BODY: Tired eyes, meet your new royal treatment. Rohto Pharmaceutical is rolling out the third installment of its Dragon Quest collaboration on June 10, this time with eyedrop bottles molded in the unmistakable crowned silhouette of the King Slime โ one of the most beloved monsters in the 40-year-old RPG franchise.
The limited-edition "Rohto Z King Slime Eyedrops" will hit drugstores and major e-commerce platforms nationwide starting at 715 yen, with rollout staggered across retailers. The product builds on Rohto's previous Dragon Quest tie-ins featuring the standard blue Slime and the Slime Knight, both of which sold briskly enough to justify a third entry โ a rarity in Japan's crowded character-collab market.
For collectors, the appeal is less about the eyedrops themselves (Rohto Z is the company's signature high-menthol "refreshing" line, popular with salarymen battling screen fatigue) and more about the bottle. King Slime, with its golden crown and the visual gag of being four Slimes fused into one larger creature, is a fan favorite that rarely gets standalone merchandise outside official Square Enix channels.
The release is timed to ride the wave of Dragon Quest's 40th anniversary celebrations, which Square Enix has been milking throughout 2026 with re-releases, concerts, and the long-awaited Dragon Quest XII still looming on the horizon.
The insider take
Rohto's Dragon Quest line has quietly become one of the cleverest crossover plays in Japanese retail. Eyedrops are a frequent grab item at konbini and drugstores, meaning the bottles end up on desks across the country โ a passive billboard that pure merchandise can't match. Expect King Slime bottles to vanish from Tokyo shelves within days of release, with resale prices on Mercari likely doubling by week's end. Veteran collectors already know the drill: hit Don Quijote or Welcia on launch morning, or accept paying premium on the secondary market.
Originally reported by GAME Watch (Japanese).