Today's post is another article in the Kawaii character series which started with San-X. This article is all about Sanrio which is most known for their character Hello Kitty. Founded in 1960 by Shintaro Tsuji (Who is the current CEO) The concept behind the company is Kawaii Japanese pop culture characters. Click here to go the official website. The logo is "Big gift, Small smile" which suggests that the idea of Sanrio is to bring a smile to everyone's faces.
Sanrio have visible stores in a variety of countries including Mexico, across America and in Japan. Click here to search a location to find a store in Latin America.
Characters
Hello Kitty
The most famous and most popular character which brings in a lot of money for Sanrio. Recently announced as not being a cat, Hello Kitty is the image of Sanrio. With the appearance of a white cat and a red bow in-front of the ear, Hello Kitty cares for her friends.
There is also an Hello Kitty con this year in America. Click on the link to find out more.
Two little twins named Kiki (The younger brother) who sometimes has brown hair and Lala (The sister) who sometimes has blonde hair. Brought out in 1975, they are a pair of angel-like characters They both feature on Tommy February6's album cover.
There ais also a wide varierty of merchandise you can buy including clothes, phone cases, clocks and plushies. Below is two pictures of items that you can find on eBay.
A little rabbit girl who wears a pink/red hood over her head. Created in 1978. Like Hello Kitty, My melody is popular with woman of all ages, especially in Asia. She also features on a variety of Hime Gyaru products including a suitcase by Liz Lisa. In 2005 an anime series was realised called "Onegai My Melody" featuring other Sanrio characters including Kuromi.
The picture above is a picture of the My Melody section in Kiddy Land (A toy store in Harajuku) which shows the type of girly, pink merchandise you can buy with My Melody featured on.
My Melody's rival that likes causing mischief. Despite acting tough sometimes she is really girly. Her favourite colours are black and hot-pink (Which you can tell from her design) The designs featuring Kuromi tend to use more black to fit her darker theme.
The anime version of the characters
and the crossover merchandise.
The counterpart of Hello Kitty. He is a little black cat(?) Chococat is America's most popular Sanrio character.
Lioromannic
Brought out in 2007. A "devilish demon duo" consisting of Berry (Male demon) and Cherry (Female demon) that come from a world which is spelt "Cinnamoroll" backwards. They travel through a magic mirror to play tricks on humans.Designed in 2001.A white puppy. He has stared in an anime film called "Cinnamoroll the movie" and in a manga series named "Fluffy,Fluffy, Cinnamoroll"
Bonbon Ribbon
A pink bunny that debuted in 2012. Apparently she dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Like the other Sanrio characters, she is featured on a variety of Merchandise for example bags and socks (Which are pictured below)
Hello Kitty's pet cat. Her appearance is similar to hello kitty including looking like a white cat, having a yellow nose, black eyes and a bow in-front of her left ear however she looks more like a cat with sitting and not standing on two feet and appearing to be fluffy.
The key shaped necklace she wears is her trademark. She is a quite, polite and friendly cat. She has a Little sister named Honeycute who is a pink cat wearing two bows.
A set of Sanrio characters that specialize with a toy line and a Mahou Shoujo anime called "Jewel Pet tinkle." Below are some examples of the toys:
Ruby
One of the most well known and important characters to the Jewel Pet franchise. In the anime series she is the jewel pet to Akira
Another one of the Jewelpets.
A character that slightly resembles a Japanese pudding called Purin.Created in 1996. A cheerful Golden Retriever dog.
Plasmagica
An all-girl band who debuted in a game called "Show by Rock" brought out by Sanrio in 2013. Next year (2015) an anime will be realised. The franchise also features Chibi style and "human" styled characters. 
Cyan
A sweet cat girl who is the guitarist and vocalist. Childish at times but is very detigated to Music.
Chu Chu
The Leader of the band. She is secretly dreaming of being a soloist. A purple Bunny girl.
A childish, pink sheep girl.
A small Tanuki that runs a coffee shop.There are five characters in the Tenorikuma series. There is Latte,the manager that has a red heart on his left ear, Chai who wears a yellow scarf, Frappe who wears a green scarf,Mapple who wears a pink scarf and is the only girl in the series and is Latte's love interest, Mister Steam, Mudler and Maccihiato who wears a blue scarf.
Wish me mell
Created in 2010. Mell lives in a magical world where everyone is happy. Angelic Pretty has also done a collaboration series which you can see below:
UsaHana
A little rabbit girl that came out in 2001 that loves summer as suggested by the flower shaped clip she wears in-front of her left ear. She debuted along side Cinnamoroll. Her real name is Hana-chan. Cyber Candy also sells Japanese Candy with her featured on.
Keroppi
A little frog with a bubbly personality and love for adventures. He has also stared in some of his own video games.
The last character featured in this article but not the last Sanrio character.
A penquin character that came out in 1979. He's clumsy and has a large collection of bow ties. He is also one of Hello Kitty's friends.
That's it for today's article. Who is your favourite Sanrio character? Comment below!
