A seemingly innocent bag of random anime and game merch became the trigger for a peculiar addiction.

Every time it’s the same thing. Our reporter, Yuichiro Wasai, pushes the “ON” button only to have it fly up, bump into something, and fall to the ground. Then, a compulsion to pick it up and do it all over again overwhelms him.

It all started when Yuichiro went to Akihabara in search of those annually sold bags of discounted random items called “fukubukuro.” He ended up at a shop that specializes in secondhand anime figures and other merchandise called Liberty.

Given all the titles and genres of anime there are, Yuichiro thought this might be an exciting fukubukuro to pick up and laid down the 3,000 yen (US$27) needed to buy one. But would he get any figures of something he was into? Or would he end up with a bunch of stuff from a light novel series with a title like I Can’t Believe My Little Sister Secretly Wants to be a Roller Derby Star…and for Me to be Her Manager?!!

Let’s take a look at what’s inside:

2018 Liberty (Akihabara Secondhand Store) Fukubukuro

・4 Figure Type Things

Two large figures from Monster Strike and Puzzle & Dragons

And two other smaller, gachapon-style figures

・3 Key-chainy things featuring the likes of Kancole and Mega Man

・Also included were a train pass holder, a mysterious plastic ball, and the Flying Mascot.

You all can decide for yourself whether that was a good haul or not. With anime and game stuff like that it really all boils down to personal preference anyway, but Yuichiro was more than satisfied. The reason for this was the Flying Mascot.

The Flying Mascot is a Sumikkogurashi character with a helicopter attached and is controlled by a remote switch. However, I use the term “control” loosely, because once the button is pushed it just kind of goes wherever it wants.

And therein lies the majestic beauty of the Flying Mascot.

Marvelous, isn’t it? Normally we’d condone a product like this on safety grounds considering that it propels itself wildly through the air with multiple rotating blades and bearing the likeness of a character aimed at little girls. But in the hands of a middle aged man it is simply a delight to behold.

Oops! Little guy made his way under a chair this time.

It’s not clear why Yuichiro is so engrossed with this toy. Perhaps it’s the elegance of its design, simplicity of its use, or the fact that he is currently trying to quit smoking and is transferring his addictive urges onto something else.

It’s a mystery that will puzzle scholars for years to come.

By the way, according to the staff at Liberty, these kinds of fukubukuro will not be sold into 2019. They were strictly a end-of-2018 deal. However, they will be sell character-specific bags based on popular series like Fate/Grand Order and Saekano in the new year.

So, that means if you want to revel in the wonder of a Flying Mascot of your very own or are trying to get a monkey off your very own back, you’ll have to get one the old fashioned way by buying one individually at at a toy shop.

Related: Liberty, San-X
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