A Brief Review of the DSRK x Chimney Group Anniversary Collaboration
Published: 2026年5月15日
Word Count: 2,103
For the 20th anniversary of the DSRK games (no I am not calling that shit the "Raidou series"), Atlus actually bothered to do something in the form of a collaboration with the izakaya chain Chimney Group (among other things). Unfortunately, since I'm practically a hermit and don't use any of the social media sites that Atlus has a presence on, news of this event nearly passed me by until by some stroke of luck or another I managed to learn about it during the final week it was being held.
Now, I'm fortunate enough to not just be currently studying abroad in Japan, but to also be attending a school in a city smack dab in between Kyoto and Osaka, where two of the participating stores were located. Naturally, I took this as an opportunity to double the pain on my wallet and maximize my opportunities to Raidou the fuck out.
If it wasn't obvious already, I want to make it clear that this isn't going to be anything resembling an "objective" review of the DSRK x Chimney Group collab (not that there's such thing as an objective review in the first place). I've been known to be highly critical of the DSRK games and their spinoffs—some might say to a fault—but when it comes to merchandising, I am nothing if not a hopeless Raidou Kuzunoha XIV shill. I will spend exorbitant amounts of money on anything so long as you slap Raidou's face on it, and I'll do it with a smile on my own face the whole time. Not to mention that I'm a very picky eater and just stuck to ordering the same handful of items off the menu each time I went. Rather, I just want to talk about my experience with the collab and what I did and didn't like about it.
General Thoughts
My biggest complaint about the collab as a whole is how expensive everything was. A single drink cost ¥700 without tax, and most of the food cost ¥900 per item (again, without tax). The amount I was paying felt especially egregious compared to the actual quality of the food being served. The presentation of everything was quite nice, and seemed intentionally reminiscent of food arrangements you see at fine dining places, but it kind of falls flat when you take a bite of one of the carefully placed cheese wedges and realize it's the same plastic Kraft bullshit you can buy at the grocery store. Of course, licensed food collaborations like these tend to be expensive by nature, so I had already tempered my expectations. Besides, I was pretty much only there to collect cards and enjoy a meal surrounded by Raidou memorabilia.
Speaking of the cards, I was surprised that the two locations I went to handled them differently. In Kyoto, I was presented with an array of (face-down) cards that I selected from myself, whereas in Osaka, the cards were pre-chosen by the staff and handed to me with my food. It definitely felt a little more "quality" in Osaka, especially since each card came in its own little film, but I think I preferred getting to pick my own cards in Kyoto. I think that the additional sense of agency that comes with choosing your own cards makes the fact that you have no real say in what cards you get feel more like a fun game than an expensive gamble, especially if you're like me and find that getting to collect various character cards is one of the main draws of the collab. If you draw a disappointing card, your mindset is more likely to be something along the lines of, "if I end up coming back, maybe I'll have better luck picking a card from somewhere else in the pile" instead of, "seriously, I spent so much money and these are the cards I get?" On the other hand, I was pretty disappointed to learn that the first and second halves of the event had two different sets of exclusive cards. It's a pretty blatant attempt at squeezing more money out of people by incentivising them to repeatedly participate in the event in hopes of getting new cards, and it makes it so people who aren't constantly on top of the latest Atlus news (such as myself) or have limited free time end up missing out on the "full experience."
For a DSRK enjoyer such as myself, though, any complaints or nitpicks I may have are ultimately made null and void by the fact that Atlus actually bothered to recognize and appreciate the games like this at all. I honestly didn't expect anything at all for DSRK's anniversary, especially since I didn't see much fanfare posted by the people I follow who keep up with Atlus's announcements, and RAIDOU Remastered doesn't seem to be making the sales Atlus had hoped for (say what you want, but I don't think releasing a free demo several months after your game's full release is a very promising sign). So when I learned that there wasn't just an izakaya collab, but a music event (that I won't be able to attend sob sob) and new merchandise, I was over the moon. There's not much that I enjoy about Atlus's attempts to make DSRK "mainstream," but getting to participate in fandom activities that I once felt would never be accessible to me as a fan of a relatively niche series is a definite positive. It makes me happy to be able to sit in a restaurant with Raidou-themed decorations and order Raidou-themed food that comes with Raidou-themed cards, and that's all I really care about.
The Kyoto Experience
I'm going to be honest up front and say that my experience at the Kyoto location was probably the weaker of the two. On the positive side, I liked the event area's setup slightly more than Osaka's; the banners hanging over the window view was a nice touch. Otherwise, the actual building that the izakaya was located in was quite drab—just a random high-rise outside of Kyoto Station—and somehow, despite both stores being owned by the same company, I swear that the non-event fare was slightly more expensive than at the Osaka location. Even though I went into the collab with the mindset that I was willingly paying too much money on overpriced, mediocre food, I still ended up feeling like I got tourist trapped. Perhaps that's just the general vibe of Kyoto Station. I did end up checking out Kyoto Tower after my meal since it was literally right across the street, though, which I will count as a point towards the general experience.
