It’s a tactic that even the Kyoto Transportation Bureau has adopted, as last year it redoubled its marketing efforts featuring Moe Uzumasa, Saki Matsuga, and Misa Ono, a trio of illustrated 17-year-old schoolgirls who just love the Kyoto subway.
So in addition to its four 2-D spokeswomen, starting this month the Kyoto subway’s promotional team will Transportation Bureau will include two handsome anime guys.
Both characters made their public debuts on October 4, appearing on posters inside Kyoto subway trains.
There’s now even something of a Kyoto subway anime character multiverse, which crosses over with the official anime girl mascots of the Kyoto International Manga Museum and Kyoto Gakuen University, the latter of whom is Moe’s cousin.