I neglected my blogging duties due to I was busy with the stress of finding a new job and I was almost homeless but I am back now.
News Dump and Update
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Category Archives: Male Fans
News Dump Time
First up
Hello Kitty’s Superhero Alter Ego Ichigoman Gets Web Manga.
The first episode is live here
http://comip.jp/15/manga/comics/?title=ichigoman-01
It is interesting that Sanrio is bring back Ichigoman and combining with the Chogokin (think giant robot line. Sanrio also will bring back Dark Grapeman (I missed out getting the plush) and Hony Momo
By the way I do have an Ichigoman plush in my collection.
Next up She is not your typical cute and cuddly Red Panda
Sanrio Debuts Aggressive Retsuko TV Anime Shorts on April 2
What not to like a cute Red Panda that works in accounting office, has to put up with a load of crap and blows off steam with a little Death Metal karaoke. The first episode is upon Youtube.
Finally
Sanrio Boys Get Their Own Line of Merchandise
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2016-04-06/sanrio-boys-get-their-own-line-of-merchandise/.100740
Sanrio has announced in the past the Sanrio Danshi” (Sanrio Boys). The main plot is :
“The story is simple. It introduces Kōta Hasegawa, a high school boy that loves the yellow Pom Pom Purin dog. By mere coincidence, he ends up attending the same school as Yū Mizuno, a boy who likes the bunny My Melody. Yū tells Kōta that there’s nothing to be ashamed of for liking Sanrio’s cute characters. Together, Kōta, Yū, Shunsuke Yoshino, Ryō Nishimiya, and Seiichiro Minamoto learn to accept their love of the characters instead of feeling embarrassed.”
My question is what is the message is this just Bishōnen /Yaoi bait aimed at a female audience or a positive reinforcement of hey guys it OK to like cute Sanrio characters. If it was me, one of the boys will send a strong message I can be masculine and like Sanrio characters.
Hello Transgender.
or Male Hello Kitty fans caught in the crossfire?
I been thing how transgender issue are popping up in the media from Caitlyn Jenner to transgender bathrooms. My concern is how all this will impact male Hello Kitty fans who are not transgender. Will we be left alone or caught in the culture war’s crossfire. I would not be surprised that there are transgender Hello Kitty fans but not all Male Hello Kitty fans are LGBT. Just because one wears a Hello Kitty shirt made of a female, carries a hello Kitty Backpack, or sports a Hello Kitty wallet does not make that person transgender. For many of us we like Hello Kitty but make do with items marketed to women because the lack of Hello Kitty Men’s items.
What brought this up was a post I received on my Hello Kitty blog. This person chastised me with a wall of text, call me a narcissist, selfish arrogant because I had a Hello Kitty bag and wallet but does not referred myself as transgendered. I may know this person . This person had came across as very immature, unlike other transgender people I met in life. This person cam across as a self impose activist who need to identify people to their pet case, regardless if the person likes it or not.
So if anything; guys in wearing or carrying any Hello Kitty items does not make one transgended.
Hello Kitty News Dump
It has been a while so sit back and here two stories
It is the other side of the pond turn for a hello Kitty show. After the disappointing cancelation of Hello Kitty’s Supercute Festival , Europe gives it a go with a live show, Hello Kitty Live Fashion and Friends , the story goes as “The Present, London. A group of great friends. The passion for creativity, fashion and music. An opportunity that can change Hello Kitty’s life. A story of friendship. A challenge you can share.” The show was panned by the British theater critics, but then what in heck are they expecting, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats? Give me a break.
The show is current ruing in France and will return to Great Brittan,I hope the show will make it to Asia we can hope for a North American run.
The second story is a follow up on the Hello Kitty Men project; Hello Kitty Men; Unveiling 12 Items in Collaboration with 6 Tokyo Men’s Brands. The article is interesting that Hello Kitty designer Yuko Yamaguchi reiterates Sanrio desire to enter the men’s market .
“Hello Kitty designer Yuko Yamaguchi told the reception party, “In the 40 years since Hello Kitty was born, the character has been thought of as something that is just for girls, but now we hear from men in their 20s and 30s who don’t view it as particularly ‘girly.’ We’ve also received requests from high school boys who’ve been brought up by mothers who are Hello Kitty fans and have gotten used to the character as part of their lives, asking us to make items to suit their style.
Looking toward the next generation, I think we must have fans among men as well as women. Since I’m a woman, it’s difficult for me to always know what men want, so I’m delighted that we’ve been able to collaborate with all these wonderful people. It was quite a challenge to design Hello Kitty with men in mind, and I’m really satisfied with how well all of these collaboration items manage to express the various brand colors. Listening to the reactions from the men who attended this event, it’s fascinating to hear so much interest in these unique items.”
You can see the collaboration here except for the 10000 Y t-shirt I am not impressed, I want something more overtly hello kitty. If Sanrio want to really reach the male market in the US, get Lauren Faust to reboot Hello Kitty and Friends, we will own the Brony fandom.