is a line of wafer snacks produced by Lotte, made notable for the randomly assorted bonus stickers included inside each snack. First released in 1977, Bikkuriman (ビックリマン, “Surprise Man”) became wildly popular in Japan with the introduction of the Akuma vs Tenshi Seal (悪魔VS天使シール, "Devil VS Angel Seal") series of stickers, leading to a prolific number of media tie-ins.

History

Bikkuriman is a chocolate and peanut wafer snack made by Lotte that sold for 30 yen at the time of its introduction. Originally, the pack-in stickers were called “Dokkiri Seal” (どっきりシール, “Shocking Seal). Each Seal featured a realistic image on a clear background, with the intention of using them for pranks or gags (broken glass, clothing tears, fake wall switches, etc.) By the 1980s, the Seals began featuring individual gag-based characters with a theme that united a particular set of Seals. These style of stickers would remain for the first 9 sets of Seal releases. In August of 1985, Lotte released the first of the Akuma vs Tenshi Seal series. While maintaining the same humorous art style of the earlier series, the Akuma vs Tenshi Seals featured characters based on assorted mythological, folklore, and even metaphorical sources engaging in an overarching story-line. Akin to the

Mars Attacks ''Mars Attacks'' is a science fiction-themed trading card series released in 1962 by Topps. The cards feature artwork by science fiction artists Wally Wood and Norman Saunders. The cards form a story arc, which tells of the invasion of Earth by ...

trading card series from America, the battle between the Tenshi and Akuma is told on the back of each sticker, with the plot progressing with each new set. Each set was divided into several themed tiers featuring a Tenshi, Akuma, and an Omamori (お守り, "Protector"), with an ultra-rare "Head" Seal that serves as the main character of its particular set. The Head Seals were typically printed with a prism or holographic holofoil to set them apart from the Tenshi's metallic silver or gold backing, the clear backgrounds of the Omamori and the multi-colored backgrounds of the Akuma. The rarity of the early Akuma vs Tenshi Seals were, in order: Head, Tenshi, Omamori, Akuma. Unfortunately, the popularity of the stickers led to trouble for the series. The zeal to try to obtain Head Seals would lead children to buy Bikkuriman in mass quantities, retrieve the stickers inside, and simply throw away the snack. This, along with the fact that children and collectors were willing to pay high amounts of money for the rarer cards, led to parent groups expressing concern of possible gambling implications for the stickers. This led to action by the Japanese Fair Trade Commission, and the number of Head Seals per pack was increased from the average 4 to 24 individual Seals.

Licensed collaborations

Various media properties have run collaboration seal series with Bikkuriman, including

Monster Hunter is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fantasy-themed action role-playing video games that started with the game '' Monster Hunter'' for the PlayStation 2, released in 2004. Titles have been released across a variety of platform ...

, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba,,

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, GeGeGe no Kitaro,

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, Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken,

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Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chapte ...

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,and

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. Some have featured celebrities, such as

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members and

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including

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. There have also been figurine collaborations, featuring properties including

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. There was even a Bikkuriman edition of the

Game of Life ''The Game of Life'', also known as ''Life'', is an 1860 board game by Milton Bradley. Game of Life also often refers to: *Conway's Game of Life, in mathematics, a cellular automaton Game of Life or The Game of Life may also refer to: Games * ' ...

Anime

These stickers were a huge success, leading to a multitude of media tie-ins. The original ''Bikkuriman'' anime series, created by

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including '' Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Sl ...

, aired from October 11, 1987, to April 2, 1989.Bikkuriman
" ''

''. Retrieved on April 2, 2009. Sequels include '' Shin Bikkuriman'', ''Super Bikkuriman'', ''Bikkuriman 2000'' and ''Happy Lucky Bikkuriman''.

Manga

*''Super Bikkuriman'', a series published by

Shōgakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitot ...

Video games

Two Bikkuriman video games were made for the

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console in Japan. One of which is a reskin of

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. Other games were also made for the

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Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...

, Neo Geo Pocket,

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, Nintendo DS, mobile phones and

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generati ...

. *''Bikkuriman World'' (1987,

) -

Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game company that released numerous games for video game consoles, home computers and mobile phones, mainly from the 1980s to the 2000s. It was headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo ...

*''Bikkuriman World ~Gekitō hijiri senshi~'' (ビックリマンワールド～激闘聖戦士～)(1990, Famicom) - an RPG by Hudson Soft *''Super Bikkuriman ~Densetsu no Sekiban~'' (スーパービックリマン～伝説の石板～）(

) - by Yutaka *''Super Bikkuriman'' (スーパービックリマン）(

) - Interbec *''Bikkuriman Daijikai'' (ビックリマン大事界) ( PC CD-ROM) *''Bikkuriman 2000 Charging Card GB'' (ビックリマン２０００チャージングカードGB) (2000, Game Boy Color) *''Bikkuriman 2000 Viva! Festiva!'' (ビックリマン2000 ビバ!フェスチバァ!) (

Sega Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...

) *''Bikkuriman'' (April 18, 2011 GREE/mixi, December 17, 2012 Android) - Drecom *''Bikkuriman Collectors' Battle'' (DeNA) *''Bikkuriman Daijiten'' (ビックリマン大事典) (2007, Nintendo DS)

Heads List

* 1st Dan Head - Super Zeus * 2nd Dan Head - Shaman Kahn * 3rd Dan Head - Super Devil * 4th Dan Head - Satan Maria * 5th Dan Head - St. Phoenix * 6th Dan Head - Shiso Jura, Black Zues * 7th Dan Head - Herachrist * 8th Dan Head - Masho Nero * 9th Dan Head - Headrococo *10th Dan Head - Mataiden Noa *11th Dan Head - Wander Maria, Ghost Alibaba *12th Dan Head - Yasei Erusa M, Master P, St. Bon Miroku *13th Dan Head - Yamato Bakushin *14th Dan Head - Seishin Nadia *15th Dan Head - St. Bon Indust *16th Dan Head - Andrococo

References

External links

Official Website

Complete Akuma vs Tensi list

Bikkuriman
(2nd) - ''

''
Super Bikkuriman
- ''

'' * {{Studio Comet 1987 anime television series debuts 1988 anime films 1989 anime television series debuts 1992 anime television series debuts 1999 anime television series debuts 2006 anime television series debuts CoroCoro Comic Toei Animation television Asahi Broadcasting Corporation original programming TV Tokyo original programming TV Asahi original programming Inactive online games