This anime-inspired keyboard looks amazing but will seriously hurt your wallet

Looking for a new mechanical keyboard? The AngryMiao AFA R2 might be right up your street and comes in several gorgeous colorways, but you’ll have to splash out almost $800 to get it.

The world of mechanical keyboards is as wide and vast as the ocean, with a dizzying number of features, customizations, and layouts. It’s so large that boutique manufacturers like AngryMiao have made a name for themselves crafting nothing but the best-possible boards they can muster.

Enter the AFA R2, which comes in an ergonomic layout, and comes in five anime and gaming-inspired colorways. Boldly, the website claims that the AFA R2 is inspired by the VF-19 featured in Macross, a mecha anime series from the 80s, featuring Shoji Kawamori’s iconic designs. Kawamori’s mecha designs were most recently featured in Armored Core 6.

The layout is split across two pads, with ergonomic slopes allowing for minimal wrist strain while in use. This is a nice break from other rival keyboards we have seen, which don’t often offer an ergonomic Alice-style layout. But, being from a boutique manufacturer, you can expect to be able to customize everything from its frame, switches, keycaps, and internal design, too.

The company claims it takes 10 hours of CNC processing and polishing to create its striking frame, and it looks absolutely gorgeous. The keyboard will land in five colorways, each inspired by pop-culture icons like Zelda, Robocop, Evangelion, and Demon Slayer.

The three-stage spring mount can help personalize how your typing experience feels, and it’s custom-crafted for rapid disassembly and reassembly. You can choose three layers of dampening, with switch pads, plate options, and much more to choose from in its configurator, too.

Brace your wallets

Angrymiao

Given that so much thought and effort has gone into its design, picking up a kit for yourself will run you almost $800. However, if you’re well-versed in the world of custom keyboards, you might be able to pick yourself up a barebones kit starting at $680, instead.

Given the quality of the product in its official imagery, this is a high-end board created for those who are looking for nothing but the best typing experiences possible, and good lord does it look beautiful. It even has a glass PCB cover right in the centre.

Several of its colorways are already sold out, and orders will be shipped from October 2023. To check out all colorways or grab one for yourself, you can head to AngryMiao’s website for more.