Christmas came early this year!
Hello Royal Rilakkuma!
Lookin’ regal!
A fluffy Rilakkuma crown!
Dango fit for a king!
Also two super adorable Rilakkuma keychains and a bookmark (for all my med school textbooks hahaha).
Wow! This set really shows a diverse representation of Rilakkuma over the years! This regal Rilakkuma is a Fanclub UFO plushie from their 10th anniversary series released in August 2013! The bookmark shows the classic Rilakkuma design, while the keychain features Rilakkuma from the 2011 Rilakkuma Meets Honey Series! The relaxing Rilakkuma plush keychain is also a Fansclub Rilakkuma plush from their Happy Picnic release from March 2013 – doesn’t he look a lot like the Happy Picnic Caravan plushie from 2012? Hehehe he’s so cute and relaxed!
This beautiful set came from the super generous Jennifer! Thanks so much again and again for all of your support, your generosity really cheers me up when times get tough, and your warm wishes always brighten my day!
What else is new in the Rilakkuma world?
Oh, how pastoral!
Like an early Valentine’s set!
Rose Series
This release really took me by surprise!
San-X will be opening a temporary Rilakkuma Store in Nagoya as a special event from December 26 to January 6 where they’ll be selling plushies and other merchandise from the new Rose Series! After the event is over, the other 8 Rilakkuma Stores will be selling these plushies on January 11.
The set with all three (top) will be 5,000円, and the individual plushies will be 1,780円 each.
How special! The temporary store set-up is pretty interesting, and I don’t recall San-X doing an event like this before. Ariel at Rilakkuma Desu suggested that maybe they’re testing the waters for opening a new Rilakkuma Store there soon? We’ll see!
Choo choo!
Large plushies for this release!
Wow, a Rilakkuma toy train!
Rilakkuma x JR Yamanote Line
YAY I’m so glad San-X has decided to expand on this line – it’s one of my favorites! The collaboration between Rilakkuma and the JR Yamanote Line began in the summer, but I guess it was successful enough to merit an additional release of merchandise!
The train car cushion (3000 円) and the large stationmaster and fan plushies (5500 円 each) will be released on December 20 – they’ll also be available for purchase at the San-X Net Shop! In addition, they are also releasing little nameplate keychains, too. I already have the small Yamanote stationmaster and fan, but I might ask for the train car cushion as an early Christmas present hahaha
In addition, they’re also releasing a (non-plush) Rilakkuma x Yamanote toy train! They’ll be available at Rilakkuma Stores and department stores all over Japan for 2400 円 starting at the end of December. How cool! I usually only get the soft Rilakkuma products, but this is such a cute toy, and it even runs on toy train rails on battery!
Some really beautiful dishes inside! These pages feature “Seafood Bowl”, “Rilakkuma-Spa Soup”, “Sweet Cupcake”, and “Ricotta Pancake”!
Recipe Book
Recently, there have been a few interesting minor releases here and there like the new exercise line with a Rilakkuma trampoline, a few Rilakkuma-themed pickles, and a potpourri of new kitchenware items like ginger graters, sausage picks, and ladle holders – but my favorite recent one is the new Rilakkuma cookbook!
Since I can’t read Japanese, the actual recipes would probably be of no use to me, but the photography and visuals are really quite inventive well done! It’s pretty cool because it seems like a lot of the recipes were inspired by existing Rilakkuma designs/plushies, like the cover! This cookbook sells for 1155円, and will be available starting December 13.
Really cute! Maybe I’ll try to pick one up if I end up at a Kinokuniya again :)
Almost 2014!
Year of the Horse 2014 XL plushies
In addition to the regular individual plushies and the special Rilakkuma Store exclusive set, San-X will also be releasing their usual XL sitting versions of the individual plushies on January 2 in 2014 for 13800円 in Rilakkuma Stores as well as the Net Shop.
While I likely won’t be getting these XL plushies, I’m really quite partial to this series because horse is my zodiac sign, but also because the illustration with all 3 of them under the horse is just so cute and unique! I think San-X went in a really bizarre direction with it, but I think it paid off and I appreciate it a lot for the creativity! I’m expecting the set sometime soon, and I can’t wait!
In other news, both fortunately and unfortunately haha school has been picking up this week since we have a huge midterm next week that covers the past 10 weeks of anatomy/physiology/histology/embryology – our exam will last the entire day! Good news though, is that once it’s over, I have winter break with finally some time to relax with my Rilakkumas haha. I really felt like I’ve learned a lot this semester, and Rilakkuma has been with me the entire way!
Hope everyone’s enjoying the holiday season!
RilakkumaLifestyle 