I listened to the playtech of BAR Stella Abyss at SM Bar

We asked her about everything from how to deal with drunken customers to the beliefs she has cultivated as a bartender and SM queen.

Hanako (hereinafter referred to as Hanako): My name is Hanako, and I am the manager of AMARCORD TOKYO. She will have been working for the company for seven years in April of this year. Even though you say “manager,” is your position generally expressed as “mom”? She will be in the position of educating new employees and deciding on the direction of the store.

There are many reasons why I got started, but originally I was working at a regular company and was the manager of an apparel store. However, since I was a child, I have loved this industry and fashion, so when I was busy with my day job and didn’t know what to do, I decided I didn’t even know what the left was like, so I jumped in and said, “Let’s just do SM!”

I had never been to the store before, only seeing it on social media, but I ended up going inside.

Hanako: I liked apparel because I like clothes, but I don’t think you can see the “essential parts of people” in them. Of course it’s during bright daylight hours! That’s why I feel like I’m doing work that allows me to directly see the true nature of people.

It’s strange, but if there were a queen wearing bondage and a masochist man in panties in the room, there would be no way out! All I have to do is SM, so I’m coming back for that. There are many people who have families, take care of their families, and are doing well at work, so they ask, “Why do you come to the queen’s place?” I want to know the reason.

I think it’s easy to imagine beating someone with a whip or tying them up with a rope, but they have the image of being “tools for getting to know people”. Of course, there are sadistic hobbies and feeling good about inflicting pain, but I think it would be good to get to know people. I think they have a strong desire to control people and want to get to know them. I like controlling people (lol).

Hanako: It comes from the movie “Fellini’s Amarcord,” directed by Federico Fellini, and I heard that it was named after the older sisters of the staff. The store’s name has been passed down from generation to generation, including the previous mother, manager, and Rie Asagiri, who produced this place and is a famous queen in the Japanese industry. Masu.

By the way, the staff here at the store are called “Gradesca”, which is derived from the name of a woman named “Gradisca” who appears in the movie.

Hanako: I started playing games when I was in the lower grades of elementary school, and thanks to my father’s influence, we had “Gradius Gaiden” at home and played “Super Mario RPG.”

After the PlayStation came out, I alternated between playing horror games and pop games. I think horror games have probably influenced SM’s activities! I’m hooked on “ELDEN RING,” and recently I’ve been interested in “Silent Hill: The Short Message.” I’ve been playing games since I was 6 years old.

–Do horror games have any influence on SM play?

Hanako: There are so many! I’ve always had a chuunibyou problem, so when I play games, my brain becomes like that.

Hanako: If you just want to have a drink, you can go anywhere other than a bar. However, many of the customers who come to the bar want to talk, so my reaction is, “I’m really listening.” It’s scary if the listener doesn’t react when you say something.

If I make people think, “Maybe they’re not interested in what I have to say…?” they won’t open up to me in any way, so I try to listen to what they have to say. Besides, isn’t “AMARCORD” a bar with a special concept? It’s a place where people who are SM or have special sexual tendencies sneak up on a sense of immorality, so I definitely don’t deny it .

Even if you don’t understand this, you can empathize with it. “I don’t have that hobby, but isn’t that okay?” Isn’t it enough to say, “That’s disgusting” or “That’s no good”? I thought my store was a place where I could talk about anything, but I ended up closing myself off because I thought it was a lie.

There are people who come to us with courage and things they would not normally say, so we will draw them out from there. I pick up the meaning of words.

Hanako: Yes. I pay attention to how precisely I can give back what the other person is looking for. Isn’t it sad when someone says, “I came to ask about ropes, but suddenly they started talking about ramen?” (laughs)

Hanako: There are some people who just make small talk and leave. Maybe we’ll just talk about Dragon Quest and go home. People who like games like to stay at home. If I go out, I try to play games. I understand how you feel, but maybe you can come to a bar to take a breather.

Hanako: I get a good idea of ​​the customers who get drunk because they come all the time. “The body leans”! Even if I try to break up the pace by saying, “Please drink some water,” he will always say, “No, I don’t drink water.” Sometimes I offer water to people who are getting drunk and say, “It’s shochu mixed with water.”

