Tag Archives: rilakkuma

Rilakkuma as Kiiroitori Store Exclusive Plushie!

Well since last time I made the big reveal about my first Kiiroitori, I thought it’d only be appropriate to follow up with Kiiroitori-related post! … sorta.

Meet Rilakkuma… wearing a Kiiroitori T-shirt!

Rilakkuma as Kiiroitori - full

Why are Rilakkuma Store products’ tags always on the right leg instead of the left?

Rilakkuma as Kiiroitori - balloon

A four leaf clover balloon! The symbol of the Rilakkuma store! Anyone know the origin of this? I’d like to know! (ETA: I think it’s from the San-X logo with the clover X, d’oh!)

Rilakkuma as Kiiroitori - back

He’s even got Kiiroitori’s tail!

We picked him up at the Tokyo Skytree Rilakkuma Store!

Released in August 2012, he’s part of a special Rilakkuma Store exclusive release featuring the Rilakkuma crew wearing T-shirts of each other!

In addition to Rilakkuma dressed as Kiiroitori, Korilakkuma and Kiiroitori are wearing Rilakkuma T-shirts… hmm, no Korilakkuma love? T^T

Teehee, they kinda remind me of the I Love Rilakkuma Series from 2011!

In other news, my dad picked up a few things from the Rilakkuma Store, too – notably this awesome Rilakkuma water bottle!

Water bottle - full

It’s Forest themed! Featuring Yukata Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma :)

Probably the coolest water bottle designs I’ve ever seen! The water tasted like regular bottled water though hahaha

Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about Rilakkuma licensing recently – you know, the products that aren’t made by San-X, but the companies have the official permission to use the design, like our beloved Fansclub UFO Catcher plushies?

Though this blog generally focuses on the products released directly by San-X, I thought I would make a post on licensing in the Rilakkuma in the near future. There are so just many licensed Rilakkuma products out there, it’s hard to keep track! Especially since the quality and style is so inconsistent outside of San-X, with the exception of the holo license stickers.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated as I try to research and gather my thoughts over the next few days haha

Tokyo Skytree Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma, and Kiiroitori plushie!

Hello again! I’m back in Florida!

Wow, I haven’t updated since I arrived to the Philippines! I said things would slow down on this front after my fast-paced Rilakkuma adventures in Japan, but it turns out that applied to my blogging (and internet connection) too haha. But now that I’m back in the states, I have some time to burn while I wait for med school to start (August 5)!

First up is Tokyo Skytree Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma, and Kiiroitori!

Tokyo Skytree Set - full

At 2080 ft., Tokyo Skytree is the tallest tower in the world! … which would make this Rilakkuma more than 1000 feet tall if scaled up to actual size!

Tokyo Skytree Set - Rilakkuma close-up

Fun fact: this is actually my first Kiiroitori hahaha

Tokyo Skytree Set - Korilakkuma

Love that they still included all the details: Rilakkuma has a functioning zipper, and Korilakkuma has her signature red button, even though it is barely visible!

This particular set, with the bears hanging on to the tower all King Kong-like, came out December 2012! A different set with the 3 with Rilakkuma holding dango came out at the Skytree Rilakkuma Store’s grand opening on May 22, 2012 – super cute, too!

Anyway, over the next few days, I’m gonna try to photograph and catalog all the different plushies I picked up while in Japan while I try to get caught up on all the Rilakkuma news I’ve missed – for example omg hahaha that the new Rilakkuma Wonderland mini plushies’ tails are all different colors?

Rilakkuma Wonderland - tails

Also, dango-drummer Rilakkuma’s nose looks full and normal here?

And aahhh the super cute Rilakkuma x Tower Records collab?? I love Ariel’s and Angel’s photos! So jealous!

These musically inclined Rilakkumas dovetail quite nicely with the new Akiko Yano Rilakkuma collaboration song, リラックマのわたし (“The Rilakkuma that is me”)! The CD will be available at Tower Records on August 7!

PS a big OOOH to the close-ups of the Rilakkuma Wonderland float playset!

