An unabashed recognition that buyers probably aren’t going to stop at just hugging.

Look, let’s be honest here. The target market for huggy pillows with half-naked, or fully naked, anime girls on them isn’t buying them to “hug.” Well, maybe they are if you’re going by the Japanese word daku, which can mean both “embrace” and “have sex.” In any case, it’s not the prospect of a quick, chaste squeeze that gets customers opening their wallets for pillow cases plastered with nude artwork.

So you have to sort of admire the honesty and ingenuity of huggy pillow designer and illustrator Konomi, whose latest creation is a pillowcase that features Kamikaze, one of the anthropomorphized warships from video game and anime franchise Kantai Collection. The pillowcase art is double-sided, with the character in the process of undressing on one side and completely out of her clothes on the reverse, but that’s a flourish seen on plenty of huggy pillow covers.

What sets this pillowcase apart, though, is that the character’s legs can be spread apart.

Despite having the somewhat obfuscating name of “The I Want to Be Sandwiched Huggy Pillow,” it’s pretty clear that this Y-shaped pillowcase is designed to facilitate the reception of Y chromosome-bearer juice. The cover measures 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) wide by 160 centimeters long, and splits partway down its length into a pair of illustrated legs and pigeon-toed feet.

While buyers could ostensibly slip the torso portion over a regular-sized pillow and let the legs swing free and empty, the manufacturers recommend also purchasing a special Y-shaped pillow for a snugger fit.

If this sounds like the interior design innovation that’s going to tie your living space together, the pillowcase can be ordered here from Konomi’s online store, Kinoko Shop, for 12,960 yen (US$118), as can the correspondingly configured pillow, here, for 8,000 yen. Alternatively, the cover and pillow can be ordered here and here from Melon Books, although at the slightly inflated prices of 15,120 and 11,000 yen, respectively.

Source: Otakomu
Top image: Pakutaso