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What happens when you walk into a Tokyo Starbucks dressed as a giant teddy bear? 【Video】

Casey Baseel Mar 5, 2016
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SB 6

Really, did you think we were going to go to the trouble of making an adorable bear suit and not show it off at our local coffeehouse?

You know how sometimes, due to an ordering snafu, your workplace might end up with an extra pack of printer paper or box of pens? Well, at RocketNews24, our line of work means that we recently wound up with an extra gigantic teddy bear that’s as tall as anyone in our office.

We named her Angelica, but recently one of our Japanese-language reporters, P.K. Sanjun, decided to remove Angelica’s stuffing and create a full-size bear suit, which he’s taken to calling Sangelica (we didn’t have the heart to tell him that Sangelica isn’t a real name, plus you really don’t want to get into a debate with a guy who guts giant stuffed animals for fun).

After an afternoon of prancing around RocketNews24 headquarters, we’d thought Sangelica’s antics were over, but it turns out that P.K. had worked up quite a thirst. Thankfully, there’s a Starbucks just a couple blocks away, so our ursine-looking coworker decided to go pick up some coffee.

Without changing his outfit.

While P.K. knows the streets of Shinjuku like the back of his hand, it’s pretty hard to see said streets out of the tiny air hole he’d added to the stuffed animal (since it wasn’t designed to be worn, it doesn’t have eye holes). So we sent another of our staff members, Seiji, along to guide him to his destination, and also to keep an eye out for hunters or animal control officers.

Thankfully, no one shot a hunting rifle or tranquilizer gun at our two intrepid reporters. On the other hand, just five seconds after stepping out our building’s front door a young woman fired a cry of “Kawaii (cute)!” at Sangelica, and she was far from the last.

Virtually every woman whose path crossed P.K.’s audibly remarked at how adorable he looked, and before long it had him feeling giddy inside his bear suit. Sure, it was hot, stuffy, and hard to move in, plus he could barely see anything, but the constant shower of delighted squeals, including several shouts of “Oh, I just want to give it a big hug!” had him feeling pretty good about himself, even if it was all thanks to his adorable attire.

Eventually, Seiji and P.K. arrived at the coffee house, but before going in, they stopped to gather their resolve. Would Starbucks serve a bear, they wondered, especially one like Sangelica that had no visible shirt or shoes?

Still, they’d come this far, so with a final “Good luck!” from Seiji, Sangelica stepped through the door.

Inside, there was a brief moment of silence, as customers noticed there was now a bear in their midst. Then, like an approaching wave, P.K. could hear the surrounding conversations becoming more and more animated, before people started calling out to him.

“Kawaii!”
“Kaawaaiiii!!”
“Kaaaawaaaaiiiiiiii!!!!

Yes, Sangelica was a hit, and not just with the customers, as evidenced by this message the barista wrote on P.K.’s cup.

“You’re just too cute, Mr. Bear! But please be careful not to eat too much honey, OK?”

With that, it was time for P.K. to head outside and enjoy his drink. We’re sure plenty of customers were sad to see him go, but the bear suit really is too bulky to fit into a standard-size seat.

And also, while Sangelica is adorable 95 percent of the time, it’s really pretty disturbing to see how the bear drinks through its forehead.

But hey, what the people who were inside Starbucks don’t know won’t hurt them.