[Aeolian]

I thought this was highly amusing, "lets go to a fan event and get pikachu condoms"

Wouldn't surprise me how many people will attend just for the free protection.

Attendees at this month’s otaku gathering can get their hands on not just art books and posters, but limited-edition prophylactics too.


One could argue that for a long stretch of history, otaku had a built-in, practically bullet-proof method of protection against unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases: being otaku. For many years, Japan’s manga and anime fan communities were overwhelmingly male and alarmingly unbathed, with the collective effect being a heavy reduction on their chances for sexual encounters.

Over the last few years, though, Japanese fandom has become increasingly gender-balanced and socially connected, to the extent that otaku-centric matchmaking services have even begun popping up. So with those changes to the dating landscape, it makes a certain kind of sense that at the upcoming Comiket, Japan’s largest gathering of independent comic and anime-style art creators, one booth will be handing out free condoms.