Fans lined up for hours for this anime character, and a lot of them had to return home empty-handed.

Just a few weeks ago, Universal Studios Japan announced they would be teaming up with anime juggernaut Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba to create a new pop-up restaurant and AR coaster, with a few special extras for fans along the way.

One of those special extras would be an exclusive “popcorn bucket” featuring Nezuko, the sister of series protagonist Tanjiro. Nezuko became a demon after a fateful attack and now spends her days resisting the urge to bite people by wearing a bamboo muzzle and sleeping in a box to shield her skin from the demon-burning rays of the sun.

The USJ popcorn bucket created in her honour pays attention to all these character details, and comes filled with Honey Plum flavoured popcorn for the princely sum of 3,700 yen (US$33.65).

The Demon Slayer collaboration debuted to the public today, and the popcorn buckets went on sale one day earlier, on 16 September. So as soon as the gates opened on 16 September, fans made a beeline for the popcorn cart where the special Nezuko Popcorn Bucket was being sold.

It didn’t take long for Nezuko’s fans to swarm the area, and soon photos began popping up on social media, showing just how many were keen to get their hands on those special popcorn buckets.

▼ Long lines began to form at the popcorn cart in the morning.

▼ The buckets were so popular they were limited to three per customer.

▼ The next day, as stock began to run low, the limit was reduced to one box per customer.

▼ Some fans lined up for five hours to purchase the beautifully designed popcorn bucket.

https://twitter.com/apex_conan/status/1438686884859822082

▼ However, by 10:30 a.m. on 17 September, the popcorn bucket had sold out for the day.

That meant that fans who’d lined up for several hours, like this customer, had to return home empty-handed.

While the large majority of fans were earnestly purchasing the product for themselves, it didn’t take long for the popcorn buckets to appear online, where resellers were selling them for twice the retail price.

Resales are always inevitable whenever customers are allowed to purchase more than one item, so it wasn’t surprising to see Nezuko pop up at a jacked-up price point after her sell-out day at USJ.

Thankfully, the theme park aims to have more in stock from tomorrow, when hopefully more genuine Demon Slayer fans will be able to purchase the highly sought-after popcorn bucket…and not have to make do with Nezuko’s phallic bamboo tube at the Asakusa Demon Slayer store afterwards.

Source: Hachima Kikou
Images: Press Release
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