Ever since Genshin Impactās developers legally sanctioned the commercial production of fan merchandise, Iāve been seeing all sorts of unusual Genshin products pop up on the internet. I thought Iād seen it all after the Zhongli titty mousepad. I had not. I nearly burst a gut laughing when a friend linked me to these Zhongli condoms, unofficially designed and produced by the fan artist Jiji. What a concept.
Producing the condoms was very expensive, but they are worth the price, they're extremely high quality šāØ pic.twitter.com/rt5oRM4lGV
— Luc šø COMMS OPEN š (@gaikotsukiri) December 13, 2021
According to the interior packaging, the latex condom is made without harmful chemicals, doesnāt contain spermicide, and is fragrance-free. It includes a visual diagram on how to use a condom. The package also reminds users to check the expiration date, and that they shouldnāt be using scissors or teeth. These condoms arenāt up for sale yet, but they will be.
Zhongli is a half-dragon, half-qilin god whoās known as a powerful shield supporter in the Genshin meta. Normally, he protects the entire party with a jade shield that absorbs massive amounts of damage. Heās so busted that I donāt even bother to dodge attacks anymore. Heās the perfect character to feature on something that protects people from sexually transmitted diseases.
You know what? These condoms are a great idea. If plastering a famous gacha characterās face onto a package is what it takes for people to remember to use a condom, then Iām all for it. Safe sex is important. And though the creator said that the condoms were expensive to produce, you know what costs more money? An unplanned pregnancy.
The communityās responses have ranged from humor to admiration to scorn. Some of the jokes include: āShields you from massive responsibilityā and ā*me and my wife about to have sex* hold on babe Iāve got to get my zhongdom.ā The vast majority of quote retweets stated that Genshin players donāt have sex. Even if the generalization were true, it might not matter. Some asexual commenters said that they wanted to buy the condoms for their Genshin collection. But not all of the reactions have been positive. A lot of quote retweets prefaced the photos of the non-explicit condom packaging with content warnings, as if just the existence of condoms themselves is somehow offensive. Jiji is a Finnish artist, and he was surprised at some of the ignorance surrounding condoms in the reactions to his tweets.
I don't know if it's some kind of cultural difference, but a lot of the QRT's had kinda… puritanist vibes?? A big yikes from me š¬ do kids even have proper sex ed. in school anymore, I'm concerned… š some people have never been to Harajuku Condomania and it shows.
— Luc šø COMMS OPEN š (@gaikotsukiri) December 14, 2021
While a lot of fans may be planning to buy them for decorative purposes, Iām really hoping that these Zhongdoms get some actual use. Safe sex is important, yāall.