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Publisher Shogakukan’s monthly girls’ manga magazine Ciao always comes packed with bonus goodies that are designed to appeal to its targer market of girls aged 9-15. For the April edition, Ciao‘s publishers really seem to have outdone themselves, though, since everyone from young girls to adult men are snapping up the latest issue with its supplemental goodies which are collectively being advertised as “the ultimate manga creator set.” Keep in mind that this is all for a very reasonable price of 570 yen (US $4.78).

However, a recent trend on social media has shown that many purchasers of the April issue aren’t using the extra items to hone their manga-making skills at all, but are instead buying it with a very different idea in mind.

The April issue of Ciao has been flying off the shelves of bookstores and convenience stores all across Japan, and many net users have commented that the magazine is sold out at their local shops. So what’s all the hype about? It turns out that this month’s bonus goodies packaged alongside the manga are pretty impressive.

▼ “This month’s Ciao (570 yen [US$4.78]) comes packaged with a light box, screentone, a comic pen, paper, and artist model doll…It’s an amazing age we live in.”

https://twitter.com/ayao_ekaki/status/573425567405461504

For the record, here are the goodies as they’re being promoted on Ciao’s official website:

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In a recent trend spreading on social media, many buyers of the magazine seem to be using the light table for an entirely different purpose altogether, though: an illuminated display for their model Gundam and other figure collections!

Check them out:

▼ Many people have commented that the light box adds the perfect amount of light to illuminate their prized figures.

▼ The effect is even cool with non-robotic anime figures, like Puella Magi Madoka Magica’s Mami.

By the way, the device is battery-operated, so there’s no need to keep it tethered to an electrical socket.

This isn’t even the first time that Ciao has released a manga creator set, as one came packaged with an issue last year. That set proved to be so popular that the publishers decided to release this new, upgraded set. According to purchasers, this month’s version is about 1.5 times larger in size and includes a third LED light inside.

It looks like Ciao will be hard-pressed to come up with a more popular bonus item for next month!

Source: Naver Matome
Featured image: Twitter (@top_6525)
Insert image: Ciao