Today, out of the blue, I discovered that on this planet there exist people of about my generation that don't know any single Sanrio character (apart from Hello Kitty, I assume). Trying to have a friendly conversation, the moment I asked about a favorite character of the company, I was utterly shocked to discover this.

While having such a gap in one's knowledge is probably one's own fault, I believe we all as individuals have a moral responsibility to try and do our best to fix the issues in our world. So, with the power of writing, as well as my knowledge and tastes in mind (and Internet access for further research), I decided to write this post to briefly communicate about just Sanrio characters. Not all of them, because they are in the tenths, if not the hundreds, depending on classification, but at least those that are my personal favorites or I think are the most important.

A quick look at some characters

Hello Kitty

How not to start this list with her herself? Hello Kitty is surely the most famous of them all, probably the only character known even by those that lack any kind of grasp on Sanrio, from who their other characters are to the company itself being a thing. Due to her popularity even within the masses, though, you may not know that she is in fact not a proper cat, but an almost normal girl from London, her full real name being Kitty White. She is a gijinka, or anthropomorphic cat, just like Mickey Mouse is an anthropomorphic mouse.

Hello Kitty is cute and chill, but probably not the most interesting character, due to its mostly vanilla composition and a personality that's overall not very unique; but still, even just a plain simple Hello Kitty can bring joy to otherwise terrible situations. With the instantly recognizable red bow, and that calm attitude, no wonder it's a fan-favorite all around the world.

Mimmy

What could appear to the untrained eye as an alternative version of Kitty — and, technically, that's all there is to it — the one with the mirrored bow, yellow-colored instead of red, is actually a totally separate character: Mimmy, Hello Kitty's twin sister. She debuted in 1974 like her sister, with whom she spends most of her time, but she displays a more timid and thoughtful personality.

My Melody

Melody is a white rabbit with a cute pink hood, and one of Hello Kitty's best friends. She is known for having a pure heart and, honestly, how could she not? Instead of bows, she gets a flower. If you have one of its plushies and you remove the hood (assuming the model allows), she looks eerily generic, so... avoid doing that, and enjoy her as she is.

Kuromi

Kuromi is the character I have the biggest sweet spot for, because she was originally meant to have a mischievous demeanor, and that's so me (despite the fact that I'm probably more Melody than her). She was in fact meant to be My Melody's rival, before her character was made more friendly and in-line with what Sanrio stands for, but her devilish appearance with black tail and the hat with the skull remains, and it's just so good.

Pompompurin

Pompompurin, probably made famous outside the realm of influence of kawaii girls because of the famous hacker and BreachForums who used exactly that character as its online persona, is a yellow golden retriever recognizable by his floppy ears and the beret he often wears. Apparently, its charm point is the butthole, depicted kinda like an asterisk (*) in some Japanese-market artwork, where this is not considered taboo and is thus shown without issues! And he got his latest 1st place in the Global Sanrio Character Ranking just this year, in 2025, which is okay for me.

Cinnamoroll

Cinnamoroll, or just Cinnamon, is yet another dog, but which maybe looks a bit like a bunny, and that's because originally artist Miyuki Okumura wanted him to be a rabbit, before the initial concept was rejected. Apart from being able to fly thanks to his big ears (crazy, I know), his unique feature is the tail that, you probably could have guessed it, looks like a cinnamon roll — which are also his favorite food... coincidences?

Keroppi

Keroppi is just a friendly frog; one so small that his eyes combined are almost as wide as his body. As a frog, he enjoys swimming, but also other sports, and lives with his big family, with also a small brother (Koroppi, often mixed up with him) and a sister (Pikki). If his V-shaped smile doesn't make it stick for you, know that his full name is Kero Kero Keroppi.

Charmmy Kitty

For those who don't believe that Hello Kitty is a girl, the existence of Charmmy Kitty within the Sanrio universe should make the truth acceptable. Charmmy is Hello Kitty's family actual house cat, and her design indeed takes directly from Hello Kitty, but makes it into a Persian that anyone could find in the real world, even if without the pink bow and the key around her neck. Despite being an actual animal, she too has a fully written lore with other friends and relatives.

Time for reflection

I hope that this brief but charged overview was useful to those poor souls who where up until now completely extraneous to the world of Sanrio. I want to emphasize how it's not comprehensive by any means, and I doubt this page will prove to be of utility to the more experienced Sanrio fans, but I think things are good this way. Whenever I feel like, I will probably update this article with even more, new characters, but, for the meantime, I hope people will already be able to make up their own mind on who their favorite character is!

References:

• Hello Kitty Wiki: https://hellokitty.fandom.com
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanrio