BODY: Slimes have oozed onto plenty of Dragon Quest merchandise over the decades, but this one is meant to go straight into your eyes. Rohto Pharmaceutical has announced pre-order sales of its "Dragon Quest 40th Anniversary King Slime × Z! Collaboration Eye Drops," pairing the series' beloved blue blob with one of Japan's most recognizable pharmacy brands.
Pre-orders open at approximately 12:00 p.m. on September 24 and run until 8:00 p.m. on October 1. As a made-to-order item, the product is only available during that window, so there's no browsing the shelves for it later.
The collaboration ties Rohto's premium "Z!" eye drop line — known for its intense cooling sensation — to King Slime, the giant amalgamation of eight regular slimes that has been a fan favorite since the earliest entries in Enix's role-playing juggernaut. The tie-up is one of many marking Dragon Quest's 40th anniversary; the first game launched in Japan on May 27, 1986, and helped define the console RPG for a generation.
Expect the usual collector's-item treatment: special packaging built around the King Slime motif, aimed as much at display shelves as at tired eyes. Rohto has run similar limited character collaborations before, and they tend to move quickly once ordering goes live.
The insider take
Character-branded eye drops sound absurd to Western readers, but in Japan they're a well-worn genre — Rohto has done Evangelion, Sailor Moon, and more, and the packaging is the whole point. The "Z!" line's famously stinging, menthol-heavy formula is a running joke among Japanese office workers who use it to survive long days, which makes the King Slime pairing a wink: a cute mascot fronting a product that jolts you awake. For overseas Dragon Quest fans, this is exactly the kind of anniversary goods that never gets an official export, so a proxy service is likely the only route.
Originally reported by GAME Watch (Japanese).