Main	Gallery	Games

Hello Kitty (ハローキティ, Harō Kitī), also known by her full name, Kitty White (キティ・ホワイト, Kitī Howaito), is a female cat character from the Japanese company Sanrio, created by Yuko Shimizu, and designed by Yuko Yamaguchi. She is the titular main character of the long-running and highly successful Hello Kitty media franchise as well as the mascot of Sanrio. She is also the primary protagonist of the universe named after her. Hello Kitty made her grand debut in 1974 and is one of the company's earliest known characters.

Appearance

Hello Kitty is an anthropomorphic Japanese Bobtail cat with white fur, a yellow nose, black eyes and 3 whiskers on each side of her head and no visible mouth. For her attire, Kitty wears a red bow on her left ear, blue overalls with white buttons and a yellow shirt under her overalls.

In her debut, she only wears overalls with no shirt. Hello Kitty is also seen with striped shirts and different color bows and overalls in various artwork, including pink and purple. Outside of her main outfit, Kitty has been shown wearing various other forms of clothing throughout merchandise and other media.

In early OVAs and anime, Kitty is shown with a visible mouth.

Character Information

She is portrayed as a cute, bright, sweet, pure-hearted and tomboyish girl who can do anything she sets her mind to. She has many friends such as My Melody (her best friend) and she is very close to her slightly younger identical twin sister Mimmy. Kitty is good at baking although she claims that she is an awful chef in the Hello Kitty and Friends episode "The Wonderful Sisters". She loves her Mama's homemade apple pie. Kitty likes to collect small and cute things. Her favorite subjects in school are English, music and art, and she dreams of becoming a pianist or a poet someday. Her blood type is A. Hello Kitty's trademark signature is the red bow on her left ear. Her birthday is on November 1st.

The reason for Hello Kitty not being shown with a mouth has been stated by Shintaro Tsuji and Sanrio as one of the messages behind her meaning, being that people need to express themselves through actions and not only by words. It is also said that Kitty speaks from the heart and is Sanrio's ambassador to the world, and isn't bound to a particular language^[1].

Age

Hello Kitty has no official age that is consistent throughout most media by Sanrio nor has her exact age ever been stated. Like her friends, Kitty's age varies depending on the media, with her being shown around kindergarten or 1st grade age in OVAs such as Growing Up With Hello Kitty and Hello Kitty's Paradise, while she is between child or teenager age in different fairy tales to fit their respective stories in anime like Hello Kitty and Friends and Hello Kitty's Animation Theater. Later official media shows Hello Kitty likely at adult age in Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures and Hello Kitty: Super Style! due to her living independently from her family.

History

In 1962, Shintaro Tsuji, the founder and former president of Sanrio, began selling rubber sandals with flowers painted on them. Tsuji noted the profits gained by adding a cute design to the sandals and hired cartoonists to design cute characters for his merchandise. The company produced a line of character merchandise around gift-giving occasions. Hello Kitty was designed by Yuko Shimizu and was added to the lineup of early Sanrio characters in 1974. When a front and side drawing of Hello Kitty (then unnamed) was shown by Yuko to several other people in the company, they greatly preferred the side view drawing and praised it. When Shintaro Tsuji had first seen Hello Kitty, he himself didn't really have any strong opinions about the character, but warmed up to her later on.

Needless to say, Hello Kitty is the most important creation by Sanrio. Despite having a rather basic appearance by today's standards (which most later mainline Sanrio characters would follow), during her debut in the 1970s, she became a revolutionary hit and due to her instant breakthrough popularity in an era where the kawaii community was at its infancy, even become its image in Japan, taking the world by storm since and is primarily responsible for the company's multi-billiondollar success. Hello Kitty is currently one of the most globally recognized and iconic characters of all-time, among the likes of Mario and Mickey Mouse, the mascots of Nintendo and The Walt Disney Company, respectively.

When asked why Hello Kitty is the mascot of Sanrio, Shintaro Tsuji personally stated "I felt that the most important thing in your life is to have someone whom you can open up your heart to and talk about anything; to have many friends whom you can talk with your heart is the most blessed thing in your life. Then I asked myself how can you make friends -- in what way people can make a friend with those people. That is not just to avoid behaving, which makes people uncomfortable. But do something, which makes people happy. In this way people can make friends. For example, when people are ill, you can say something to them, or when people did something for you, you say "thank you" to them. For those kinds of occasions, you send a small present rather than an expensive gift. It is important to show your appreciation since you are able to make good friends in this way. This idea has formed as a business. As a result, Hello Kitty was created. Hello Kitty has become known among everybody and it means that people are becoming friends. I am pleased with this phenomenon."

