[REPORT] S★D File ~Deluxe Edition~ Artist Book Display at Shibuya TSUTAYA

On August 28th, 2020, SUPER★DRAGON released a new photobook titled S★D File ~Deluxe Edition~ Artist Book in collaboration with the popular idol magazine BoyAge. In Japan, it is typical for new releases to be accompanied by a few promotional campaigns designed to boost sales with certain vendors. This time, SUPER★DRAGON announced that they will be promoting the photobook with the Shibuya branch of TSUTAYA, a Japanese bookstore chain which also sells other media.

This particular TSUTAYA store lies right in the center of the legendary Shibuya Scramble Crossing. In fact, the infamous Starbucks where one can gaze out on the crossing (if you can survive the queue for a seat!), is actually located inside the store. From August 28th to October 5th, 2020, the second floor of this landmark location will feature a display for the S★D File ~Deluxe Edition~ Artist Book. When Nine Dragons visited, we were immediately impressed at how prominently the display was placed. The display is easily visible from both the Starbucks area and the top of the main escalator. We hope this will catch the eye of shoppers visiting this always-packed store and gather more interest from the public in SUPER★DRAGON!

The second floor display includes more than just copies of the photobook to pick up. In order to further entice fans to come into the store, the display will show a panel for each member featuring an image selected from the photobook along with a selection of five books the member personally recommends to us fans. The TSUTAYA store announced that this display will be titled “人生のバイブル,” or, “My Own Bible.” The title was chosen to reflect the impact and influence each of the selected books had on the members’ lives as explained by the members themselves.

By enjoying the members’ selections, the campaign hopes that fans will feel closer to SUPER★DRAGON through the shared experience of reading a book. Of course, we at Nine Dragons hope to extend this feeling to international fans as well. Please have a look at our translation of the members’ selections and personal comments about each book. All of the books recommended by the boys are, of course, published in Japanese. Fortunately, however, the worldwide popularity of manga makes it easier for international fans to read most of the selections in a translated English version. As well, some of the recommended books are the Japanese edition of foreign books. We indicated on the My Own Bible page if we could find an English edition of a particular book so that international fans can enjoy as many of the books as possible.

To read the book selections of “My Own Bible,” please visit our dedicated page for the feature here.

Below are the pictures that Nine Dragons took of each member panel on the day the display was unveiled. After our visit, members of SUPER★DRAGON have returned to the store to sign their displayed image and leave a handwritten message at their panel! We predict all the members will drop by, so check out our news page for the latest updates!

In addition to the second floor “My Own Bible” display, TSUTAYA also unveiled a second display in their basement floor, which is devoted entirely to manga. It is well known among fans that SUPER★DRAGON member Tomoya particularly loves to read manga and books. For example, his 2020 birthday goods were designed around the theme of reading with a custom book cover and bookmark. TSUTAYA used Tomoya’s interest as an opportunity to showcase more SUPER★DRAGON selections to the fans, and asked him to select his favorite manga from TSUTAYA’s manga floor.

To make the display even more personal, Tomoya visited the store himself to set it up. Each personal selection is accompanied by a comment which was handwritten by Tomoya himself, as well as a few pictures of Tomoya from his time in the store. When Nine Dragons visited, we noticed that the display is right in front of the main escalator. Tomoya’s picks are also encircled by the display of Kimetsu no Yaiba, currently the most popular manga series in Japan. Casual shoppers who did not appear to be fans were already looking intently at the display when we arrived. We think that’s a pretty good sign! As with the second floor display, we hope that the manga selections will help the general public remember SUPER★DRAGON, and especially our manga lover Tomoya.

Below are the pictures we took of each of Tomoya’s selections. We also will translate his comments into English so that international fans can enjoy the display. Fortunately, the worldwide popularity of manga makes it easy for us to read the selections in an English translated version!

To read our translation of Tomoya’s manga selections and personal comments, please visit our dedicated page for the feature here. (coming soon!)

The TSUTAYA store will change the images used in the display on September 19th, 2020, to entice fans and customers to come back to the store. After the display period has ended on October 5th, the images used in both versions of the member panels will be given away by a lucky raffle. An entry into the raffle can be made when one purchases the S★D File ~Deluxe Edition~ Artist Book at the second floor cash register.

When Nine Dragons visited the store display on opening day, we planned on getting our own copy of the photobook while we were there. After taking pictures of the second floor display, we noticed that there were quite a few SUPER★DRAGON fans in the store already! In fact, the register was so congested that we decided to head down to the basement to take pictures of Tomoya’s manga selections while the crowd clears. After spending around 10 minutes downstairs, we came back up to the second floor. In that short time, all copies of the S★D File ~Deluxe Edition~ Artist Book completely sold out in the store. All of the fans who had come to buy the book were shocked, including us! 24 hours later, the book sold out on TSUTAYA Shibuya’s online store as well. 

On September 5th, TSUTAYA announced that the photobook will be restocked. This time, the purchase amount would be restricted to one copy per customer. We visited the store early the next day and managed to pick up our book. ?

Unfortunately, fans who came later would not be as lucky. The store became completely sold out once again, even with purchasing limits in place. Of course, some people were not able to enter the raffle or get their copy from the TSUTAYA store. But the overwhelming response from SUPER★DRAGON’s loyal fans has been one of appreciation for the general public’s increasing interest in SUPER★DRAGON. We’re happy to report that the promotional campaign seems to be almost too successful at encouraging people to purchase the photobook, considering they are barely able to keep it in stock!

If you would like to purchase the book as well, please see our news release here for ways to buy the book online. As always, thank you for supporting SUPER★DRAGON!