Demon Slayer meets the Xperia 10 VIII in a Fan Sync giveaway
Aniplex and Sony are giving two Demon Slayer Fan Sync cards to the first 20,000 people who buy an Xperia 10 VIII in Japan and apply.
Aniplex has announced a Japanese launch campaign that puts Demon Slayer artwork on the new Sony Xperia 10 VIII, with two Fan Sync cards given to the first 20,000 people who buy the phone and apply.
Fan Sync is a tap-to-change feature rather than a sticker. Hold a card against the back of the handset and the lock screen and home screen wallpapers switch to the series artwork, and a character voice plays when charging begins. Sony warns that the cards should not be wedged between the phone and its case, because the NFC chip can fail to read them, and that the cards only work with the Xperia 10 VIII.
The terms
The giveaway is first come, first served across every sales channel, and closes early if the 20,000 cards are claimed. Both the carrier models sold in Japan and the SIM-free Xperia 10 VIII qualify, provided the handset is bought new from an authorised seller; second-hand purchases are excluded.
Sony's campaign page sets the purchase window from launch day to 23:59 on 13 December 2026, including pre-orders, and the application window from 10:00 on launch day to 10:00 on 20 December 2026. Entry is handled through the Xperia Lounge app and requires a My Sony account plus the 15-digit IMEI from the box, and each handset can be entered once.
The Fan Sync application itself is expected to keep running until 31 October 2027, with the company saying anything beyond that is undecided.
Our opinion
Physical collectibles tied to a handset are an odd pairing on paper, but the reasoning holds up: a card is harder to forget than a wallpaper download and considerably harder to share with a friend, which is exactly what a 20,000-unit giveaway wants. The catch is the same one that dogs every first-come reward. A fortnight-long purchase window and a fifteen-day application window will not matter to the people who miss out because the cards ran dry in the first week, and Sony's own terms admit that outcome. Treat the campaign as a launch bonus for early adopters rather than a reason to buy, and it makes far more sense.