Long time no see! At long last, introducing Koguma-chan!

Koguma-chan (こぐまちゃん) was introduced in this spring’s series called “Korilakkuma’s New Friend” (コリラックマと新しいお友達), which was released this past March. Above is the M (medium) standard design, which I think is super adorable! “Koguma” (こぐま) means bear cub, and this bear cub loves honey!

I was also super lucky to get my hands on this Rilakkuma Store Exclusive Fishing design too, thanks to Brenda at Kawaiikkuma-shoppu.tumblr.com!

This Rilakkuma plush was released as one out of three Rilakkuma Store exclusive designs from this series, featuring Koguma-chan interacting with Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma, and Kiiroitori.

I’ve been holding onto these two cuties for a few weeks now, and I’m so glad I can share them both with you now! I’m thinking of ordering one of the ocarina Rilakkuma bears, either the Caravan design or the Net Shop Exclusive design. I’m leaning towards the Caravan design for its mobility right now, but we’ll see (also I’m running out of shelf space!!).

Koguma-chan is really shaking things up in the Rilakkuma world, and I can’t wait to see where he shows up next!! Is the Rilakkuma crew going to be expanding to four members soon, or will Koguma-chan be more of a bit player?

What about you, were you able to snag a Koguma-chan for yourself?

Gearing up for summer, San-X has a big release coming up, the Sea Otters Series!

Personally, I really love this design – I’m usually not as enthusiastic about Rilakkuma’s animal designs compared to the complex/conceptual (or food) designs, but I do think this series captures the spirit of Rilakkuma in the summertime really well! What a great series to ring in these warmer months :) Totally reminds me of one of my favorite YouTube videos, Otters Holding Hands from the Vancouver Aquarium.

This aggressively adorable series will be hitting shelves this May – which designs are you eyeing?

I think I’ll aim for either the standard Rilakkuma otter, or the Store Exclusive Rilakkuma otter who faces the side. I might wait to see the other exclusives (Net Shop, Caravan, Lawson) before committing though (I’m attempting to show restraint haha).

I’m having a tough time figuring out what Kiiroitori is trying to be, looks like a fish in some designs, but then a jellyfish in the standard plush design, if anyone can enlighten me, that would be excellent.

Also, I’ve noticed that San-X has begun releasing multiple Store Exclusive designs starting with the Korilakkuma’s New Friend Series, which is pretty nice! I love having a wide variety of designs to choose from, though I suppose it makes collecting an entire series a little more expensive haha.

Elsewhere in the Rilakkuma world, Rilakkuma and friends have been traveling all over in their Anniversary World Tour! Since I posted about the Tokyo Station release, the Kuma Krew has since been to Africa (Fukuoka), the United Kingdom (Lalaport Fujimi), and France (Kobe)!

The next stop for Tokyo Skytree’s 4th Anniversary is Austria!

You can pick up this musically-inclined set at the Tokyo Skytreetown Solamachi Rilakkuma Store on May 21, and go meet Composer Rilakkuma, too hehehe.

Austria has produced a lot of famous composers, including Mozart, Hadyn, and Schubert. Rilakkuma and Kiiroitori in this series looks like they’re based on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart himself, who was one of the most prolific and influential composers of the Classical era. Born in Salzburg, Austria, he was known to be a musical prodigy, able to play the piano and violin by the age of five, which is beautifully represented in this Rilakkuma anniversary design as Rilakkuma and Kiiroitori’s instruments of choice.

Have to admit, I do love this anniversary theme a ton! It’s great to see the wanderlust side of Rilakkuma! I picked up the Tokyo Station 7th Anniversary NYC Rilakkuma, and will share those photos with you on the next post – look forward to it!

In other news, I’m deep into my surgery rotation which hopefully explains a little bit of my absence (sorry!) – I’m on the colorectal surgery service right now and learning a lot! I have 3 more weeks to go, and then I take 2 board exams, and officially become a fourth year medical student in June – woohoo!

Lots of hard work ahead, but won’t be a problem with Rilakkuma by my side!