Everybody has gotten their fair share of cuts and scrapes when they were kids from unfortunate falls while playing, including me. Whenever I did, I would pick out colorful band-aids because they were eye-catching and different from the normal ones. Aside from that, they were a pretty neat distraction too in case someone asked where I got my bruises.
Bandai makes adhesive band-aids even more fun with their new anime-themed band-aids that are enabled with augmented reality (AR) that summons characters to chant the pain away. And we’re not going to point you to the obvious pun here. You’ll get it.
“Pain, pain, go away!”
The band-aids showcase anime characters from the newest seasons to the PreCure and Sentai series: Star☆Twinkle PreCure and Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger respectively. These AR-enabled anime-themed band-aids “summons” the characters on the band-aid to your phone when you use your camera. Once they pop up on your screen, the characters would chant what translates to “Pain, pain, go away!” to “assist” in the healing.
Sure, there’s no actual effect to the healing process of the actual wound, but it’s a fun gimmick especially when you have young kids who specialize in getting cuts from playing too rough. It could support the healing from a psychological point of view though by being cheerful and happy, like a placebo. Both anime have separate packs with 20 band-aids and 15 unique designs to choose from.
Comfort through AR
To have that AR experience, you’ll need to download the AR Player app, available both on the Google Play and App Store. After that, just open the app on your device and use the camera to hover over the bandage for the characters to appear.
The anime AR-enabled band-aids were released on February 2, 2019, but sadly they’re only available in Japan. Each pack retails at ¥324 or $2.95. If you want to see these characters but you don’t live in Japan, you can always catch Star☆Twinkle PreCure that just aired last February 3, 2019. Meanwhile, you’ll have to wait for Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger to air on March 17, 2019.
YouTube: 救急バンソウコウＡＲコンテンツ
Photo credit: All shown images and videos are owned by Bandai Lifestyle and Bandai Namco Group.
Source: Bandai Lifestyle website and press release (Japanese language)
