Sumikko Gurashi

Sumikko Gurashi (すみっコぐらし) is a set of fictional characters created by the Japanese company San-X. The name directly translates to "life in the corner". The main Sumikko characters are Shirokuma, a polar bear who dislikes the cold, Penguin? who is unsure of being a penguin, Tonkatsu, a piece of leftover pork cutlet, Neko, a timid and anxious cat, and Tokage, a dinosaur who pretends to be a lizard. Minor Minikko characters include Furoshiki, a polka dot furoshiki cloth, Zassou, a weed with a positive attitude, and Tapioca, multi-colored leftover tapioca pearls. The characters were created by Yuri Yokomizo, a graphic designer working for San-X, and the first products were released in 2012. Their main inspiration was the feeling of comfort when one is near a corner, and they were based on Yokomizo's notebook doodles when she was a student.

A wealth of merchandise, such as stationery, plush toys, and clothing, is sold. Books, mobile apps, and video games based on the franchise have also been produced. Three animated films with Sumikko Gurashi were released in 2019, 2021, and 2023, with a fourth planned for fall 2025. Two short anime series aired on Nippon Television in 2023 and 2025. As of 2019, sales of Sumikko Gurashi products were worth about 20 billion yen a year. Eight million plush toys and 3 million books had been sold. In 2019, Sumikko Gurashi won the Grand Prize at the Japan Character Awards.

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