Given how big and expansive anime has been getting as of late, it isn’t surprising that big named franchises like Attack on Titan capitalized on this with tons of cool official merchandise and product tie-ins.
Most times, this would result in high-quality figurines or other related items. And then there are the strangest collaborations. While some ad campaigns were weirder than what they were promoting, some products just stood out by simply existing.
10 A Certain Scientific Index Promo Stickers – Kick A Vending Machine
Stickers made to promote A Certain Scientific Railgun T may not sound like the most innovative thing, but the way they were given out was something both unique and violently fun. Long story short, Railgun fans had to kick a vending machine – as Misaka Mikoto does – to get the sticker.
To promote the latest Railgun season and the new Index game, a special vending machine was placed in the Shinjuku Metro Promenade. The machine worked like an arcade, where the strength of the player’s kick determined the prize. Most players would get one of 12 Index stickers, while stronger kicks could trigger the machine’s hidden function that drops multiple stickers at once.
9 Official Hanayo Organic Rice – $18.57 To $46.72
In Love Live!, the fan-favorite Hanayo Koizumi is known for her love of rice, especially rice balls. As a result, she’s been depicted either in a rice field or eating the staple food in countless promotional materials and fan art. That said, no one was really expecting Hanayo to get her own limited edition rice, but that’s exactly what happened.
In 2015, the company GG7 took pre-orders for some special Hanayo-branded organic Koshihikari rice. The rice came in three sets: a 500ml bottle (¥1,980), a 1kg bag (¥3,240), or three 500ml bottles (¥4,980). All rice sets came with a rice paddle plus some Hanayo merch. To top it all off, there’s also a Hanayo-themed rice cooker that costs ¥30,000 (or $281.44).
8 Rebuild Of Evangelion Shave Impact Set – $18.57 To $28.14
Despite being one of the most depressing and disturbing mainstream anime ever made, Neon Genesis Evangelion is so ridiculously popular in Japan that it has merchandise of just about anything – regardless of how said product or ad may run counter to its tone and themes. Take the official Schick shaving set that tied in with the Rebuild of Evangelion movies.
Not only was the shaver’s comfort christened “The Shave Impact,” but it was promoted by an excited Gendou Ikari – a cold man best known for his manipulative tendencies. What sells The Shave Impact most is how elaborate it is, coming with mini-figurines, motion-detecting locks, and an animated commercial that can only be called a Hideaki Anni-approved parody. The add-ons determined each set’s price, which can be found on Amazon Japan.
7 Attack On Titan Hair Removal Products – $12.95 To $15.76
Attack on Titan is known for many things, and unintentionally absurdist humor isn’t one of those. Case in point, Attack on Titan-themed hair removal products. A part of Three Piece Co.’s product line “Attack of Hair Removal,” these personal grooming sets were exactly as advertised. What caught eyes, though, were the boxes’ visuals.
The body wax kit was straightforward enough, featuring the Survey Corps doing their usual badass poses. Meanwhile, the nose hair kit came with a terrifying close-up of the Mini Titan. A later version replaced it with the Beast Titan. The body waxing kit cost ¥1,380, while the nose hair kit cost ¥1,680. Each kit came with a random badge featuring a certain character.
6 Charlotte & Kyubey Pet Costumes – $47.28
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is one of those deceptively cute anime that hides both death and existential horrors behind its colorful façade. Still, that didn’t stop the hit deconstruction’s studios from capitalizing on the demand for cutesy magical girl merchandise, which led to pet costumes themed after Charlotte and Kyubey.
Merch based on monsters and villains isn’t anything new, though selling cute versions of two monsters behind some of Madoka’s darkest moments is strange, to say the least. These aren’t even pet-sized shirts; they’re miniature versions of the behemoth Charlotte, while Kyubey’s is probably to scale. Each set costs ¥5,040, and both are creepy to those who know the context.
5 Limited Edition Tokiomi Tohsaka Tapestry – $7,035.98
One of the highlights of the bi-annual anime convention Machi Asobi is a charity auction (above; left), where participants could win exclusive items and merchandise from studio ufotable and Type-Moon. During the 2015 Machi Asobi, the crews behind Fate/Stay Night put limited tapestries of popular characters for sale, with the one featuring Tokiomi Tohsaka selling for a massive ¥750,000.
Aside from it being the only one of its kind, there’s nothing too spectacular about this tapestry. What makes the sale fascinating is that Tokiomi isn’t exactly the Fate character anyone would expect to inspire that big an auction bid and that the bidding war only ended after the two finalists played rock-paper-scissors. That said, this is still tame compared to the next Fate item here.
4 A 23ft-Long NSFW Miia Pillow Cover – $ 938.13
For those who always wanted to hug an anime character or a humanoid snake, the crew behind Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls has you covered. In Comiket 2015, the team sold limited edition Miia pillow covers that weren’t just more than 23ft long, but anatomically accurate. Despite being sold for almost ¥100,000 apiece, the covers sold out in an hour.
It should be noted that the Miia pillow cover is just that; it doesn’t come with any stuffing, and it was up to the owner to stuff it with their own pillows or a similar material. For the whole pillow to fit the bed, it’s recommended that the owner wrap themselves in Miia’s snake body. The cover’s price was justified by the high cost of materials, printing, and quality control.
3 A Mini AR Hatsune Miku Live Concert – Free With Every Box Of Domino’s Pizza Ordered Through The App
Without exaggeration, Hatsune Miku is extremely popular in Japan and could be found everywhere – including Domino’s Pizza. Miku promoting Domino’s isn’t too surprising, but the lengths the collaboration went to is. Using the “Domino’s App Feat. Hatsune Miku,” anyone who ordered a pizza got a special pizza box that came with an Augmented Reality (AR) Miku concert they can view with the app. Said pizza was delivered in a Domino’s Japan Pizza moped decked out in Miku decals.
The collaboration gave the internet one of the most unintentionally hilarious ads ever made, where then-Domino’s Japan CEO Scott Oelkers awkwardly promoted the app. The campaign worked, though, and Domino’s Japan was swamped with a massive demand for the Miku pizza boxes. Ironic appreciation aside, it’s the most successful thing that Domino’s Japan ever did.
2 An NSFW Film Strip From A Fate/Stay Night Movie – $2,784.37
Souvenirs from movie sets or productions raking in big bucks isn’t anything new, but one of the most famous ones to emerge from Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel II. Lost Butterfly shows just – for lack of better words – how wildly passionate the Fate fanbase can be.
After the sequel hit its fifth week and broke records, theaters began handing out strips from Heaven’s Feel II’s actual film reels as a memento. The strips were randomly chosen, and one guy got a close-up of Sakura from the scene where she and Shirou slept together. The owner later put the strip on Yahoo! Auctions, where it sold for a whopping ¥296,800. Contrast this to the strip of Shinji from the same movie that sold for a measly ¥587 (just $5.51).
1 A Char Aznable Adult Toy – $65.63
Anime is for people of all ages, and this could be the only reason why “personal massagers” bearing the names and aesthetics of famous anime characters exist. Case in point, a personal pleasure item sold under the name of the original Mobile Suit Gundam.
The Char Aznable Aznaburuburu, which is based on Char’s signature red Zaku and has his masked face on the box, costs around ¥7,000. Whether it’s three times as powerful or not is unsaid, though the “testimonials” from Gundam’s cast on the box’s back seem... satisfied.