Our Kawaii Favourites of 2019

Once again, all the SCK writers are sharing our top kawaii picks for the year.

Favourite Kawaii Characters

Marceline: Rilakkuma pushed Sumikko Gurashi off my #1 spot this year, thanks to the adorable Rilakkuma & Kaoru series on Netflix and a lot of cute new collections. A new love of Kakao Friends snuck up on me at the end of the year and I’m sure I will be adding to my Ryan collection in 2020.

Nicolette: I love the new Christmas Noodoll characters, especially the sprout! I also have to say Kogumachan again, who has been the best companion on my kawaii adventures. 

Andi: I still love Marumofubiyori, but I also love pandas so San-X’s new character Hamipa has been high on the list this year.

Natasja: My new favourite characters this year is Koupen Chan, but Sumikko Gurashi and Rilakkuma remain my all time favourites.

MissMuffcake: 100% Soft’s Kaiju Kitties is my new fave. Still in love with older and classic cats like Hello Kitty and Pusheen.

Favourite Kawaii Artists/Makers

Marceline: I’ve been loving a lots of smaller illustrators this year, like Coco Glez, LOVESOUP and Tiny Plant.

Nicolette: I love Mochamochicake’s adorable animal illustrations, Shark Café Art featuring cute sharks and other sea creatures and Pete Ellison screen prints awesome kawaii illustrations with bright neon colours. 

Andi: A longtime love for me is chanteii, but another maker that I absolutely love and only just recently discovered is wawestudio.

Natasja: Tiny Plant and Little Miss Paintbrush are both high on my stationery wish list, I really like the art and stickers they make.

MissMuffcake: 100% Soft, Em & Sprout

Favourite Instagram Accounts

Marceline: @meguislearning is my favourite new account this year as it never fails to make me laugh – there’s just something about how happy all the characters are and how they move. Runner-up would be @youmask‘s animal/food illustrations.

Nicolette: I love seeing all the Japanese mascots on the Mondo Mascots account – it would be a dream to meet so many mascots!

Andi: mykawaiitori because birbs and shustudy for journal inspiration!

Natasja: The Instagram accounts that I can watch all day are Hime Hime Dolls, Satomi 0819, Yuyuyu.71 and Laure Sillus.

MissMuffcake: behemot_crta_stvari, momowelch, naturally.jo

Kawaii Highlights

Marceline: The release of The Super Cute Book of Kawaii was definitely the highlight of my year as it was such a long wait from writing to publication, almost 2 years! Meeting Natasja in the Netherlands was so lovely too, especially having such a Miffy-filled day.

Nicolette: I had a lot of highlights this year including meeting (and hugging!) the Pusheen mascot, visiting the Miffy Museum and the Pokemon Center pop up in London but going to the opening day of the UK’s first permanent character café, the ARTBOX Café in Brighton, was the most fun and had all of my fave things: kawaii decor, cute yummy food and Pusheen! 

Andi: Finding the Hello Sanrio snack box while on vacation was an exciting surprise for me!

Natasja: My kawaii highlight of 2019 was visiting the Miffy museum with Marceline, Nicolette and their mum! I also enjoyed reading the Super Cute Book of Kawaii during this hot and lazy summer.

MissMuffcake: All the plushies Matt won me at Round1 made me super happy. Also testing out my doodle skills during Halloween was a fun challenge I enjoyed.

---

Reader Survey & Giveaway

Remember, you can get an extra entry to our big giveaway by telling us your 2019 kawaii favourites – just add a comment on the survey blog post (and don’t forget to fill out the survey too!).