The name of the hotel was the trigger for the birth of the "Blade of Demon's Destruction" collaboration! We asked the PR manager of the Hotel New Otani about the story behind the collaboration! Collaboration Gemba No. 17

Today, with the increasing collaboration between various industries and subcultures such as anime and voice acting, there are many people who say, "Whoa, they're doing it! You're doing it," "What? You did it! and "Oh, you're doing it!" and "What?

Akiba Research Institute is going to visit the planning sites of "collaborations" of interest to learn about the appeal of the projects, interesting episodes, and behind-the-scenes stories about the hard work involved! The series "Gemba of Collaboration" is a series of articles about the fascination of the project, interesting episodes, and behind-the-scenes stories about the hard work involved.

In this 17th installment, we will be featuring the collaboration between "Demon Slayer," an anime "Yugaku-hen" that is currently in theaters to rave reviews, and Hotel New Otani. This collaboration project, the largest in Hotel New Otani's history, is being held for a limited time until March 31, 2022 (Thursday). We asked the person in charge of the project about his passion for the project, and also checked out the report that introduces every corner of the floor!

⇒ Hotel New Otani, one of the top three hotels in Japan, collaborated with the anime "Demon Slayer! We also have a full report on the premium suites priced at over 180,000 yen per night!

We spoke with Shinichiro Kataoka, PR Manager of Hotel New Otani, who gave us a detailed report on the collaboration. The entire main floor of the hotel was transformed into the world of the "Demon Slayer" anime. How was this special space created, where you can enter the world of "Demon Slayer" from the moment you step into the elevator hall? We asked him about the background of the collaboration and his thoughts on the project.

Kataoka──We were guided to every corner of the floor, and I could sense the great care and attention to detail that went into the creation of this space.

Kataoka: Thank you very much. We are very pleased to have received so many positive comments from our staff.

─ ─ It is also amazing that you have made the entire floor the world of the "Demon Slayer" anime. How did the project start?

Kataoka: Hotel New Otani has been collaborating with anime ("TIGER & BUNNY" and "Toukendanbu-ONLINE-"), characters (Sanrio "KOMIMYUN"), and brands ("PAUL & JOE") for a long time. Our previous collaborations have been well received by our customers, and we have been thinking a lot about how we can provide even more new entertainment for our customers to enjoy using the large space of the Hotel New Otani. It is a great pleasure for us to be able to collaborate with "Demon Slayer," an anime that has become a social phenomenon, and we are ready to take on a great challenge.

─ ─ The anime has become a social phenomenon, and there have already been many collaboration projects with this content, so there must have been a lot of pressure for you to collaborate with them.

Kataoka: The fan base is very broad, which is one of the reasons why we used the entire floor this time. It is very important to create a world view, but we decided to use an entire floor with various types of rooms so that a wide range of customers can enjoy the collaboration, whether alone, with friends, or with family.

─ ─ How much did you know about the anime "Demon Slayer"?

Kataoka: Of course, I was familiar with the work. After the collaboration was decided, I studied it very hard. There were many fans among our staff, so I am not only a fan of the work, but as a member of the hotel staff, I am also very particular about it. I think we can be proud of the collaboration with "Demon Slayer," an animation produced by the Hotel New Otani.

─ ─ What did you find difficult about the collaboration project?

Kataoka: Thankfully, we had the cooperation of Aniplex, the copyright holder, and ufotable. For example, ufotable made a new illustration of us wearing Hotel New Otani uniforms, and they considered various ways to make our guests enjoy the show. We shared a lot of opinions with each other and worked together to create a good collaboration. It was a lot of work to scrutinize every detail until the very last minute and give it shape, but when I see the finished product, I am glad that we did it.

─ I got the impression that the collaboration was the result of the enthusiasm of the staff!

Kataoka Thank you very much. Some of the productions can only be experienced inside the hotel. For example, there is a character voice guide. This is something you can only enjoy during your stay at the hotel. It is one of the points that the entire staff can confidently recommend.

The premium suite of the highest grade that we interviewed

───What is your guess, Kataoka-san?

Kataoka It's a secret. ......, I would like to say (smiles), but Sumijiro is my favorite. I was attracted to him because he is kind-hearted, serious, strong, and firm. I thought that each of the other characters had their own unique flavor.

──This collaboration has attracted a lot of attention, especially on SNS, but is there any difference from your usual inquiries?

Kataoka As I mentioned earlier, we have received inquiries from a really wide range of age groups and groups, such as those who want to use the hotel with their grandchildren, those who want to spend time with friends, and those who want to fully enjoy the hotel on their own. We expect that more attention will be paid to the details that will be released from time to time during the event period, as well as to the comments on SNS and other media from guests who have actually stayed at the hotel.

───Did your impression of anime and character collaborations change through this project?

Kataoka: We have received many very satisfactory comments from customers who have actually used the service and from the media. We feel confident that we would like to expand our services in various ways in the future. Since the Hotel New Otani was founded, we have always been thinking of new things and creating new things, which is why we added "NEW" to our name. We are a hotel that seeks to introduce new things to the world in response to ever-changing lifestyles, and to provide our guests with a place to enjoy and relax. We will continue to seek ways to increase guest satisfaction in various ways, not limited to collaboration.

─ ─ I am personally very much aware of the challenge of new things. In fact, I am familiar with this hotel because it was close to the school I attended, but I never imagined that we would be doing this kind of collaboration. It is very fresh.

Kataoka Thank you very much. It is encouraging to hear such comments. We hope that you will continue to look forward to this event, but first of all, we all want to do our best to make your stay with us enjoyable during the period of the event. We look forward to seeing you soon.