Hanako: “The person who slept on the floor.” When I couldn’t see her anymore, I thought she had disappeared, and when I looked for her, I said, “You haven’t paid your bill, right?” But then you find her sleeping in a gym position in the corner, or disappearing inside the store. When I see him sleeping in a cage (inside the store), I think, “He’s dead!?”

Hanako: I guess it’s about not being shaken. Even if customers come to me several times, they won’t trust me if they say, “Isn’t this the character you are?” or “What you’re talking about is different than before,” so that’s the worst part of a job where you have to deal with people face-to-face. I think it’s a place to be very strict. Also, there is a policy that basically says that manners and etiquette are not good enough.

Hanako: I can tell when the customer’s behavior is strange. Then you can ask, “Did something happen?” Sometimes I know that they’re there because they want to be heard, and sometimes they say, “I can’t tell my family or friends, but if I come to the bar, they’ll probably listen.” Therefore, you must develop the ability to see through them. That’s also one of our policies.

Play “BAR Stella Abyss” with Hanako! Try having a conversation with Leona, a regular customer with a warm atmosphere.

After finishing the interview with Hanako, we actually played “BAR Stellar Abyss” inside the store. As you play the game, you will receive advice on how to act during the ADV part where you talk to regular customers, and on what alcohol to drink.

On a screen displaying a variety of alcoholic beverages that exist in real life, I asked the childish question that I had always been curious about, “What would be cool to drink?” Then he said, “Whisky is cool on a hot plate,” but “gin and vodka are also great.” When I told him that I thought it was cool to drink whiskey straight, he said, “It’s like a shot, so I drink it all up quickly, which is bad for the cost.I think it’s cool because you can drink it on the rocks for a long time.” I even received some advice.

Wouldn’t a bottle of gin look great even if placed in a gaming room? While we were getting excited, there was also the helpful trivia that alcohol doesn’t make you feel intoxicated very quickly. The alcoholic beverages that appear in the game come in a variety of ways, including not only types, but also various ways of drinking and cocktails, and the menu’s variations such as “straight,” “mixed with water,” “rocks,” and even “pink gin” will keep you excited. go up.

This time, I will be drinking with Leona, a regular customer, at “BAR Stella Abyss.” I chose “Jin Rock” because I wanted to show off my good side to a cute college girl. When the game says, “How to drink gin for those who are used to it,” I feel a slight sense of superiority.

In conversations with regular customers, you can give detailed reactions, and you can drink alcohol at any point in the conversation. When Leona drank, Hanako gave her the advice, “We need to drink together!”

We will continue the story by asking Hanako about the best way to react to Leona, a university student who gives off a calm yet calm demeanor.

Although Leona is friendly, she maintains a distance and continues to have “skillful conversations”, looking up at you, and is a woman with a quirk that makes it difficult to understand what she is thinking. Regarding her, Hanako says, “People who talk to her while taking out her insurance are formidable enemies,” and “These kinds of people are the scariest.”

If I were to play normally, I would probably continue to step on Leona’s land mines, but I have Hanako’s support on this side. It’s reliable to have an accurate reaction plan based on what Leona must be thinking right now!

However, Leona turned out to be a stronger enemy than I expected. Hanako toyed with us by “checking the facts in the form of questions” and using skillful conversational techniques to make it seem like she was supposed to be asking for advice, but before we knew it, she ended up asking for advice. I told you.

Still, the ADV part ends in a pretty good way, and we head into the “world of Yoi.” “The World of Yoi” is an SPRG where you can enjoy symbol encounter-style battles. Here, you will progress with “Tipsy” who supports the main character. Your status will be buffed by the alcohol you drank earlier, and the characteristics of your skills will also change depending on the power of the constellation “Stella”, making it a rogue-lite-like experience.

You can equip various “Stellas” at the observatory. Stella can perform different attack skills depending on the type of equipment she has equipped.

It seems that Leona, who I talked about earlier, is also here, and when I approach her, Tipsy says, “People who come to Yoi’s world all the time are scum who lack something.” When Hanako came up with a quote that was so great that she shouted, “I want to put it up in my house!”, the time came and the play ended.