Getting Your “Oshi” Life Started at the 100-Yen Shop! A Guide to the Latest “Oshi-Katsu” Goods at Daiso
Up until recently, I was a firm believer in the rule: “Only buy practical merch for my favorite character!” But one day, I went to an event with a friend who’s deep into her own “oshi-katsu” (fan activities), and that mindset completely blew away.
My friend’s “oshi” life was just so glittery and dazzling. She’d take photos with her acrylic standees and panels, display her photocards, carry her “oshi” around, even create stylish “itabags” lined with her favorite character pins and hand-sew her own plushies. I realized there are so many ways to express your love for a character.
That said, suddenly declaring “I want to do fancy ‘oshi-katsu’ like my friend!” wasn’t going to work. So, this time, I’m introducing products from the 100-yen shop Daiso that let anyone easily and affordably boost their “oshi-katsu” game.
Want to Pack Your “Oshi” With You? The “Clear Color Pouch (with Carabiner)” in Rich Color Variations!
Now you can carry them with you!
First up is the “Clear Color Pouch (with Carabiner)”. This is the product I discovered when I bought an acrylic standee and wondered how to carry it around safely. It perfectly answered my thoughts of, “I want to carry it carefully… but I also want to gaze at it anytime!” and “I want to show off my love, even in a small way!”
It’s great that the carabiner comes in color variations!
The pouch is a fairly large 17.5cm in total length. You can fit not just acrylic stands, but other goods inside too. It lets you create the world’s one-and-only special pouch, decorated with your own unique sense of style.
Until recently, only the carabiner part was colored, but now the pouch part comes in colors too. That alone made me go “So cute!” with inner excitement, but the color range is divine. Red, Pink, Blue, Black, Yellow, Orange, Green, Purple—it’s wonderfully broad. You can easily get your “oshi’s” color or a member’s color.
I’ve always had this wish to “carry my room around with me!” I’m now thinking about how to pack a piece of my room and my “oshi” into this pouch. Figuring out how to do that is the next fun challenge.
Just Insert Your Bought Cards to Display Them: The “Ribbon-Attached Trading Card Keychain”
You can go out with your oshi’s trading card!
Next is the “Ribbon-Attached Trading Card Keychain”. You know that feeling when you buy a trading card because “The art is too good!” and you desperately want to display it? I scoured SNS with keywords like “card oshi-katsu display” and “ribbon decorate card,” only to realize that making cute decorations is for advanced fans or those with great sense. Frankly, for someone clumsy like me, it was too difficult…
But I couldn’t abandon my heart’s desire: “Still…! I want to display it! I want to make it cute!” That’s when I found this product. It comes with lace, and you can create a display just by slipping your purchased card inside. It even has a lid to prevent loss (So kind… Is Daiso my mom?).
It’s a great help that there are multiple sizes.
Just welcome your “oshi” home and put it in the case—your display is complete. The color selection is limited, but there’s also an L-size version. Next time, I want to try adding beads to the ribbon part to express my own originality.
Make Shooting a Breeze: The “Stand (for Acrylic Keychains)” & “Oshi-Shooting Stick (for Keychains)”
The oshi (acrylic stands) are all lined up and standing!
And when you talk “oshi-katsu,” photos of your “oshi” (plush, acrylic stand, acrylic keychain, etc.) × other “oshi” merch (panels, collaboration menu items, etc.), or your “oshi” × the venue entrance are a must. That’s where I recommend the “Stand (for Acrylic Keychains)” and the “Oshi-Shooting Stick (for Keychains)”. The “Stand” lets you display several of your “oshi” together at once.
It’s a product based on a simple idea, but pretty handy.
When you go to a collaboration cafe, assembling acrylic stands or getting acrylic keychains to stand up can be time-consuming and a hassle. But with this product, you just slip your “oshi” into the groove to easily line them up. Want to change the camera angle? Just move the stand. And above all, the stability is amazing. It’s a fantastic tool for stress-free shooting.
It’s not a selfie stick, it’s an oshi-katsu stick!
You can easily clip them on.
You can do “oshi-katsu” alone, but there are limits. For on-location photography, the “Oshi-Shooting Stick” is a powerful ally for those who think, “If only I had a friend to do ‘oshi-katsu’ with…”. You clip your acrylic stand or keychain to the tip, hold the stick, and shoot. The charm is being able to take photos from angles and positions your own hands couldn’t manage.
To be precise, it’s an ‘Oshi-Shooting Stick’. A helping hand during events.
It also helps people with various reasons, like “I was too busy to do my nails” or “I only want to capture my ‘oshi’,” to shoot their “oshi” without including any part of themselves. Plus, the other end has a part to fix the stick in place, so it’s a great help for solo “oshi-katsu” enthusiasts.
Please take it out of the bag when shooting by yourself.
There are still so many other “oshi-katsu” goods flooding the world. From now on, I want to keep searching for various products, use them in my “oshi” life, and live a more fulfilling “oshi-katsu” life.
《Murata Makoto》
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