Fans’ love of Love Live! can save lives, earn them an exclusive illustration of idols in blood-red costumes.

One of the reasons hard-core anime fans get so excited about limited-edition merchandise is because it’s not something just anyone can obtain simply by walking into a store and plunking down a wad of cash. No, if you want those rare items, you have to be willing to travel across Japan to attend special fan events, camp out overnight, and/or sprint to the sales venue before they sell out.

And now there’s a piece of anime merch that you have to be willing to bleed for.

Blood drives are common in major Japanese cities, with health organizations setting up donation stations inside downtown buildings and mobile units inside specially equipped buses that park in urban centers. Usually, you’re given a warm thank-you and some sugary snacks for sharing your hemoglobin, but on February 20 the Japanese Red Cross Society is sweetening the deal by giving people who donate blood a plastic file featuring an exclusive illustration of the characters from smash-hit idol anime Love Live! Sunshine!!

▼ The high school idols are dressed in blood-red outfits.

A total of 50,000 files will be available nationwide, awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. This isn’t the first time for the Red Cross to actively covet otaku blood, as in 2016 the organization offered posters of anime and video game characters in a similar promotion. However, Love Live! is a far more popular franchise than any of the Red Cross’ previous anime partners, and those who’re familiar with the obsessive passion of Love Livers (as Love Live! fans are called) might be a little concerned.

See, while any anime series has a certain number of fans willing to rock a T-shirt or pin bearing the likeness of the cast, the most dedicated Love Livers will step out for the day wearing essentially a full suit of armor, with its plates made out of multiple copies of the same piece of Love Live! merchandise. Perhaps in light of this, the Red Cross’ announcement for its Love Live! team-up includes a reminder that after giving the standard 400-milliliter (13.5-ounce) donation of blood, men must wait 12 hours before making another donation, and women 16, which should act as a safeguard against zealous fans hopping right back in line again and again to keep getting files until there isn’t a drop of blood left in their bodies.

As such, it’s unlikely that any one fan will end up with two files, but if you’d like to do your part to help and also get what’s coming to you in terms of anime goodies, a list of Japanese Red Cross blood donation sites can be found here.

Source: Red Cross Society of Japan via Otakomu
Top image: Red Cross Society of Japan