Rilakkuma x KFC + Wishlist: Yamanote Line Rilakkuma! (ACQUIRED!)

Whew, I made it to the Philippines!! It’s great to be here, but that also means my Rilakkuma adventures will slow down significantly from the past week – which is totally okay because I have a huge backlog of plushies/hauls to photograph anyway haha it’s good to finally get a chance to slow down a bit.

On my last morning in Japan, I finally got my hands on something from the Rilakkuma x KFC collaboration: an Aloha Rilakkuma fan!

Rilakkuma x KFC - fan and box

Most importantly, I finally got the box!!

Rilakkuma x KFC - smile set #3

Set #3!

As I mentioned briefly in a previous post, this is the third set of items from the Rilakkuma x KFC campaign!

In this campaign, you can get one of six Aloha Rilakkuma items with each smile set (like a kid’s meal). I thought the chicken was pretty good – even better than the KFC in the States! But that might have been because I was hungry hahaha

I really liked the picnic blanket design (pancakes!), but I figured I could get more use out of a fan. My sister ordered a smile set too, and chose the same design fan. I think the hot dog design is super cute and silly, especially since you can’t even buy hot dogs at KFC hahaha

The fan turned out to be a good choice because yesterday was HOT and we had to wait in line in the sun for the bus to the airport. On top of that, the Philippines was hot upon arrival (like always), so even though I’ve only had this fan for 24 hours, it’s already seen a lot of use!

Getting this box/fan was so much trouble – we stopped by a KFC in Kyoto and they had nothing in stock… then in Tokyo, we asked our hotel concierge, and they gave us directions to a KFC that recently closed… then we got directions to one in Shibuya that didn’t carry any smile sets at all… but the employees there finally gave us information to another KFC in Shibuya that did stock the Rilakkuma products that was just a short walk away. Such a tiresome journey, but rather worth it, I think! I did everything I wanted to do in Japan, Rilakkuma-wise!

Also, new in the Rilakkuma plushie world: Rilakkuma x Yamanote Line!

Rilakkuma x Yamanote Line - set

Yay, two different designs!

This collaboration celebrates Rilakkuma’s 10th anniversary AND the Yamanote Line’s 50th anniversary as the green line!

In honor of the green Yamanote line and Rilakkuma, Yamanote car #10 will feature a special Rilakkuma design!

ETA (8/28/13): Acquired!

Wow, I wish I was still in Japan to see this! My family took the Yamanote line quite often in our short stay there. Of course, everything has to happen right as I leave Japan haha

In any case, I’ll certainly be trying to get my hands on these two plushie designs – one for me and one for my sister!

I think more details about this collab will be released in mid-July so stay tuned!

Rilakkuma x Pizza Hut: Pizza Cutter & Pizza Board!

Quick post again!

I mentioned a while ago that Rilakkuma had a collaboration with Pizza Hut with special pizza boxes and soup bowls.

Well, the latest iteration as of spring 2013 is a Rilakkuma x Pizza Hut pizza cutter and pizza board!

Rilakkuma x Pizza Hut - cutter and board

Perfect size for Rilakkuma!

I was so excited to get these, I didn’t actually care what I had to buy…

But as it turns out, the pizza was also an adventure in itself!

So the paired pizzas in this campaign are like sampler pizzas – each of the 2 pizzas has a different topping combination for each quadrant:

Rilakkuma x Pizza Hut - pizza 1

From the bottom right: Tuna Mild (tuna/corn/bacon/onion), Idaho special (parsley, mayonnaise, black pepper, corn, diced potatoes, bacon, onion), bacon/asparagus, Meat Trio.

Rilakkuma x Pizza Hut - pizza 2

The “Family 4”: (from the bottom right) bulgogi/leek/shredded red pepper/mayonnaise, pepperoni/bacon/onion/pepper, Tuna Mild (again?), and pepperoni/salami/bacon/onion.

I think it’s somewhat hard to tell form the photos, but they have a lot of interesting ingredients! Awesome!

Surprisingly, my favorite so far has been the Idaho special: the topping with potatoes, corn, and mayo. The potatoes give it a texture I was shocked to find that I enjoyed hahaha

Tomorrow’s my last day in Tokyo, so I’m gonna try to stop by a KFC in the morning – there’s a new Aloha Rilakkuma promotion there starting tomorrow!

Nara Rilakkuma!

I was originally planning on doing individual plushie posts later, but I couldn’t wait to share this one!

It’s Nara Rilakkuma!

Nara Rilakkuma - bento

The top cracker he’s holding up says 鹿せん (shika-sen), which is the cracker used to feed deer; the bottom cracker 奈良 (Nara), the region he represents!

This plushie was produced by HNA with a Rilakkuma license!

Basically, each prefecture in Japan has its own special Rilakkuma based on the what’s special for that particular city.

In Nara, there are a TON of deer, so Nara Rilakkuma is appropriately wearing deer antlers and holding up a rice cracker called shika-senbei – you can buy them to feed the deer.

I think it’s really fitting because it seems like deer paradise in Nara. According to legend, one of the gods (Takenomikazuchi-no-mikoto) appeared on a mountain riding a deer, and since then, deer have been considered messengers of the gods in Shinto! Back then, killing a deer was a crime punishable by death!

Nara - deer

One photo really does not do them justice – there are really deer everywhere!

Nara - deer warning sign

Sometimes people get way too friendly with the deer though…

In any case, I was super excited to run across this Rilakkuma plushie! Wish I could’ve found more – the HNA website lists 59 different Rilakkuma designs in just the Kansai region alone! They seem pretty difficult to find though; we only ran into this one at a small souvenir shop by chance as we were leaving Tōdai-ji.

Speaking of deer… I hear that the newest Rilakkuma series leak is a deer Rilakkuma??

deer-leak-1

Thanks for the tip, Kumadokidoki and Mary!

Wow, how fitting! Seeing this design after a deer-filled day in Nara is pretty silly hahaha

The Tale of Four Rilakkuma Stores!

Hello! I’m more than halfway through my Japan trip and I finally have time to sit and blog for a bit about what’s happened so far!

Thank you everyone for your well wishes – we arrived safe and sound at Tokyo!

The plane was really nice – I had so much space that my Rilakkuma even had a platform to himself hahaha

Rilakkuma on Airplane - window view

Descent into Tokyo!

Anyway, for the first two nights, we were in Tokyo, just minutes away from Tokyo Station!

We were kind of in a hurry to get to dinner rather late at night, so we didn’t get to shop but! we did get to check out the Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store! Ariel already made a post on this store recently, but it’s really quite incredible to see a Rilakkuma Store in person!

Tokyo Station Rilakkuma Store - front

Will shop here for real soon!

We’re going back to the Tokyo Station area for a day before we leave Japan, so I will be sure to shop there for real next time!

The next day, we went to the Tokyo Skytree Rilakkuma Store!

Tokyo Skytree Rilakkuma Store - front

I got one of those Skytree plushies with all three of the Rilakkuma crew!

Tokyo Skytree Rilakkuma Store - cashier

Paying the Rilakkuma Store workers’ salaries in one fell swoop.

This was the first time we got to spend a great deal of time at the Rilakkuma Store. They had a bunch of Skytree specials (though the Tokyo Station one also sold a few Skytree plushies), and I feel like I circled the store over 20 times analyzing everything before paying and leaving.

I’ll post close-ups of what I bought at a later post (they’re all stowed away in luggage right now booo), but here’s the list of the Skytree haul:

The small 22cm watermelon anniversary plushies were sold out, but there was no shortage of the XL version – I wonder why?

Strangely enough, there were even Halloween 2012 Kiiroitoris still in stock?? Hmmm…

Whew! Then the next day, we ran over to the Harajuku Rilakkuma Store!

Harajuku Rilakkuma Store - front

It’s the Rilakkuma half of the floor! I love how the entrances to each Rilakkuma store is slightly different.

Harajuku Rilakkuma Store - side Korilakkuma

Look who’s hiding on the side!!

Here at Kiddyland, half of the fourth floor is devoted to Rilakkuma! Even the bathroom is painted with a Rilakkuma theme haha

The plushie haul from Harajuku:

They’re gearing up for their anniversary on the 29th – so sad I’ll miss it!!

Finally, on our way out of Osaka, we stopped by the Umeda Rilakkuma Store!

Umeda Rilakkuma Store - front

Hello, Rilakkuma!

Even more plushies to be bought here!

I didn’t even know what the Holiday collab was, or what Holiday even is but I snagged one anyway since I was already there. Turns out it’s some clothing brand haha, so cute!!

I was really shocked to see that they had some of the Fukuoka 3rd Anniversary plushies there (I wasn’t even in Fukuoka!) – guess they had a few left over? I always assumed the anniversary plushies flew off the shelves like hotcakes.

There was also a healthy stock of Rilakkuma apparel that the other branches I visited didn’t have, so my family stocked up on some Rilakkuma shorts haha.

Whew! That’s 4 out of 8 Rilakkuma Stores! I know during the next trip, I’ll have to stop by the Fukuoka, Sapporo, Sendai, and Kichijoji branches!!

I’ll have to write more when I finally get the time to photograph each of them, but that’s all for now!!

All’s quiet on the Rilakkuma front until the Wonderland release, I’m guessing!

Off to Japan!

Quick post: I’m leaving for Japan in 15 minutes!

I might be updating with photos if I can, but I’m officially on hiatus! I don’t know how much time I’ll be able to spend online (plus I’m only bringing a tablet).

Taking my first Rilakkuma plushie to his ancestral home hahaha

Rilakkuma Lifestyle - Bridge

Well, this was taken at the Duke Gardens in Durham, NC, not in Japan… but this bridge was constructed as a partnership with Durham’s sister city in Japan!

Also! I just got email confirmation from Lawson that my Rilakkuma x Lawson Aloha Rilakkuma plushie has shipped! Yay!

Haha since I pre-ordered it so long ago (back in March!!), I didn’t even know I’d be in Japan when it came out. Pretty awful timing since it’ll end up shipping to the US right as I leave :[ but hey – at least I’ll have something cute to welcome me back to the states in July! :D

See you all again in 3 weeks!

Wishlist – Rilakkuma Wonderland Limited Edition Playset!

WOW check out the new Rilakkuma Wonderland plush set!

They’re supposed to be little floats in a parade celebrating Rilakkuma’s 10 year anniversary :)

Rilakkuma Wonderland - store exclusive

OMG so detailed!

Looks like Rilakkuma is singing into a dango microphone on a bear-shaped cake-themed stage with a full band, Korilakkuma’s in a pink castle (with goat and bunny Koris peeking out), and Kiiroitori’s in a birdcage (lol) with other little Kiiroitoris. Love how each float also has little wheels so it looks like they’re actual parade floats! And they have crowns like they’re royalty hahaha

This incredible set will be released as a store exclusive on July 13th!

(ETA 6/17: the San-X Net Shop says they’ll be stocking them too! Haha, too bad I missed that – definitely wouldn’t have pre-ordered from a seller if I knew!)

12,000 yen (~$124 USD) for the entire playset, I believe :O A little steeper than we’ve come to expect from exclusive playsets (the Aloha Rilakkuma Net Shop Exclusive was 10,500 yen), but worth the price for the level of detail, in my opinion!

Will you be getting these? I think I’m gonna go for them (but what’s new haha).

ETA: Here’s campaign page for the Rilakkuma special editions, including the ones riding horses!

I have to admit, when the Rilakkuma Wonderland series was first announced (or leaked I should say haha), I wasn’t the most excited about it for some reason – I didn’t even make a big post about it like I usually do. It was probably because I have bad memories associated with being in the marching band in middle school haha (old uniforms, absentee teachers, trying to avoid horse poop during a parade, ick).

But as more news about this kept rolling in, I got more and more excited – especially when San-X redesigned the Rilakkuma website and premiered a new flash animation – and with this new playset, I’m happy to say that I’ve jumped the fence and I’m a big fan of this series now and can’t wait for it to be released!

In other news… MORE LIMITED EDITION STORE EXCLUSIVES?

