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Last weekend, McDonald’s Japan launched a new Happy Meal, or “happy set” as they’re known here. As with all of the fast food giant’s kid-centric food boxes, these sets come bundled with a gift guaranteed to appeal to children so much that they’ll bug their parents incessantly to take them to the Golden Arches.

This time, however, the bundled gift was a little bit more special than usual, with McDonald’s securing a deal to offer sets of arcade cards for anime sensation Yo-Kai Watch. While that name not (yet) mean much to anime and Happy Meal fans in the West, this collaboration pretty much allows McDonald’s Japan to print money, and there were lines out of the door at dozens of locations from the moment the sets went on sale.

What are kids in Japan all clamouring for right now? Take it away, Mickey D!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wiq2CgJna6g

There are also idol game Aikatsu! cards available, which are being marketed as the “girls'” happy meal, but the overwhelming majority of customers seem to be lusting after one thing only: Yo-Kai Watch.

To get an idea of how popular this anime series is in Japan right now, take a look at these photos shared over the weekend by amazed and confused Twitter users.

▼ “I went to my local McDonald’s today, but it was super crowded because of Yo-Kai Watch.”

https://twitter.com/ninja09070587/status/508291159324499969

▼”This entire lane of traffic is waiting to get into McDonald’s. I heard it’s because the Happy Meal toy is Yo-Kai Watch. It was never like this even for Pokémon.”

https://twitter.com/812hiromi/status/508098292673028096

▼ “Why is there such a long line outside McDonald’s?”

https://twitter.com/okimiyaaa612/status/508087616319668224

▼ “The line at McDonald’s is crazy LOL”

▼ “My local McDonald’s.”

Say what you will about McDonald’s, those guys know how to make money through a promo.

Source: Buzz News via Itai News
Feature image: Twitter – Okimiyaaa612, Yokai Watch/Aikatsul image: McDonald’s Japan