Interest

Dragon Quest's Slime Is Hired by Convenience Store

Akiko, the mascot girl of Japan's LAWSON convenience store chain, presented the first of five four-panel manga strips about the chain's newest hire — Slime from Square Enix's Dragon Quest role-playing games — on Wednesday.

In the LAWSON Crew Akiko-chan manga's "Kogata Shinjin" (Pint-Sized Hire) #1 strip, the latest crew member arrives. Slime impresses customers with his service ("Welcome!") and a fellow co-worker with his quick learning ("He's doing his job well, isn't he?"). Unimpressed, Akiko says, "He's still green [blue]…."

LAWSON's newest employee is promoting the August 2 release of Dragon Quest X: Mezameshi Itsutsu no Shuzoku Online, the franchise's first online game.

LAWSON previously hired a mysterious new member named "Light" (Lightning, voiced by Maaya Sakamoto) to promote Final Fantasy XIII-2's release last year. Another convenience store chain, Family Mart, put Slime on the food menu in the form of nikuman (pork buns). Akiko herself transformed into the Vocaloid idol "Akikoroid-chan" when LAWSON held a lyric-writing contest to celebrate 25 years of selling fried chicken pieces.

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[Via Hachima Kikō]