K-Pop and Anime? How it's Done Done Done by Soo Hyun Choi

 K-Pop and Anime? How it's Done Done Done

Written by Soo Hyun Choi

Summer Orientation Peer Advisor 

Undergraduate Student (Rising Senior)

South Korea

While handling all my studies and extracurriculars, I like to spend a little time investing in two of my favorite things: K-Pop and anime. So, when “K-Pop Demon Hunters” finally dropped, I had a blast watching a bibimbap of those two favorite things while sitting on my living room floor (I won’t lie, I’m still on Team HUNTR/X, but Saja Boys are a good rookie group though!) But, when I’m not watching Jinu and Rumi at Naksan Park, my friends and I check our favorite spots for K-Pop and anime in Ann Arbor!

First off, I love taking pictures with my friend, but also posing like our favorite idols, or recreating anime references. So, going to Potobox, a Korean–style photobooth, happens really often! There’s three regular angle rooms, all with different background colours, and one room with a high angle. Along with lots of headbands and props, they have hair-styling tools to touch up a little. They also have a few arcade machines where you can win various prizes and even big Sanrio plushies. Lastly, for the actual photos themselves, there’s monthly themes and even K-pop collaborations that you can choose from. 

Next, Vault of Midnight is another must. It’s a comic/manga bookstore that also carries lots of illustration books, themed cookbooks (a friend bought a Pokémon-themed one!), and more. Even with their collection, if they don’t have a specific book you’re looking for when you visit, they’ll usually order it and have you pick it up later in the week if you ask! Alongside print, they also sell blind boxes, figurines, plushies, snacks, and other merchandise. From what I’ve heard, they’re a go-to location to collect Sonny Angels and Smiskis, so if you want to add to your angel/fairy family, or start one, this is your place!

Lastly, I have to mention karaoke. The place I want to highlight is Blue Karaoke, which is around 12 minutes from Central Campus and 43 minutes if you’re going by bus. All the rooms have updated Korean karaoke machines that also allow you to link your phone (my friends wanted to sing musical songs that weren’t in the system, so they just pulled them up on YouTube!). My friends and I sang our hearts out in Korean, Japanese, English, German, and many other languages. It’s a different feeling singing Golden and then Baka Mitai within the same hour (also, I’m sorry for no pictures here… we got too busy singing).

Ann Arbor has a way of celebrating everybody’s interests, no matter how niche. There’s so many other places that I could ramble about, but one important, last thing that I did want to plug in was to explore clubs, organizations, and groups (whether on Maize Pages or at Festifall/Winterfest). There’s genuinely so many on campus, so not only will you find your people, but they’ll probably have other locations that I still don’t know about. But hopefully, this’ll be a good jumping point to making your U-M experience yours.