Here in the world of Anime Merchandise Land, hug pillows are just as common as key chains, plushies, and 1/8-scale figures. Your favorite 2D character, whether its muscular Baki or centaur Himeko, are available for snuggle sessions. Retailers also continue to try to reinvent the wheel, adding more dimensions and other gimmicks to entice fans. Animaru added inserts to its pillows to recreate different breast sizes, but what about male characters and their rippling abs?
The Saitama-based creator Shirane launched an all-or-nothing crowdfunding campaign on Motion Gallery to make buff pillows a reality. The campaign is looking to raise 450,000 yen (US$4,200) by May 18. The product wasn’t designed merely as a novelty, but as a comforting device to help “heal” individuals. Unlike other hugging pillows, Oppai Makura also has arms attached to wrap around users in an embrace.
Creator Shirane displayed a pillow prototype as their graduation work at Ochanomizu Art Institute earlier this month. The project got such a huge response on Twitter, that Shirane decided to pursue crowdfunding to make more. Support for the idea has continued as the project is already well past its goal amount and has so far received 694,000 yen (US$6,500) from backers. The campaign’s 30,000 yen (US$284) backer tier to receive a personalized prototype pillow is already sold out.
[Via Nijimen]
