For when you’ve got too much sexy anime art to carry yourself, but don’t want the moving company to know what they’re carrying for you.

Otaku tend to be hoarders by nature. If there’s a series that’s captured your heart and stokes you passions, odds are there’s plenty of limited-edition box sets, posters, and other merch that you’re never going to part with, since it’s become irreplaceable in the time since you’ve bought it.

That’s especially true for fans of dojinshi (self-published manga). Most dojinshi make technically unauthorized use of existing, copyrighted characters, with the anime/manga industry giving dojinshi artists a pass as long as their operations don’t get too big, which necessitates production runs in very limited numbers.

A lot of dojinshi aren’t just rare, though, but explicitly sexual in nature. That can present a problem if you’ve got a dojinshi treasure trove that you’re determined to hang on to, but that’s grown so long it requires the help of a professional moving service when you’re heading to a new home. However, Japanese Twitter user and dojinshi enthusiast @lr2SsvDQXIVjaYh came up with a solution,

https://twitter.com/lr2SsvDQXIVjaYh/status/1135871801609793538

Step 1: Put dojinshi into two large cardboard boxes
Step 2: Seal the boxes with tape
Step 3: Write “Mummified mermaid (will kill anyone who looks at it)” on one box
Step 4: Write “Mummified kappa [water imp] (will kill anyone who looks at it)” on the other

This lets you easily keep track of what’s inside and allows the movers to easily refer to specific boxes while hauling your stuff from your old home to your new one, all without letting on that the boxes are actually filled with collection after collection of lascivious anime-style artwork. “During the move, I’d hear the movers say things like ‘The kappa mummy box is heavier, so hand me that one first,’” reports @lr2SsvDQXIVjaYh.

Online commenters were impressed with @lr2SsvDQXIVjaYh’s cunning, though some also pointed out potential pitfalls in his porn protection protocol.

“You could also write ‘monkey paws.’”
“But now that you’ve put this on the Internet, one of the movers you hired might see it.”
“A long time ago, I read an article in an anime magazine that recommended writing ‘old textbooks’ on the box in situations like this.”
“You could also just go with ‘documents,’ right?”

Those last two commenters make a good point, as “mermaid mummy” is definitely going to get people’s attention in a way that “textbooks” doesn’t. However, there’s a potential upside to the outlandish descriptions @lr2SsvDQXIVjaYh went with. For starters, it helps you keep track of which box your dojinshi are in, and which your actual regular books and documents are in, so that you don’t accidentally open your doijinshi stash in front of eyes you’d rather keep them hidden from. Second, it implies that there’s something special about the boxes, and so they’ll probably be handled with greater care than one that just says “documents.”

Of course, not everyone looks down on dojinshi, like the extremely thoughtful staff at this hotel. But if you’re worried about keeping your dojinshi collection on the down-low as you transition to your new home, a little camouflage can be a big help, in @lr2SsvDQXIVjaYh’s experience.

Source: Twitter/@lr2SsvDQXIVjaYh via Jin
Top image: Pakutaso
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!