Creators team up with Street Fighter franchise, say speedy energy delivery is great for gamers and students.

Osaka-based UHA Mikakuto is launching a collaboration with video game publisher Capcom, releasing a total of 24 cards with character artwork from Street Fighter 6 on them. However, UHA Mikakuto isn’t a card or collectible company, but a snack food and beverage maker.

OK, so the cards are little extras that come wrapped inside packages of cookies or chocolates or something, right? Nope, they’re part of an energy drink promotion, and the deal isn’t that you get a free card taped to the can or bottle, because the card itself is what you drink the energy drink from.

Developed in conjunction with Kindai University’s pharmaceutical department, Energy Arts is a no-caffeine energy drink with a very unusual container: a card. Instead of twisting off a cap or pressing down a tab, you hold the card by its edges, then fold it back against itself to snap open the center seam so that you can drink the liquid that’s inside.

UHA Mikakuto says this is quicker and more convenient than a conventional energy drink container, since you can do the entire process with one hand and there’s very little trash to take care of afterwards. Because of that, the creators boast that Energy Arts is perfect for people looking for a quick boost in meetings, while studying, or competing in e-sports, the last of which being ostensibly where the idea to team up with Street Fighter came from.

As you can probably guess, the Energy Arts cards don’t hold as much liquid as a regular can or bottle would, with a capacity of just 12 milliliters (0.4 ounces). The concentrated Energy Arts formula, though, still delivers 1,000 milligrams each of amino acids arginine and citrulline, giving you the recharge of a full-size canned energy drink, the creators boast. Not only does the smaller amount of liquid to drink let you get back to whatever you want to focus on more quickly, it means fewer trips to the bathroom too. Energy Arts will also keep for 18 months, so provided you don’t accidentally break its seal, ostensibly you could keep one in your wallet in case of sudden energy needs.

UHA Mikakuto is offering the Street Fighter Energy Arts cards in packs of 10, for 3,213 yen (US$21), through Japanese crowdfunding site Makuake here between January 23 and May 10. Just be sure to keep them separate from any rare Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh cards you have in your home that you don’t want getting bent by accident.

Source: Makuake, PR Times via Denfamico Gamer via Hachima Kiko
Images: Makuake
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