretty Thai girls clad in French maid costumes.

The shop is split into different zones to suit a variety of Japanime needs. The front of the shop offers rows of DVDs and special edition albums imported directly from Japan.

Into cosplay? Grab a costume and play dress-up in their mock dressing room. There's also a comic zone, a puri (photo sticker machines) zone, a café and a game zone.