Product Debut

The character's first ever appearance on a product was a vinyl coin purse in Japan released in 1975, which ended up being the hottest selling item that year which came as a surprise to everyone. Its artwork shows Hello Kitty in her iconic side-view sitting position with blue overalls but no shirt, with a bottle of milk and a fish in a bowl on her left and right, respectively. Notably, the original says "Hello!" above, but later reproductions by Sanrio instead says her familiar name. Yuko Shimizu came up with a backstory for her character and dubbed her Kitty, after the name of the protagonist’s pet cat from her favorite book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

When Hello Kitty was introduced in the United States in 1976, a year after her debut in Japan, her popularity continued to boom throughout 1977. However, Yuko Shimizu left in the previous year, as she had gotten married and focused on family in the meantime ever since. Sadly, because she had quit Sanrio so soon after Hello Kitty's first appearance, Shimizu has never been credited by the company for her work as the original creator of the widely beloved character on official media, unlike Yuko Yamaguchi.

Setsuko Yonekubo

Shimizu’s former assistant, Setsuko Yonekubo, oversaw Kitty during the boom years. She introduced incremental innovations like the first portrayal of Hello Kitty in a standing pose, but otherwise made a point of hewing closely to her predecessor’s linework, down to using a photocopied template of Kitty’s face to ensure uniformity. Whether because of this conservative approach or because of the ever-changing whims of young children, the first Kitty fad ran out of steam around 1979. Yonekubo took the opportunity to announce her own retirement, for she wanted to start a family of her own.

Yuko Yamaguchi

For a long while afterwards, Sanrio made no particular effort to replace Hello Kitty's designer. When Tsuji had learned of the team planning to abandon Kitty, he fought to keep her and decided to hold an in-house competition for new concepts for Hello Kitty. The winner was Yuko Yamaguchi, with her whimsical illustration of Hello Kitty sitting at a piano surrounded by an adoring family—a charming visual of a deeper backstory that had previously only been hinted at by Yamaguchi’s predecessors. She was awarded the post of Hello Kitty’s chief designer in 1980. In February 2026, after 46 years of work, Sanrio has announced that Yamaguchi would retire her position, with her successor introduced under the pen name Aya. She, however, remains with the company as an advisor.

Popularity

Since her debut in 1974, Hello Kitty has become one of the most successful and iconic anthropomorphic characters of all-time.

• In May 2008, Japan named Hello Kitty the ambassador of Japanese tourism in both China and Hong Kong, which are two places where the character is exceptionally popular among children and young women. This marked the first time Japan's tourism ministry had appointed a fictional character to the role.
• Hello Kitty's popularity began waning in Japan before the year 2000. In 2002, Hello Kitty lost her place as the top-grossing character in Japan in the Character Databank popularity chart and has never recovered. In a 2010 survey, she was in third place behind Anpanman, and Pikachu from Pokémon.
• As of August 2007, Thai police officers who have committed minor transgressions such as showing up late or parking in the wrong place are forced to wear pink Hello Kitty armbands for several days as penance.
• During the financial crisis of 2007–2010, a poster of a Hello Kitty pre-paid debit card expanded to roughly 1 meter in length was displayed on the floor of the US Senate by Senator Byron Dorgan as a demonstration of extreme methods used by credit companies to attract "children 10 to 14 years of age". Though not an actual credit card, it was criticized for its promotional website encouraging users to "shop 'til you drop."
• For the 50th anniversary of Sanrio (2010), Sanrio and Girl Skateboards collaborated and released skateboards with a Hello Kitty graphic. A Hello Kitty store in Africa opened in 2013.
• There is a themed restaurant named Hello Kitty Sweets in Taipei, Taiwan. The restaurant's decor and many of its dishes are designed after the Hello Kitty character.
• Hello Kitty is included as part of the Sanrio livery at the Japanese theme parks Harmonyland and Sanrio Puroland.
• The Hello Kitty brand rose to greater prominence during the late 1990s. At that time, several celebrities, such as Mariah Carey and Lady Gaga, had adopted Hello Kitty as a fashion statement.
• On April 21, 2020 Hello Kitty made an official crossover live action video called "Shimajiro & Hello Kitty in Exercise with Friends" in which the mascots of Shimajiro and Hello Kitty joins together to get people to dance and exercise during the Coronavirus pandemic.
• There are also many songs based on Hello Kitty. Two of the most popular are by Slayyyter & Avril Lavigne.

