Destroy unwanted hair! The second "SLIM" series of hair removal goods with a half-impact "SLIM" [Collaboration no Gemba No. 6].

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 sites where these "collaborations" are being planned and ask about the appeal of the projects, interesting episodes, hardships, and other behind-the-scenes stories about the production! The sixth installment of this series is called "Collaboration no Gemba" (Collaboration's Gemba).

In this sixth installment, we will introduce "Shinkoku no Kyojin", which was developed based on the famous line from the TV animation "Shinkoku no Kyojin": "Exterminate! The second in the "Shigeki no Depilation Series," "Shigeki no Depilation SLIM," was developed based on the famous line from the TV anime "Shigeki no Kyojin" ("Destroy!"). The price has been slimmed down and re-tagged!　The "Nose Hair Waxing Kit," whose package depicts a cool Levi exterminating nose hairs, and the "Unwanted Hair Waxing Sheet," which depicts Eren targeting unwanted hairs with his sharp eyes, are now on sale exclusively at Don Quijote stores nationwide.

We spoke with Kenichi Sento, President and Representative Director of Monosense Corporation (photo on right), a subsidiary of BEENOS Corporation, which leads the cross-border EC business and has strengths in global business development, and Dai Uchimura, Licensing Div. of the Sales Division. They spoke passionately about the response to the launch of the first series, the circumstances that led to the launch of the second series, the purchasing base and response to the collaborative products, and future developments.

-- This time, the "Progressive Hair Removal Series" is back on the market!　I think the second series is a response to the positive response to the first series. First of all, please tell us about the response to the first series.

Uchimura: For the first series, the number of views of the product commercial video reached 10,000 PV in one week, and from the morning of the day we released the release, we had a steady stream of phone calls to Don Quijote, the company that sells the product. At this point, we felt that we wanted to connect with the second version of the product. The timing of the release coincided with the start of Season 3 of the anime, and with the introduction of a new character (the Beast Giant) who could be used as an image of hair loss, we proposed the new series to Don Quijote. Due to the positive response to the first series, the planning for the second series seemed to go smoothly.

-- These products have quite an impact. What made you decide to collaborate on a hair removal item?

Uchimura: Just as the market for hair removal products was picking up, the popular Brazilian wax item also began to attract attention. In the line from the movie "The Progressive Titan," there is a line that goes, "Exterminate! which can be linked to the word "eliminate hair.　This led to the idea of "hair removal, isn't that interesting? And that's how we came to the conclusion that "hair removal is interesting.

-- I have an image of Levi as a cleaning character who likes to keep clean, but the image of the popular character Levi removing his nose hair ...... is shocking.

Uchimura: We were grateful that the copyright holder was flexible in drawing new illustrations. It's a little hard to imagine Levi holding his nose hair and saying, "OK! We are grateful that the copyright holder respected our suggestions and was willing to try various things.

Sento: Since we had the keyword "extermination," I think the fact that the copyright holder accepted our proposal, despite the difference between "Titan" and "hair," and the fact that the product conveys the appeal of the work, were factors in their acceptance of our proposal.

-- I have the impression that there were no difficulties in the collaboration project, as the copyright holders were very flexible in their approach.

Uchimura: Yes, it was more fun than difficult. Not only the illustration of Levi pulling out his nose hair, but also the use of the Shinkage touch in the product logo, etc. They did everything possible to accommodate our ideas of "this would be fun" and "it would be nice to do it this way," so we were able to enjoy the project as we went along.

-- Could you tell us why you chose Don Quijote as your distributor?

Uchimura: It goes without saying, but the main reasons are that Don Quijote has stores all over Japan, from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south, that they carry a wide variety of products, and above all, that they have a high affinity with anime characters. When we plan character products, they listen to us and say, "Sounds interesting! We have already had a good track record with regard to our products. We have already had a good track record with regard to products, so they entrusted us with the handling of their products. We received positive feedback regarding sales promotion materials and the use of special fixtures to bring the products to the customer's attention.

