私設図書館シャッツキステへようこそ

 So, for a change, I'm goign to review an item that is not a dōjinshi, as it was published by a proper publishing house (Kadokawa), and is available on Amazon, both in hard copy and Kindle... but! I enjoyed it, so you get a review anyway. Too bad for you.

シャッツキステ (German for 'Treasure Chest') is not an author nor a series, but a café in Akihabara, Tokyo. What makes it somewhat notable is its theme, which eschewes (for the most part) the atrocious tropes of 'manga cafes' (flyers for such places being forced in my hands every few steps is one of the worst memories I have of Akihabara), opting instead for an Old World, pesudo-Victorian aesthetics, including maids that actually dress as maids are supposed to, and - from what I've heard - actually decent country-style food, as well as a setting that reminds one more of an English tea house than a manga cafe. It was on my to-do list when I was over in Japan but, unfortunately, I eventually wasn't able to make it there.

Another notable point is that the café occasionally puts out books and comics as promotional materials, in the form of manga, short stories, and even music, usually attributed - fictitiously, I assume - to one of the actual people staffing the cafe.  私設図書館シャッツキステへようこそ (Welcome to Schatzkiste Private Library) , for example, lists 有井エリス (the real-world coordinator of the cafe's maids) as its author. A nice little conceit, to make this blatant promotional material some sort of in-world item, which I appreciate even more when, as in this case, the material happens to be decent.

The book, a meaty and mostly-color 223 pages, consists for the most part of 4-koma, short gag stories consisting of only four panels cum punchline. The many (real world) maids of Schatzkiste are the protagonists of these (fictitious) adventures, in which jokes largely center on every character's one-dimensional idiosincrasies and retorts in a boke-tsukkomi (straight man and fool?) style. So yeah, no sweeping storylines, but cute little jokes garnished with chibi maids and a fluffy JRPG, Animal Crossing  style aesthetic. Pretty neat stuff, and the Japanese is basic too - good if you want some intermediate practice. 

You can get a copy here.