Sounds like the kids had a good time! You've got a lady otaku in training. They call themselves Fujoshi (腐女子), a play on word for woman, with the substitution of 腐 (rotten) in place of 婦. They visit Akihabara and Ikebukuro (Otome road, which focuses on the boys love genre) equally.
Maid cafe on 4F... You might have been at cafe @home original store, which is just a block from their branch in Don Quixote. They are on the playful side. Other cafes can be more reserved or alternative, i.e. girls dressed as guys, guys dressed as girls or anywhere in between.
Originally Posted by
MNSooner
Since she is into Cosplay, I know that we willl be spending some time in Akihabara. Any suggestions on the best day of the week (or time of the day) to run into the Otaku there?
Sunday afternoons are the best, especially after they restart the HokoTen (pedestrian mall) initiative on 18 July (tenatively). The city will close the main road on Sunday afternoons.
Re: region 2 DVD, PC DVD drives have the same 5 region change limitation. It is enforced by the drive. The standalone players may have secret menus that bypass the region lock.