While it may have been the lesser of two locations, it certainly wasn't bad by any stretch of the word. The atmosphere was nice and calm, and I enjoyed getting to sit by the window and watch the flow of pedestrian traffic around Kyoto Station (the restaurant was on the 5th floor, which made for a nice view). There weren't many customers, either—at least not where I was seated—so I actually managed to take pictures of the place, which I can't say for the location in Osaka. I got some pretty decent cards from my draw, too. Previous complaints aside, the food was good enough, and I went home feeling satisfied and eager to show off my time at the event to my friends and family. Outside of the general location and maybe price, I don't think there was any sort of quality gap between how the DSRK collab was handled by the Kyoto and Osaka locations. If I weren't writing this review on the final day of the event, I'd recommend both locations with equal enthusiasm with the note that my preference for the Osaka location is an entirely personal one.
The Osaka Experience
As I previously implied, the Osaka location wins for me in terms of the surrounding area. The izakaya was in Coms Garden, a curious little park(?) with an open-air food court located below ground level. It's a bit difficult to explain Coms Garden's whole deal in words, but it's very cool from a visual standpoint, especially at night. The atmosphere felt a lot more... izakaya-ish compared to the sort of curated, "cultural capital of Japan" vibe that the Kyoto location seemed to be striving for, which might be a plus to some, but for me it felt a little vapid. It's not particularly difficult to find locally-owned izakaya in Japan, especially not in a major city like Osaka, so I just think that a corporate chain should do something to try and distinguish itself from the standard izakaya experience. Conversely, I did at least appreciate that the generic-ness of the Osaka location made me feel less ashamed about ordering pretty standard izakaya fare over the fancier menu options.
What definitively pushed me in favor of the Osaka location, though, was the fact that I encountered other DSRK fans there. I ended up going twice, and both times I noticed other customers who'd ordered items off of the special collab menu. The first time I was too nervous to try striking up a conversation because I couldn't clearly tell whether they were there specifically to participate in the DSRK event or were just interested in trying the limited-time menu, and I wasn't confident enough in my Japanese skills to risk a potentially embarrassing conversation. The second time, though, I could see them (different group of people from the time before) clearly ordering multiple items off of the event menu and sharing cards with each other, so I managed to gather enough courage to approach them. I probably fumbled the conversation at multiple points on account of being horrifically autistic and generally scared of human interaction, but we did end up at least trading cards, and they were nice enough to give me an extra card (I really wish I could have returned the favor, but I didn't have anything on hand to give them in return). I've never encountered another DSRK fan "in the wild" (i.e. not in dedicated online spaces) like that before, and I was so happy that I didn't stop smiling the whole way home. It was the best possible end to the event that I could have had.
In the online fandom spaces that I (occasionally) participate in, the fact that I position myself as an "insider" who's willing to be critical of and analyze DSRK as genuine artistic works has inadvertently created tension between me and those who enjoy DSRK as pure escapism, to the point where there have been several vagueposts written about me that, had I been named, I would consider to be full-on character assassinations. I have been painted as a sadistic, bullying "gatekeeper" who hates new DSRK fans simply for being new, sometimes by people who I didn't even interact with, all because I was vocal about not liking RAIDOU Remastered on a Tumblr blog that peaked at 15 followers. And as much as I hate to admit it, having to deal with that constant friction ended up changing my self-perception as a DSRK fan for the worse. I built a wall between myself and the DSRK fandom, preemptively blocking fanartists and anyone who interacted with my DSRK posts, exclusively labeling myself as a "Devil Summoner fan" instead of a "Raidou fan," and generally developing a hostile attitude towards the DSRK fandom at large. It got to a point where I was starting to wonder if it was appropriate to call myself a DSRK fan at all, or if I just liked Soulless Army as its own game and Raidou as a character.
Getting to participate in fandom activities and meet other DSRK fans in real life reminded me that, yes, I'm still a DSRK fan, still a Raidou fan, no matter what gets said about me online. When you get to see other fans in real life, it doesn't matter if you only like one DSRK game or all of them, or whether or not you like the direction Atlus is taking Devil Summoner in, or what fictional relationships you do or don't like. All that matters is the shared love you have for DSRK. I forgot what it felt like to be happy in the DSRK fandom for so long. Meeting other DSRK fans makes me happy. Publicly identifying myself as a Raidou fan makes me happy. I don't need to worry about all of the stuff in DSRK that I don't like, I can just be happy. I'm crying right now. I'm very happy.