  

• The current world record of the "Largest collection of Hello Kitty memorabilia" is owned by Yang Tao from China, who owns 7,096 items as of March 24, 2024. The previous record holders include Masao Gunji and Asako Kanda from Japan.

Conspiracy Theories

Hello Kitty, being a very popular character, has had several conspiracy theories surrounding her over the years, often recently, such as being a knockoff of Miffy or being an actual human appearing as a cat.

Hello Kitty is a human girl and not a cat

"That [suggesting that Hello Kitty is a cat]’s one correction Sanrio made for my script for the show. Hello Kitty is not a cat. She’s a cartoon character. She is a little girl. She is a friend. But she is not a cat. She’s never depicted on all fours. She walks and sits like a two-legged creature. She does have a pet cat of her own, however, and it’s called Charmmy Kitty."

—Christine R. Yano, August 26, 2014, after stating that Hello Kitty was a cat and having her statement corrected by Sanrio themselves^[3]

On August 26, 2014, an article for the Los Angeles Times was published surrounding the then-upcoming Hello Kitty 40th anniversary exhibit scheduled at the Los Angeles Japanese-American National Museum in October. Christine R. Yano, an anthropologist from the University of Hawaii, and author of the book Pink Globalization: Hello Kitty’s Trek Across the Pacific (which is about Hello Kitty's rise on popularity in and outside of Japan), was preparing texts for the exhibit, where she described Hello Kitty as a cat. Sanrio themselves proceeded to correct Yano, which is where the title of this Los Angeles Times article comes from; Hello Kitty, as stated by Sanrio, was not an actual cat.

Specifically, Hello Kitty was not a "real" cat in the way that her pet Charmmy Kitty is actually such, as Hello Kitty is always portrayed as standing and walking on twos as a humanoid, rather than fours, and is not actually specifically referred to in official Hello Kitty media as a cat.

However, many interpreted the statement that Hello Kitty was not a cat in a literal sense, resulting in the idea that Hello Kitty is actually a human girl, with her cat-like features being simply an aesthetic design choice. Supporting this, the name Kitty is actually a real, although passé diminutive for the name Katherine^[4]. This would imply that Hello Kitty's full, legal name is Katherine George White. Of course, those who believed that Hello Kitty actually was supposed to be a human girl never referred to her by this hypothetical legal name.

The controversy surrounding the idea of Hello Kitty actually being a human became widespread, to the point that Preston Phro of RocketNews24 (today SoraNews24) called Sanrio's Japanese PR department to ask about the matter. The PR representative's response was blunt:

"We never said she was a human."

—Sanrio PR representative, August 28, 2014, on whether Sanrio's statement to Christine R. Yano implied Hello Kitty was a human^[5]

The representative clarified that Hello Kitty was a gijinka (anthropomorphic) cat, and "Basically just like Mickey Mouse", stating that Disney's mascot character is not mistaken for a human, but isn't quite a mouse either, and that Hello Kitty was similar.

Online publication Kotaku also called Sanrio's Tokyo headquarters to have this question answered for themselves, and a representative responded to them, saying:

"Hello Kitty was done in the motif of a cat. It's going too far to say that Hello Kitty is not a cat. Hello Kitty is a personification of a cat."

—Unknown Sanrio representative to Kotaku on whether Hello Kitty was a cat or human, August 28, 2014^[6]

Hello Kitty is a knock-off of Miffy

"That [Hello Kitty], is a copy [of Miffy], I think. I don't like that at all. I always think, 'No, don't do that. Try to make something that you think of yourself.' After all, there's so many nice things."

—Dick Bruna to the Daily Telegraph on Hello Kitty, 31 July 2008^[7]

The Dutch artist Dick Bruna, creator of nijntje pluis, known outside of the Dutch language as Miffy, has suggested that Hello Kitty is a copy of Miffy (who debuted in 1955) being rendered in a similar minimalist and 'cute' style, with both characters typically lacking an obvious mouth.

