New 7-Eleven ATMs installed at select Animate locations will feature luscious anime pinup art and compelling lines from top-rate voice actors.
We’ve all been there, right? You’re stood at the local Animate anime merchandise emporium, eyes sparkling as you take in all the meticulously crafted anime figurines and discount lucky bags when you reach for your wallet and – disaster! You forgot to pull out enough yen to cover everything!
Fear not, because 7-Eleven‘s banking branch has teamed up with Animate to bring a new line of convenient ATMs that will set hearts racing, and not just because of low bank balances.
The Ikebukuro and Shinjuku Animate stores will unveil their new collaborative ATMs from August 27 (Ikebukuro) and September 4 (Shinjuku). Not only will the ATM itself be coated in tasteful shots of their original “concierge” characters, but the machines will disperse little comments on your transaction in a given character’s voice! Also, if you show your Animate card and a Seven Bank card while the collaboration is running, you can get a special novelty gift from the store staff.
▼ A video preview of the service
The concierges have their own character bios up on the collaboration website, complete with voice samples so you can decide ahead of time which machine deserves your patronage.
▼ Left to right:: Sho Kaido, Itsuki Hinata, Ryuji Himuro
▼ Left to right: Kanade Hino, Anju Suzunari, Tsukumo Tsukishiro, Niko Kagurazaka
- Leading red-head Sho Kaido (voiced by : Tomoaki Maeno – Neutrophil from Cells at Work and Natsume Asahina from Brothers Conflict) is 25 years old and loves black tea and English, making him a great pick for tourists.
- Itsuki Hinata (Yuki Ono – Tetsu Sendagaya from Servamp) the sullen gothic type, is 17 and lists chess and reading as his hobbies, with a note that he’s looked up to Sho since they were young.
- 35-year-old Ryuji Himuro (Kenjiro Tsuda – most notably Seto Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh!) is the bartender at a local cafe, and serves as a father figure to the others: he likes cooking and motorcycling.
- Blond boy Kanade Hino (Nobuhiko Okamoto – Katsuki Bakugou from My Hero Academia, Galdion from Pokémon Sun and Moon) is a fan of music and travel, and is the clown of the group even at 22 years old.
- Beautician Anju Suzunari (Yūsuke Kobayashi – Subaru Natsuki from Re:Zero) is 28 years old and enjoys make-up and alcohol.
- 20-year-old Tsukumo Tsukishiro (Ryohei Kimura – Kotaro Bokuto from Haikyuu and Ryouta Kise from Kuroko’s Basketball) is a fledgling actor who practices kendo and loves Japanese sweets.
- Lastly, the mysterious 13-year-old schoolboy Niko Kagurazaka (Tsubasa Yonaga – Manami Sangaku from Yowamushi Pedal and Hazuki Nagisa from Free!) is into playing the violin and making crafts, and is kind of a “little brother” type to the others.
The news was broadcast on TV to give potential bankers a glimpse of these cool cash counters in action:
And Animate Ikebukuro was quick to let users know where the ATMs were set up.
▼ They’re on the second floor in the elevator area!
Seems like a surefire hit, judging from online reactions:
“I wanna see a video of this. I’m a guy, but I’m kind of intrigued…”
“I get you, I’m a guy and I’m curious about it too.”
“Half of these look like Idolish 7 characters.”
“Make an AKB48 version as well!”
It might be hard to persuade certain anime fangirls to part with their hard-earned cash, but those alluring voices will go a long way to convince them!
Source: Dengeki Online via Otakomu
Images: 7-CONCIERGE