'Not the Face You Make When Doing Laundry': Kao and Kagurabachi's Unlikely Collab Stirs Up Social Media as Laundry Support for Young People Launches

As the first installment of O! Sentaku Project, a laundry support initiative for young people launched by Kao, a collaboration with the popular manga Kagurabachi has been announced, drawing a wave of surprised and amused reactions on social media.

The project aims to support young people doing laundry for the "first time." To launch it, Kao visited a university dormitory, inspected its laundry room, and interviewed students about how young people actually do their laundry. Opinions varied, but the findings showed that interest in laundry differs from person to person. They also showed that even after starting to do laundry on their own, many young people lack enough opportunities to learn the right methods or tips for washing well, with comments such as "It's a hassle, so I just cram everything into the washing machine" and "What I learned in home economics class is all I know."

Against this backdrop, Kao focused on the many young people who struggle with laundry, an unavoidable household chore they are not used to. Laundry is often seen as something you "hate but have to do" when you're not used to it, but the project was launched to show that it is actually easy once you know a small tip that could be called "just one move."

As the first installment, a collaboration has been realized with the popular manga Kagurabachi (original work by Takeru Hokazono, currently serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump), which has more than 4.5 million copies in circulation across the series. Kagurabachi is a "neo-Japanese sword action" story about Chihiro Rokuhira, a boy aspiring to become a swordsmith who sets out on a path of revenge. Just as a single "move" unleashed in the work's fierce battles can dramatically change the course of a fight, the collaboration combines this with the idea that one small "move" can make a big difference in how laundry turns out. A newly drawn illustration of protagonist Chihiro Rokuhira was adopted as the key visual, and a poster was created that pairs a scene from the work with a laundry tip.

Social media has been flooded with reactions to the stark gap between this deadly serious character and the everyday chore of laundry. Alongside sharp quips such as "That's not the face you make when doing laundry, lol" and "His glare is way too intense, I'm dying lol," fans who know the series have responded with comments like "He's the guy who took care of the Rokuhira household chores, so it doesn't feel out of place" and "I've never seen a Kao user with such resolute eyes," creating a big buzz.

(C)外薗健／集英社