The Idolmaster compels otaku and gamers to get to Shinjuku Station at the crack of dawn for some cool free merch.

Anime otaku and hard-core video gamers aren’t generally thought of as morning people. Many of them are students or young adults, demographics which tend to be night owls anyway, and when you mix in the temptations of late-night broadcast anime or extended nocturnal gaming sessions, they’re not too likely to be getting up with the chickens.

So when a new large-scale advertisement for the Idolmaster idol-rearing anime/video game franchise appeared on the morning of July 24 in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station, covered with freebies for passersby to take, the series’ handlers probably figured they had a cool, all-day promotion set up.

▼ No, this isn’t another anime condom giveaway. The pouches contain Idolmaster stickers.

https://twitter.com/LT_hosaka/status/889225515311169536

The advertisement was celebrating the day’s CD release of three new songs from the Idolmaster franchise which are part of the newest game in the series, Idol Master Million Live Theater Days. A section of the passageway wall was covered with red and white plastic pouches, arranged to spell out a giant “Thank you” for any fans walking by the roughly 10-meter (33-foot) display. As the pouches are removed, an illustration of Idolmaster characters is revealed on the wall behind them.

The above photos were snapped at 5:47 in the morning, long before rush hour starts. By 6:05, though, there were already pouchless patches starting to spread.

The above Twitter user managed to snag some stickers because he’d been working an overnight shift at his job, and swung by the station on his way home. And as it turned out, starting work or school at the normal time of nine o’clock basically precluded you from getting your hands on any of the Idolmaster goodies, since they were all gone before 8 a.m.!

▼ 7:54 a.m.

https://twitter.com/popopoyukipo/status/889257406449958912

On the other hand, those who arrived late (or just not incredibly early) got to see the full illustration, as sort of a consolation prize.

https://twitter.com/Clive_hg/status/889258475959844865 https://twitter.com/ara__wata/status/889262434803896320

But on the bright side, with Shinjuku Station being Japan’s hottest hot spot for interactive ads, soon enough there’ll probably be another up on its walls.

Source: Otakomu, Twitter/@ara__wata

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