That’s right!

Rilakkuma Wonderland - store exclusive plushies

A drum (and one tiiiiny bugle) corp! Kori’s flag says “Smile & Thank you”

Looks like they each have tiny Rilakkumas on their shoulder?? Hahaha I wonder why.

They’re also to be released on July 13, and they’ll be a cool 1,600 yen each. They will be exclusive to Rilakkuma Stores, but from what I understand, the San-X Net Shop will be stocking Rilakkumas-only like they did before for the Aloha Rilakkuma store exclusive (I wonder why they do this…).

They’re super adorable though, but I’ll have check with my old friend Mr. Wallet to see if I can afford them when the time rolls around.

Wowww, the Rilakkuma plushie designers at San-X must be working overtime!

Rilakkuma website revamp!

Check out the newly redesigned Rilakkuma website!

It’s Rilakkuma Wonderland themed, and the home page features drum major Korilakkuma leading a marching band of Rilakkumas across your screen!

Rilakkuma Wonderland - march animation

So many little drummer bears!

Be sure to check out the new Rilakkuma Wonderland flash animation, and see if you can spot all the cameos from previous series – I personally love the bunny Korilakkuma peeking out from behind the tree near the beginning when the marching band is first revealed:

Rilakkuma Wonderland - flash frame 1

Can you spot her?

Rilakkuma Wonderland - flash frame 3

Also, y’all were right that drummer Rilakkuma was in mid-chew!

Rilakkuma Wonderland - flash frame 2

Stay to the end and hover over some of the Rilakkumas to hear them play their instruments and more! The Rilakkuma face at the top of the tent lights up with hover too haha

Personally, I think this is one of the most well done flash animations they’ve ever produced! I love that it’s a little interactive :)

I’ll be making .gifs from this to put on the Rilakkuma Gifs tumblr too!

That’s all for now! Just getting ready for Japan now – 2 weeks until departure!

Finalizing my trip to Japan!

So my parents have finalized our hotels and tours and everything for our first real visit to Japan! We’ve been in Japanese airports so many times for connecting flights, but have never actually seen the country – I’m so excited!

Here’s our schedule (all in June):

20: Arriving!
21: Tokyo (Skytree area)
22: Tokyo (Harajuku + Kiddyland) + Osaka
23: Kyoto
24: Kyoto
25: Nara
26: Tokyo again (for a last minute Rilakkuma Store run?)
27: Leaving :[

Wow, that makes 3 opportunities to visit 3 different Rilakkuma stores (Skytree, Kiddyland, Tokyo Station)! Don’t know if I’ll actually get to all of those (since it’s a family vacation with my parents), but it’s nice to know that I’ll be so close to Rilakkuma stores during my trip haha. (ETA: forgot that the Umeda Rilakkuma Store is in Osaka – that makes 4!!)

After that, it’s family time in the Philippines for a few more weeks! Fun for me, but not too much Rilakkuma related news on that front haha.

SAD NEWS THOUGH: this schedule means I will just barely miss the release of Harajuku 1st Anniversary and Comics Series plushies that come out on the 29th! Noooo!

Harajuku 1st Anniversary - full

Mmmm crepes!

Comics Series - full

I want a matching hoodie!

I’m pre-ordering them though, so I’ll get them eventually, but I won’t get to experience the Rilakkuma release day madness in person – which could be a blessing haha, but I’d like to experience it one time just to know what my sellers have to go through for me haha.

BUT GREAT NEWS: my sister earned an Aloha Rilakkuma plate from Lawson!

Rilakkuma x Lawson - Aloha Rilakkuma - plate

Wow, so HQ!

As I mentioned before, my sister was participating in a Rilakkuma x Lawson campaign where you could collect stickers from purchases and redeem them for prizes – the campaign recently ended on the 3rd.

Though she was originally aiming for the bag (20 stickers), with the help of her classmates, she was able to collect 30 for the plate in less than 2 weeks! WOW!

Thanks a bunch to Liemzie and Ariel for helping me and my sister decode this campaign haha!

You can read more details and see more photos of my sister’s win at her blog here! Yay!