Date ideas for otaku

So as a fellow otaku I’ve been rather disappointed with the lack of date ideas that revolve around anime nerdish pursuits for love. And quite honestly it’s good to have a surplus of date ideas so it keep both parties amused and content in the relationship. Sorry, gents you can only take a girl out to dinner and a movie so many times before it becomes boring. I understand that dating is expensive and epically for us attending college. Alas our poor wallets do need a break at times. So I hope that these ideas will help my fellow otaku nerds out. *^_^*

1.Local anime conventions; they offer lots to do and are fairly cheap when one preregisters online. They provide hours of free entertainment with panels, dealers hall, arcade room, rave dances and of course cosplay spectacular or also known as a masquerade. But depending on the convention some events may cost a small fee and it’s always a good idea to check the con’s website for events such as gatherings etc. Many local conventions have appearances my voice actors for video games and anime. Also, you can volunteer at anime conventions and earn a full refund of your admission fee. It’s bound to be a great time! Local anime conventions include: SacAnime, Kintoki-Con, and Fanime.
2. Look into your local Anime Club; you can find one depending on your age at the local library, high school, or collage. Local colleges that offer anime clubs included Modesto Jr. College and CSU Stanislaus and are free to attend. They show a variety of anime and meet once a week. Say hi to Sean for me at CSU Stan State.
3. Make your own Anime Club. If you can’t make it to a local club or no such thing exists in your area make one. It can be a good double date idea, hanging with your partner and friends or just the two of you. It’s cheap and easy. If you have Xfinity you have access to the Funimation Free channel. Netflix also has a web range of anime titles and there is always Adult Swim on Saturday Nights. If that doesn’t cut it then you can always stream your anime live from the internet using websites like AnimeSeason.com or CrunchyRoll.com. Of course there is a ton of other websites and if you have a problem watching anime from your monitor you can always stream it to your television using and HDMI cable.
4. Visit your local comic book store or retailer that carries’ manga. This can be a fun date that doesn’t have to cost a lot because you can always window shop. This is good for talking about new manga that just came out and finding out the favorite genera’s of your date. Local retailers that carry manga are: Barns and Noble, Yesterdays Books, Krier's Cards & Comics, and Bonanza Books and Comics.
5. Visit your local library. Sometimes Libraries carry anime or books related to anime such as manga, Japanese culture and how to draw books. It’s free to check out the books and you can always to voice overs for the manga if that’s your thing.
6. Learn to play a card game. If you play a card game you can teach your date how to play it doesn’t necessary have to be anime related but here are some games related to anime: Bleach, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon, and Naurto. You can also play Magic the Gathering, World of War Craft.
7. Have a bento picnic. If you love Japanese food or just love to cook this will work for you. It’s romantic and there are many websites that provide easy recipes for any level of cooking ability. You can personalize your bentos and impress your date with your skill. http://justbento.com/recipes
8. Work on your cosplays together. If you cosplay or you both do have a cosplay work date. It’s fun and easy. Depending on if you cosplay by using clothes from your closet or altering existing garments you can visit thrift stores, craft stores, and costume stores. If you make your cosplays from starch you can work together on patterns and picking out fabric, or making props.
9. Have a cosplay photo shoot. Show off your cosplays in a mini photo shoot and post them on cosplay.com and go to anime conventions. Or have a cosplay gathering with friends.
10. Go Cosplay Bowling. This is for the brave and is best done in a group of friends or fellow cosplayers.
11. Make your own manga together. If you can draw or write this can be really fun and creative date. Don’t worry you don’t have to be a Tokyo Pop artist to draw as long as you feel good about it do it.
14. Take a drawing class together and learn to draw in Anime style. Or any drawing style will improve your talent. Practice makes perfect.
15. Have an AMV Hell marathon. Its fun and it’s quite funny!
Make your own AMV video. If you have the skills do it! Move over team For Star. You can make your own script and do voice overs. Be derp its fun. ^ ^
16. Play a two player video game. Let’s face it there’s plenty of anime video games and non-anime co-op games that can provide hours of fun. Fighting games such as Tekken, Soul Caliber, CapCom and SNK. If fighting games aren’t your thing try Portal, or Portal two. You can also play an MRPG game such as WOW or TOAST.
17. Visit Japan Town in San Francisco. Hop on the Bart and head to Japan town for a day of awesome Japanese inspired shops. They have merchants that sell Kimono, Japanese Sweets, Manga, Anime goodies, and antique shops. The restaurants are very good to!
18. Attend the San Francisco Cherry Blossom Festival or other cultural event. http://www.nccbf.org/ It's an amazing festival that is free to attend. It has many free events to attend and of course if you love traditional or pop Japanese culture your sure to be happy!P.S. Sunday of the parade is extermly busy if you have a fear of crowds or are claustrophobic pick an early weekend to attend it's less crowaded and you'll have more fun. ;)
19. Stay at the Hotel Tomo in San Francisco for a romantic night. http://www.jdvhotels.com/tomo/
20.Try Sake or another Japanese related alcoholic beverage and go out to sushi. Yay Bevmo <3
21. Go to Boomers or Fun works and play DDR or other dancing game. A good way to show off your skills. If you don’t want to play in public play at home.
22.Visit a Japanese Garden like the Japanese Tea Garden in San Fransico or Hakone Estate & Gardens, 21000 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, CA 95070. Here are the websites to some local Japanese Gardens: http://japaneseteagardensf.com/ and http://www.hakone.com/visit-us/directions.html
23. Learn to do a tea cermmony or go to one. You can learn by looking online on youtube.com, looking into local college classes, attending the Cherry Bloosom festival or San Fransico's Tea Garden.
24. If you love tea do a tea run in San Fransico in China town. They have a varity of green and other teas.
25.Go out and do karaoke. If your really shy do it at home. If you dont have a karaoke game Rock Band and Gutair Hero works in a pinch. ;) There's no party like a Rock band party.
26. Learn Japanese togther. You can get books on learning japanese, software such as Instant Immersion thats pretty inexpensive and easy to use. You can also see if your local CSU has a class in Japanese.
27. Draw each other in chibi forum. If you can't draw commission one on www.deviantart.com for a cute gift or if you dont have cash you can always trade your gold on www.gaiaonline.com for artists work.