Let’s have a look at what’s happening at Japanese kawaii brand San-X for July. Summer is a quiet time for new releases but there’s an amazing new theme for Rilakkuma and smaller collections for Sumikko Gurashi and Pokantotan. Shopping links and info is at the end of the post and some of the collections also have free wallpapers.
The big collection this summer is Gaming Rilakkuma, which sees the gang entering the world of video games. It takes some inspiration from the likes of Super Mario, Tamagotchi, arcades and pixel art and will certainly appeal to all retro gamers. I am so excited and will definitely be placing an order, mainly because they have a new outfit for the SCK Bears!
Since the other collections are small ones, I’m going to do a bigger preview than usual. Of course there are lots of plushies: Rilakkuma & Korilakkuma in headphones, aliens and toys in plush form, along with pixel art designs as plush keychains, pouches and a seat cushion.
There’s some really fun and surprising items too that are perfect for gamers, like a mousepad, desk standees, hair clip, water bottle and alarm clock! My favourite is the perpetual calendar with various pieces you can arrange each month. I also love the handheld-style pouch in red vinyl, the mini cases and all the vibrant stationery.
Pokantotan the forgetful rabbit has a style change for the latest theme. This ‘simple’ style is very soft and minimal with just a few lines to sketch out the characters. It’s still adorable though and there’s some very sweet plushies (including their dog and goat friends), pouches and stationery.
Sumikko Gurashi get a small new plush collection with the sidekicks heading to Minikko Kindergarten. The photos are so good and some of these designs are hilarious, especially the Salaryman Penguin? set with his Tapioca kid. That plush swing is so cute too. You can also pick up a few different sizes of bags & pouches to carry your favourite plush around in.
And something a little different to finish off – Choose Friends custom keychains. This is the third collection and adds some new characters, colours and designs with the acrylic keychain, photo cards and deco pieces available separately so you can pick and mix. Choose your favourite character keychain, add a special photo and then decorate with 5 pop-out letters and symbols. These are all in Japanese (hiragana) of course but you can look up the names of characters, translate other names phonetically with Google Translate, or pick short Japanese words, like kawaii かわいい.
How to buy San-X
All the products for July are in the San-X shop now with most going on sale this Thursday (10th) but you’ll need to use a forwarding service outside Japan. Otherwise you need to keep an eye on official resellers. AmiAmi (JP) does pre-orders before release, Kawaii Republic (JP) and Meccha Japan (JP) do both pre-order and in stock items, while Very Goods (JP) usually add most items within a few days or weeks. International shops can take longer, from weeks to many months – we recommend Cuteness (EU – also do preorders), ARTBOX (UK) and Oshoppu (UK). Use our guide to The Best Kawaii Shops Worldwide for more options. US fans also now have an official San-X store on Amazon, mostly with products made for the US market.
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