There’s no more honest collaboration in anime history than this. Love Live! Sunshine!! and Febreze announced a partnership naming Mari Ohara as the “Goods Deodorization Ambassador of Oshi Activities”, and her mission is exactly what the title implies: keep fan merchandise smelling fresh during the Summer Comiket. Someone in marketing had the courage to say it out loud, and it must be respected.

As part of the campaign, Mari Ohara will be present at the Febreze booth during Summer Comiket, fulfilling her role as an ambassador tasked with deodorizing goods related to attendees’ favorite characters and idols. The premise is simple but has a direct implication: conventions are events with many people, long hours, and lots of heat, and the merchandise fans carry—figures to fabrics—can absorb the atmosphere. Febreze saw this as a campaign opportunity, and Love Live! lent one of its most expressive characters to execute it.

The announcement generated fun reactions online, with many appreciating the implied humor. The irony of an idol franchise, whose fan culture involves bringing goods to crowded events, partnering with a deodorizing brand for exactly those contexts wasn’t missed. It’s the kind of collaboration that works because no one pretends the problem it solves doesn’t exist.

Love Live! Sunshine!! is the second main franchise in the Love Live! universe, centered on the idol group Aqours formed by nine high school students in the coastal town of Numazu, Shizuoka. The franchise includes two anime seasons, movies, rhythm games, and active participation in events and conventions. Mari Ohara, a second-year student in Aqours, is known in the series for her extroverted personality, wealthy family background, and habit of using unexpected English phrases, making her a narratively coherent choice for an ambassador role requiring presence and charisma.

Do you think this type of absurd yet honest collaborations is exactly what anime marketing needs more of, or do you prefer more traditional tie-ins?