Tag Archives: 2013

Rilakkuma leftovers!

Here are the miscellaneous Rilakkuma things from the big, recent influx that didn’t quite fit in with the other posts but deserve a mention:

Miscellaneous - all

A Rilakkuma cell phone holder, Korilakkuma mug and plushie (most of these are my sister’s).

The blue envelope on the left and the Kiiroitori folder on the right came together, and were a gift to my sister from her generous Japanese friend: they’re part of an ongoing campaign celebrating a whole decade of Rilakkuma!

Each blue envelope has a mini-folder featuring a different Rilakkuma series inside – my sister lucked out and got a great throwback to a series that debuted in August 2005 that was centered around Kiiroitori’s life and activities! Old school Rilakkuma! Looks like Kiiroitori got stuck cleaning up after Rilakkuma’s mess though…

But that’s not all!

Miscellaneous - Korilakkuma mug

A Korilakkuma mug for Simon! The little tail in the back is so cute, but I think it’s kinda funny that Korilakkuma products with this theme are always just labeled “Rilakkuma” haha

Miscellaneous - towels

Hand towels!
Top row: Face theme (April 2009)
Bottom row: “Rilakkuma, Rilakkuma” (August 2012), Aloha Rilakkuma (February 2013), Let’s Play With Bunnies (December 2012)

Whew! All kuma-ed out for the time being.

Aloha Rilakkuma!

My sister’s in town for her spring break, and one of her Japanese friends (the same one who gifted us the Rilakkuma furikake before, actually!) gave her some Aloha Rilakkuma swag!

Curiously, I haven’t made a Rilakkuma purchase in over two months, but Rilakkuma stuff always finds its way into my life hahaha

Aloha Rilakkuma - set

From left to right (ish): tote bag, notepad, keychain plushie, pencil case, towel

Aloha Rilakkuma - keychain front

Keychain plushie! Just a miniature version of the 22 cm plushie, but without the plush palm tree.
The grass skirt has a realistic, crisp texture, and even the screen printing on the t-shirt is quite well-defined.

Aloha Rilakkuma - keychain back

Unlike the bigger plushie, his sunglasses don’t have a band that goes all the way around.
And that charm is just as tall as Rilakkuma!

Aloha Rilakkuma - pencil case

While I personally have no need for a pencil case, my sister is in college, so she’ll get a lot of mileage out of this!
Minor detail, but I really like how the sequined “Rilakkuma” is under a smooth plastic finish so the sequin edges don’t bend and catch on things.

The Aloha Rilakkuma Series is ongoing, and began in February 2013. This line is pretty major, with new Caravan designs, store exclusives, and collaborations rolling out week after week!

Speaking of which – do I spy a new San-X Net Shop exclusive??

Aloha Rilakkuma - Net Shop Exclusive design?

Rilakkuma wearing the yellow lei and playing the ukulele is in a lot of the promotional illustrations – I was wondering if/when they’d make a plushie of it!

May turn out to be a wider release, but I only saw this design announced on the San-X Net Shop Facebook page tonight and not on any other official Rilakkuma page as of me writing this post, so we’ll see where this guy will be available!

Vote for Rilakkuma Lifestyle!

Help support Rilakkuma Lifestyle!

My very own (and very first) Rilakkuma plushie is participating in Facebook photo contest!! It’s one of the older photos from my Rilakkuma Lifestyle tumblr:

Rilakkuma Photo Contest - submission

Vote for contemplative Rilakkuma!

Check it out, and please vote for me here: http://fbapp.monipla.jp/post_photo/view/6720/294106!

Rilakkuma Photo Contest - voting screen

Just click on the orange button I’ve circled in yellow to vote!

Press the orange “ほっこり” below the photo! I think only the orange “ほっこり” number counts toward the contest, but you can also click  “いいね！” to “Like” it.

A new window will pop up asking you to install the voting platform app if you haven’t before. As far as I know, the app doesn’t do anything or share content without your permission so it’s safe to add. Also, this contest is run by the official San-X Rilakkuma page, so I trust that it’s all legitimate. Just make sure that the vote count goes up by one when you click!

You can vote once a day!

Thank you so much – I appreciate any support! :) Thanks for your time!

ECAASU 2013 Summary!

Back from ECAASU 2013!

ECAASU 2013 - Powerpoint

View from the podium!

What a blast! My workshop, a moderated discussion titled “Kawaii Iconography: the racial dynamics of cuteness”, was completely full! I was so honored to meet such active and engaging participants. I even got to bring out my Rilakkuma plushie for everyone to see hahaha.

We covered a ton of great topics, but here were a few awesome points:

  • An overarching analysis of the kawaii character market: origins, meanings, and current manifestations. I got to introduce a lot of kawaii characters, highlighting my favorites, Rilakkuma and Sumikko Gurashi!
  • Compared kawaii characters to each other, with intersectional race/gender analysis. Basically: Rilakkuma versus Hello Kitty – how do they differ in representations of gender? For example, how does Rilakkuma represent masculinity (or does he?) versus how Hello Kitty represents femininity?
  • Contrasting these kawaii characters to characters originating from the US: Hello Kitty versus Barbie!
  • Investigating the toy market: whats the target demographic of kawaii merchandise? How does it compared to American cultural attitudes?

I was so inspired by the discussion, and I hope to be able to present again at ECAASU 2014!

Whew! So after a 2 week hiatus, I was welcomed back with a flurry of Rilakkuma news! Lots of great new collabs that I’ll post about soon!

