Happy (belated) Mothers’ Day!
Catching up on my backlog, and sharing one very charming set that I think is very appropriate for Mothers’ Day: Rilakkuma Factory #2 and Korilakkuma’s Strawberry Flower Plush!
This time, Korilakkuma is larger than Rilakkuma!
Though not obviously thematically aligned, this sweet pair was released on the same day in September 2015.
At first, I felt that pairing them together created a narrative that Rilakkuma is toiling at the office/factory while Korilakkuma gets to enjoy her strawberry garden haha, but delving further, I think these two are paired perfectly together to paint two contrasting outlooks on adulthood.
This 2015 Rilakkuma Factory line is the second iteration of the popular Rilakkuma Factory series aimed towards office workers released a year prior in 2014. The theme for this Rilakkuma’s series was American Vintage—does this series remind you of the American vintage aesthetic?
Since he’s the second edition of Rilakkuma Factory, I call him “Fac-two-ry”.
Looking dapper in his monogrammed corduroy bowtie! And look at how fluffy his fur is!
Per Rilakkuma Factory tradition, tag art instructions on how to use this Rilakkuma plush paperweight. It’s no joke, he really is a formidable paperweight!
As the Rilakkuma Factory series tagline boasts, “Let’s enjoy your life with Rilakkuma!”, this Rilakkuma promotes work as fun and playful! The design is described as function in simplicity, a good reflection of the ideal employee and outlook on work as pleasure. And even in his cute plush form, this Rilakkuma is still very functional as a paperweight.
Then, this Strawberry Flower Korilakkuma series riffs on the ~responsible adult~ theme of Rilakkuma Factory by stating boldly, “I like cute things even when I grow up (大人になってもかわいいものが好き)” on the series page, which gives a contrasting flowery and fun approach to the responsibilities of adulthood. Very fitting for Korilakkuma, who probably loves bright pinks and flowers at any age! No alternative function here, just a beautiful Korilakkuma plush to look and play with.
This Strawberry Flower Korilakkuma stands tall next to Rilakkuma Factory, but she’s still standard size for a collectible Korilakkuma plush (about 21 cm).
Korilakkuma holds a plush bear with a pink floral pattern, very reminiscent of the small striped bear from the Kobe Rilakkuma Store Opening Plush Set (Stripes Stripes Everyday Series).
A lovely deep fuchsia flower detail on her ear!
And a fluffy stole in a strawberry flower pattern (like the smaller bear) with a delicate pink satin bow detail—very fancy!
Tag art featuring Korilakkuma frolicking among the strawberry field, no work to be done around here!
Overall, a very complementary matching set that is quite appropriate for adult Rilakkuma fans—bravo, San-X! What did you think of this unique pairing?
Photos from Seoul, coming soon!
Did you do anything special for Mothers’ Day?
RilakkumaLifestyle 
Bears are for humans of all sizes! Love when korilakkuma is larger :)
It is finally her turn!
Hello. Do you find that your Rilakkuma’s shoulders get really weak after a while? All my Rilakkuma’s shoulders kind of have lost all their stuffing and it seems like they don’t really have any shoulders anymore. When they are new, their shoulders are pretty strong, but now it feels like there’s no stuffing anymore. I just wanted to ask if this is happening to your bears too. I love my Rilakkumas so much.
Hey, thanks for your comment and for sharing the Rilakkuma love!
I have noticed that with the shoulders as well! My oldest Rilakkuma, who is played with and poses the most, has definitely lost quite a bit of shoulder stuffing. I hold him by the paws a lot, and I think by doing that, the shoulder areas get weak. I think Rilakkumas are particularly susceptible to this because their arms are proportionately very short, so it’s easy for the fluff/beans to fall out into the center when their arms are moved due to gravity.
I have to hold him diagonally upside down and shake him for beans to go back in place, and sometimes I manually push fluff from his torso back into his shoulder area, and that has generally worked. Haven’t found a permanent fix though, is there anything different that you’ve been trying?
Thanks, I think we’ll try that. Usually we try to hold our Rilakkuma underneath their armpits or we squeeze their back. It’s easy to hold them by their neck, but I think that makes the shoulders weaker, so you should try not to do that too much.