San-X

Common card · No. 341061

San-X (サンエックス, San Ekkusu) is a Japanese company known for creating and marketing kawaii (cute) characters like Rilakkuma. Their closest competitor is the larger Sanrio company, which created Hello Kitty. San-X characters are usually anthropomorphic representations of animals or inanimate objects. They are typically laid-back or lazy, often a bit mysterious or have insecurities. Since 1979 San-X have produced over 1000 different characters. In the 1980s, in their early days of character creation, San-X produced only stationery, and created several new characters every month. In 1998 Tarepanda was created by Hikaru Suemasa (末政ひかる) and by 1999 sales had reached 30 billion yen. It was such a success that it changed San-X from a stationery company to a full-time character development and licensing company. They shifted to increasingly producing toys and merchandise, as well as media like books, video games and anime. The blank expression and unobtrusive presence of Tarepanda was also the start...

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