Wishlist – Rilakkuma x Lawson Aloha Rilakkuma Plushie!

I originally wasn’t planning on purchasing any of the Aloha Rilakkuma series (mainly because the Zodiac order took a chunk out of my Rilakkuma budget), but I definitely want to order the new Lawson Aloha Rilakkuma plushie!

Check out these great details!

Rilakkuma x Lawson - Aloha Rilakkuma - full

Comes with 8 individual parts!

Rilakkuma x Lawson - Aloha Rilakkuma - Rilakkuma, cart, and lei

Rilakkuma comes with removable lei! The shopping cart is attached though. He looks pretty sassy haha

Rilakkuma x Lawson - Aloha Rilakkuma - Korilakkuma and Kiiroitori

Looks like Kiiroitori’s holding the money! Korilakkuma’s brought along her penguin and… her very own Aloha Rilakkuma plushie?

Rilakkuma x Lawson - Aloha Rilakkuma - bag and honey

Lawson shopping bag, and a Kiiroitori shaped bottle of honey!

Rilakkuma x Lawson - Aloha Rilakkuma - cookies and coffee

One of my favorite details: Rilakkuma cookies and coffee!

This super cute set will be released in late June (the 20th) – though pre-orders will be taken from now to April 15. I am looking forward to this release very much!

ETA (8/2/13): Acquired!

In other news, I’m presenting at ECAASU this weekend! Been hard at work preparing slides and speeches, so I may be MIA for bit. It’s been really fun preparing for this presentation because half of it is about Rilakkuma/San-X hahaha – the best kind of work!

Happy Valentine’s Day from Rilakkuma Lifestyle!

Valentines Day - Rilakkuma 1

Mmmm… chocolate!

valentines-4

Which one will he pick?

Hooray! A teddy bear and chocolates – how appropriate for Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day brings up a lot of silly memories for me. When I was in high school, my boyfriend at the time gave me a dozen roses and a teddy bear – attached to the teddy bear was a piece of lettuce and a note that said “Lettuce be together” hahahahaha.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Valentine’s Day – if not for love/romance, then definitely for the chocolate and candy!

Happy Lunar New Year from Rilakkuma Lifestyle!

Lunar New Year Rilakkuma

Relaxed Rilakkuma! (redundant?)

It’s the year of the water snake!

My family likes to celebrate by eating 2 fish, dumplings, noodles (my personal favorite), oranges, and pineapples – not all in the same dish though haha. We also wear brand new clothes and clean out the house to symbolize a fresh start to the new lunar cycle.

Best wishes to everyone for a wonderful new year :)

Sagittarius Rilakkuma Plushie!

Last up from the Zodiac pack (for now): Sagittarius Rilakkuma!

Sagittarius (♐) is represented by the archer. In Greek mythology, Sagittarius is half-human, half horse – but Sagittarius Rilakkuma is just 100% bear hahaha.

Sagittarius Rilakkuma - full body shot

My brother’s sign!

Sagittarius - bow and arrow

LOVE that bear detail that arrow!

Sagittarius Rilakkuma - back

A quiver full of arrows, too!

Wah I know I say this all the time but WOW at the details! The little arrows with bears are sooo adorable, and I absolutely love how they gave him a quiver with two individual arrows in the back. Also, the bow string is made of elastic which makes it seem like Rilakkuma could really shoot arrows with it! Incredible!

Scorpio Rilakkuma Plushie!

Next from the Zodiac Series batch, here’s Scorpio Rilakkuma!

Scorpio (♏), as the name might imply, is represented by the scorpion.

I’m not really sure why Rilakkuma’s scorpion is bright pink, but he sure is cute (and non-threatening) – friendliest-looking scorpion ever!

Scorpio Rilakkuma - full body shot

My, what big claws you have!

Scorpio Rilakkuma - side

Cute scorpion tail in the back!

Scorpio Rilakkuma - head

His little scorpion eyes are so soft and fuzzy!

Scorpio mythology is so cool: as the myth goes, Orion boasted to Artemis that he would kill every creature on Earth. Artemis offered protection to the creatures, and she and her mother sent a scorpion to deal with Orion. The scorpion won, and Zeus raised the scorpion to heaven as the constellation. At Artemis’ request, Zeus also did the same for Orion, to serve as a reminder for mortals to curb their excessive pride.

Just desserts?

Cancer Rilakkuma Plushie!

In the middle of the big Zodiac Rilakkuma group is Cancer Rilakkuma!

Cancer is my sister’s sign, but I probably would’ve ordered this plushie regardless because he’s just too cute!

Cancer (♋) is represented by the crab, though hahaha looks like this Rilakkuma is more like a cooked crab – most crabs/lobsters only turn bright red after they’re cooked.

Cancer Rilakkuma - full body shot

Cooked crab Rilakkuma!

Cancer Rilakkuma - head detail

Bahaha it looks like the hole for the face is a big crab mouth with Rilakkuma inside.

Cancer Rilakkuma - feet

Each Rilakkuma plushie in this series has the astrological sign embroidered in gold.

In Greek mythology, Karkinos (a crab) is thought to have distracted Hercules as he battled the Hydra. Though there are variations on the myth, one version claims that the crab pinched Hercules and was crushed by Hercules’ foot, and Hera rewarded its sacrifice by immortalizing it as a constellation in the sky.

Now, Cancer has been immortalized as a Rilakkuma plushie – awesome!