The joke has transcended April Fool’s Day! Exactly one day after declaring Kana Arima (a.k.a. “Baking Soda”-chan) the baking soda ambassador, Kadokawa revealed that the Oshi no Ko anime is inspiring an actual baking soda tie-in item with the Kaneyo-Soap cleaning product brand.

Japanese Oshi no Ko fans have been calling Kana Arima “Baking Soda”-chan as a reference to a running gag from the manga: In their childhood years, Ruby mistook Kana’s title of “the genius child actor who can cry on the spot” (jū-byō de nakeru tensai koyaku) as “the genius child actor who licks baking soda” (jūsō wo nameru tensai koyaku, or “the genius child actor who can lie on a yacht” in the English version).

On April Fool’s Day on Saturday, Kadokawa released a fake newspaper clipping calling Kana the baking soda ambassador. The article explains the story behind the “Baking Soda”-chan nickname and speculates whether Kana’s new role as the baking soda ambassador will give her a second wind in the showbiz world. That turned out to be more true than anyone could have realized at the time. In the above new visual, Kana reacts incredulously: “Wait, it was real?!”

The television anime of Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari‘s Oshi no Ko manga will premiere on April 12.

Source: Press Release

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.