Kawaii characters

Hello Kitty
Hello Kitty (ハローキティ, Harō Kiti?) (real name Kitty White) is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio, first designed by Yuko Shimizu. The character is a staple of the kawaii segment of Japanese popular culture. The character is portrayed as a female white Japanese bobtail cat with a red bow. The character's first appearance on an item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in Japan in 1974 and brought to the United States in 1976. This debut came under the Sanrio company lineup, where her various products are still developed and sold.



The Hello Kitty trademark has since spread globally and developed licensing arrangements worth more than $1 to $5 billion annually Although mainly aimed at the pre-adolescent female market, the Hello Kitty product range goes all the way from purses, stickers and pen sets to toasters, televisions, clothing, massagers, and computer equipment. It has a cult-like following among adults as well, especially in Asia, where Hello Kitty adorns cars, purses, jewelry and many other high-end consumer products. A Hello Kitty anime, targeted towards young children, has also been produced. Examples of products depicting the character include dolls, stickers, greeting cards, clothes, accessories, school supplies, dishes and home appliances. Her fame as a recurring Sanrio character has led to the creation of two officially licensed Hello Kitty theme parks, Harmonyland and the indoor Sanrio Puroland.

Pikachu
Pikachu (ピカチュウ, Pikachū) is one of the species of Pokemon creatures from the Pokémon media franchise—a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. As do all Pokémon, Pikachu fight other Pokémon in battles central to the anime, manga, and games of the series. Pikachu is among the most recognizable Pokémon, largely because a Pikachu is a central character in the [http://] series. Pikachu is widely considered the most popular Pokémon, is regarded as the official mascot of the Pokemon Franchise, and has become an icon of Japanese culture in recent years.

Within the world of the Pokémon franchise, Pikachu are often found in houses, forests, plains, and occasionally near mountains, islands, and electrical sources (such as power plants), on most continents throughout the fictional world. As an electric-type Pokémon, Pikachu can store electricity in its cheeks and release it in lightning-based attacks.

Hamtaro
thumb|243px|link=Hamtaro (とっとこハム太郎, Tottoko Hamutarō, literally Trotting Hamtaro) is a Japanese anime series. The main character is a hamster named Hamtaro who has a variety of adventures with other hamsters, called "Ham-Hams" ("Hamuchanzu" in the Japanese version). The show is based off of a manga series by Ritsuko Kawai, Hamtaro Gets Lost and Other Stories and Jealous Hamtaro and Other Stories. VIZ Media published the storybooks in English.

The anime, Hamtaro (とっとこハム太郎, Tottoko Hamutarō?, literally Trotting Hamtaro), is based on the manga series, and features original character designs by Case Closed creator Gosho Aoyama. Hamtaro ("Hamutaro") is owned by a 10 year-old girl named Laura Haruna (Hiroko Haruna or "Roko-chan" in Japanese version). Hamtaro leads an exciting life for a small hamster. Curious by nature, he ventures out each day to make friends and go on adventures with a clan of fellow hamster friends known as The Ham-Hams. These Ham-Hams meet at a special clubhouse built by Boss ("Taisho"). Hamtaro is licensed by Viz Media in North America, which dubbed it in a format aimed at a younger audience. People Magazine named this show, "Hottest new thing in Hollywood!" due to its rise in popularity among small children and older ones alike. In Japan, Hamtaro ran for four seasons, had four movies, several specials/OVAs, saw many video game and DVD releases as well as merchandise. However, in the United States, there were only two seasons, no movies, few special episodes, only three video games (though two others were released in Europe), and limited merchandise. Hamtaro was cancelled in the United States.

Tokidoki
tokidoki ("pooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooopppppppppppppppppse) is the Japanese-inspired lifestyle brand created in 2005 by Italian artist Simone Legno and his business partners Pooneh Mohajer and Ivan Arnold.

tokidoki produces apparel, footwear, accessories and other products using art, iconic characters and the tokidoki logo designed by Simone Legno, including purses, t-shirts, vinyl figures, jewelry, and small toys.

As tokidoki’s 5th year anniversary approaches, this high-end urban underground fashion has grown to be a leading trend and has already collaborated with several industries such as Levi’s, Skul Candy, New Era, Mikasa, Fujitsu, Bearbrick, RIDE Snowboards, ASICS Onitsuka Tiger, Hello Kitty, Smashbox, and LeSportsac.

Rilakkuma
Rilakkuma (リラックマ)

Rilakkuma mysteriously appears in the female office worker Kaoru's apartment one day. He is a soft toy bear who has apparently decided to take up residence there. On his back is a zipper which when opened reveals a light blue polka dot patterned material. The contents or nature of this zipper is unknown.

He was first seen in a series of picture books called Rilakkuma Seikatsu produced by San-X but since has become equally popular as a soft-toy character. In the picture books, he is often seen dressed up in a variety of costumes such as a kappa costume. In addition, it is implied that even in his usual appearance, his entire lower body is a costume, which he will often replace when it gets old or dirty (Rilakkuma is frequently seen sitting around waiting for suits that look exactly like him to dry on the clothes line). However, it is not clear whether his head is also part of his costume

His favorite foods are dango ,pancakes,omurice, and custard puddingTrue to his name, he enjoys relaxing and his favorite things include sleeping, lying around, watching television, listening to music and soaking in hot springs. He loves using Kaoru's yellow bean bag pillow, although there has been some controversy whether or not the yellow bean bag pillow is in fact Kiiroitori. Despite some confusion that often occurs relating to Rilakkuma and his friend Korilakkuma's genders, it is stated on the San-X site that he is in fact a male, while Korilakkuma is indeed female.