【Lucky Bag Roundup 2018】Animate’s awesome set has over 70 anime goodies for under 30 bucks

A near-unbeatable equation for anime otaku to start the new year with.

As always, our staff has spent the first days of the new scurrying across Tokyo snatching up lucky bags (or fukubukuro, as they’re called in Japanese) filled with food, fashion, and gadgets. But for our Japanese-language correspondent Seiji, the must-get fukubukuro is always the one from anime retailer extraordinaire Animate.

Animate has a handful of branches in downtown Tokyo. The nearest one to SoraNews24 headquarters is in the Ikebukuro neighborhood, though, so that’s where Seiji headed to stand in line with other otaku and patiently wait his turn to get his hands on a bag stuffed full of anime goodies.

And stuffed it was! Despite its moderate 3,000-yen (US$27) price tag, Animate’s fukubukuro was packed with more than 70 different anime trinkets!

For starters, Animate’s fukubukuro contained 32 key holders and 25 pin badges, representing anime franchises including Gintama, Osomatsu-san, Tanaka-kun is Always Listless, Idolish7, Servamp, and Bakuon.

Plastic files are always handy to have around, and inside the bag were a total of five, with artwork from (Scared Rider Xechs, Marginal#4 Kiss Kara Tsukuru Big Bang, and Tsukiuta.

Next up, stickers (from Yuri!!! on Ice, High School Fleet and Tsukiuta), a Yoshiko Tsushima (from Love Live! Sunshine!!) flat case, and a Prince of Stride Alternative shitagaki (pencil board).

And finishing off Seiji’s haul photos, a Yume Okoku to Nemureru 100 Nin no Oji-sama Short acrylic character stand, Days smartphone cover, some Dragon Quest Monsters 2 stickers, and a Tsukiuta pen.

Add in the six cellphone/bag straps from Idolish7, Trickster, and a few more anime, and Seiji’s per trinket cost works out to only about 50 yen (US$0.45) per item, which is an incredible deal. Granted, due to Ikebukuro being a mecca for female animation fans, the lucky bag contents were a little heavy on dreamy anime boys for Seiji’s personal tastes, but he’s still happy to be sitting on a mountain of merch, and now has plenty of souvenirs and presents to give to his anime-loving acquaintances throughout the year.

Photos ©SoraNews24

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