-- What kind of people are the buyers of your products and who are the customers who contact you for inquiries?

Uchimura: Many of them were women who were fans of "Shinkage no Kyojin. Many customers purchased the promotional badges, especially for Levi, and we received many messages on SNS, such as "I didn't get any Levi," or "I got the one I didn't target! and "I got the one I didn't aim for!" Many people posted photos of the badge of the Titan with the hairy nose. Many people said that they were fans of the works, or that they had come for the promotional items, but that it was their "first hair removal" experience. There were also quite a few people who normally do not use hair removal products, but the contents of the magazine made them "give it a try". As for nose hair, the response from men was good.

Sento Uchimura also tried shin-hair sheets for the first time.

-- How did you feel about using it?

Uchimura: When I saw my smooth legs, I thought, "Surprisingly, removing hair is not a bad idea. I don't have very strong skin, but I think I'll become addicted to it because it was less irritating and made me feel so beautiful. Recently, the culture of hair removal has spread to men as well, to the extent that some men even remove their finger hair.

Sento: Our focus is on product quality. We do not consider collaboration products to be dependent on content. We also do not want the product to destroy the image of the content, so we aim to maximize sales through synergy between the content and the product! Our goal is to maximize sales through the synergy of content and product. We chose Brazilian wax this time because it is a common method of hair removal among women, so we thought it would be easy to attract their interest.

-- Are there any changes from the first product?

Uchimura: We have reduced the volume of the product to make it more affordable and set the price at 980 yen, less than 1,000 yen, to lower the price range and purchase hurdle compared to the first product. Therefore, we have added the word "SLIM" to the product name. The product is available in limited quantities, and since it is the season of increased skin exposure, we hope you will purchase it as soon as possible (laughs).

-- The nostalgia of the copyright holder and the commitment to the product. We can expect to see a variety of products in the future.

Sento: This is not an age when you can just put a popular character on a product and it will sell. We want to be particular in our selection of content and products. Since we are in the wholesale business, we are able to listen to the real voices of distributors and retailers. This is an advantage in product planning.

In addition to the "Progress of the Giants" series, we are currently developing a gift cosmetics series for "Pokemon. We are planning to launch a body gel for the summer, but we are also developing a series of gloss, lip and face packs. In order to create a sense of unity among the products in the series, we have added a common heart mark to the illustration, pastel-colored packaging, and facial expressions designed to match the products. We try to develop products that are easy for customers to buy and easy for retailers to sell.

-- I heard that the "Pokemon" gift cosmetics will be sold in Taiwan. Are there many of these collaborative products sold overseas?

Sento: Taiwan is the same, but in Korea, there are many cute products to begin with, so I think there is a good fit with these kinds of collaborative products. People may come to us from the content or from the products, but we always keep in mind that the products should be ones that can be recommended to others or given as gifts.

Uchimura: We also incorporate techniques from Korea, where cute cosmetics products have always sold well. No matter how good a product is, it will not sell unless people are interested in it, regardless of the reason for their interest, such as "I've never seen this before" or "It's very unusual. If people don't pick up the product, there is no future for it.

-- So you are targeting overseas customers as well?

Uchimura: The reason we are planning products with "Shinkage no Kyojin" and "Pokemon" is because we are also considering the 2020 Olympics. As the number of foreign visitors to Japan increases, we hope that more people will pick up these products as souvenirs and learn more about Japan content through our products and experience Japanese culture.

Sento: In addition to domestic distribution, as the BEENOS Group, we have strength in our overseas network. MonoSense, which handles product development and EC production and operation agency within the group, is always thinking about development with an overseas perspective, with the mission of expanding the possibilities of Japanese content. We would like to focus not only on content that is already popular, but also on collaborations to nurture creators and brands.

(Interview and text by Shinobu Tanaka)