Last year, prior to the airing of the David Production biology-themed anime series, Cells at Work!, a very special type of collaboration was launched. Usually, to get access to an early premiere of a show, you need to have purchased a book, bought some sort of merchandise, or won a lottery. But for Cells at Work!, they instead teamed up with the Japanese Red Cross Society to get anime fans donating blood. In return, they were given a code to watch the show one week early.
In general, not enough people donate blood outside of times of national disaster. So any movement that gets people to donate blood at regular intervals is definitely a good cause. This year, they are continuing the promotion yet again, this time giving out special calendars from the series. They will only be producing 15,000 of these and they will be given out on a first-come-first-served basis.
The collaboration will begin on the 25th of February and will end when all 15,000 calendars have been given out. However, before going out to one of their locations, it’s worth finding out if you are allowed to give blood in Japan. The Association for Japan Exchange and Teaching have a page on their website with all the regulations.
For instance, I can’t get my hands on a Cells at Work! calendar because I’m English and we had a bit of a mad cow-related problem a while back that prevents me from donating blood. These regulations are important, so please take note.