It been a while since my last state of collection
State of the Apartment 2025
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Tag Archives: sanrio
The Strawberry King has vacated the throne; long live the new King.
For those have not heard the news, Shintaro Tsuji, the owner, founder and driving force of Sanrio has stepped down as CEO and handed resigns to his grandson. Tomokuni Tsuji.
We have a lot to thank Mr. Tsuji for, but I feel the time for new blood has come, especially the missteps Sanrio took in closing down US retail business and over relied on big box stores like Target , Best Buy and Toys r Us to carry the load. The plan worked for a while until Target and Best Buy gave Hello Kitty the boot and replaced her with the next big thing. (out Hello Kitty: in Monster High.) In addition, the bankruptcy and liquidation of Toys r Us in the US did not help and poor service for Sanrio.com
Aggretsuko is Not is a Boozer
Aggretsuko is one of Sanrio latest Furry characters. She is a cute Red Panda, 25 years old, and a worker at a respected trading firm in Tokyo. She has to deal with a lot of office politics, a condescending boss, and backstabbing and annoying coworkers. When she reaches her limit, she lets off steam via death metal singing and karaoke. She is cute but definably not like Hello Kitty. A Little misinformation if in the media that Aggretsuko is a boozer. This misinformation came from a screen shot from episode five of Aggretsuko shorts shown on YouTube. While no English sub existed, I could still get the gist. In this episode Aggretsuko was at the bosses after work party know in Japanese culture as a Nomikai. At the party, food and a communal bottle of beer are offered. Nomikai etiquette dictates no glass left empty and you do not fill your glass but you fill the glasses of others also, the lower rank worker serves the upper rank. In this case, the boss set off Aggretsuko by criticizing her for filling his glass with the beer label down. She fantasies insulting and defying the boss by guzzling the beer in front of him.
I think it is interesting how Sanrio is marketing Aggretsuko in Japan and the US. Most Sanrio characters start out like Hello Kitty; first being marked to the little Girls, then evolving the market to include Women and now for Hello Kitty to Men. In Aggretsuko case, she is marketed straight to adults. I feel she has a lot of potential worldwide represent the feelings of many over worked individuals and dealing with work place politics.
I spoke to soon in Episode 50 Aggretsuko get a little tipsy during a Cherry Blossom outing.
Hello Kitty Festival say Goodbye
Vee and Sanrio should get a by eye over this.
While I had fun at Hello Kitty’s Supercute Friendship Festival, there is a dark cloud as I read the Facebook accounts.
“Hello! Due to operational reasons, Hello Kitty’s Supercute Friendship Festival will make its last stop in Glendale, AZ. We apologize to all of our friends across North America and take every comment seriously. Please direct further inquiries to Info@vee.com. Thank you.”
I guess “operational reasons” mean they were losing money and decide to cut their losses. It sad that more fans in North America will not see this wonderful event. I also feel Vee and Sanrio going to get a Black eye how poorly they are handling the cancelation.
In look back at other stops for the Hello Kitty’s Supercute Friendship Festival, I see a pattern that led to the shows demise; the shows were played in arenas. It must be very expensive to rent a coliseum or arena when Hello Kitty doesn’t have the draw like Ringling Brothers Circus, Disney on Ice and Monster Truck Jam. They would have to sell out to keep the show in the black.
Even when Portland Oregon was announced as one of the stops , I had reservation in the back of my mind the tour would be successful. Portland and Seattle would make or break the Festival. In Portland the show was struggling in Portland, as evidenced by the show tick were being sold at a discount.
What Sanrio should had scaled down the show. For example Hello Kitty’s Supercute Friendship Festival space could have easily fit part the exhibit hall of the nearby Oregon Convention center and possibly at a cheaper rate. They could have scaled the show for smaller areas were the fan base is not as large. Or a similar interactive event like Hello Kitty Labs or Black Wonder event.
Next what fans can do. i.e. panels and fan conventions