Supporting his belief, Dick Bruna's company Mercis Media, on his behalf, sued Sanrio directly on August 26th, 2010 over Hello Kitty's friend Cathy, claiming that the character infringed on Miffy's copyright and trademark. Sanrio counter-sued, going as far as attempting to revoke Miffy's trademark rights entirely. Ultimately, following the disastrous March 11th, 2011 earthquake in Japan, both parties settled out of court, donating €150,000 (over 162,000 USD) to relief funds for the 9.1 magnitude earthquake's incredible damage.

Sanrio was, from then on, forbidden from using Cathy in any capacity, going as far as editing Cathy out of media which originally featured her in re-releases, making the character officially retired. Despite Dick Bruna's statement to the Daily Telegraph, Hello Kitty herself was seldom mentioned in the lawsuit, only insofar as clarifying that she was Cathy's friend was concerned.

Beyond Mercis and Dick Bruna himself, the late veteran American animator Gene Deitch additionally supported the hypothesis that Hello Kitty was a Miffy rip-off. Deitch had been the director of the 1992 animated adaptation of Dick Bruna's books, titled Dick Bruna's Miffy storybook classics, which he had put much time and effort into. On his website, he writes:

"A Japanese company created something called “Hello Kitty,” a blatant copy of Miffy, just with shorter ears and whiskers, and with far less graphic integrity. They’ve flooded the USA with Hello Kitty shops, caught Mercis napping, and virtually usurped the American market from [Dick] Bruna. Miffy would now struggle to make it; ironically, it would now be seen in America as a copy of Hello Kitty, when in fact it’s the other way around! Mercis had something unique, and they blew it."

—Gene Deitch on Hello Kitty, 2012^[8]

Dick Bruna tried to make Hello Kitty illegal

A related conspiracy theory to the above arose from the aforementioned Cathy lawsuits and Dick Bruna's statement on Hello Kitty. This theory proposes that the Cathy lawsuits were not intended to solely prohibit Cathy specifically from being used by Sanrio, but that Mercis Media, and by extension Dick Bruna himself, were using the Cathy lawsuits as a backdoor to outlaw the entire Hello Kitty franchise's existence, positing that had Mercis outright won the lawsuit, they would have filed another lawsuit against Hello Kitty herself, and demand either royalties for her usage, or for Sanrio to stop producing Hello Kitty media and content entirely.

One argument for this theory is that Cathy, at least the version concerned in the Cathy lawsuits, does not actually resemble Miffy enough for Mercis to have been reasonably justified in filing a lawsuit against Sanrio. Although Cathy's previous incarnation, Little Honey, did look like a copy of Miffy, Little Honey is never brought up in the legal documents surrounding the lawsuits.

Hello Kitty is a knock-off of Musti

"Although it is evident to everybody that Kitty was an imitation of Musti, Sanrio, the publisher of Hello Kitty have not [sic] touched on it."

—The Extraordinary Ordinary Guy in Japan on Hello Kitty, September 11, 2004^[9]

An alternative Hello Kitty knock-off conspiracy theory proposes that Hello Kitty is not a knock-off of Miffy, but rather, Belgian cartoonist Ray Goossens's character Musti. Hello Kitty does resemble Musti more closely than Miffy, as both Musti and Hello Kitty are anthropomorphic cat characters (though Musti is a male rather than female), both lack an obvious mouth, they are drawn in a simplistic and 'cute' way, and are primarily marketed towards children. However, Hello Kitty in comparison is also frequently marketed towards adults as well due to her massive appeal worldwide.

This version was first proposed by the Extraordinary Ordinary Guy in Japan, through his blog post Copycat on September 11, 2004. Likely further explanations for the Musti version of this theory are that Musti is more obscure than either Miffy or Hello Kitty, making its proponents more satisfied in believing it, Musti's creation in 1969 (though rumored to be 1945) predated that of Hello Kitty by five years, and that as previously mentioned, Musti and Hello Kitty look more like each other than the latter looks like Miffy.

Merchandise

Since her debut, Hello Kitty, like many fellow popular Sanrio characters, can easily be found on a wide variety of consumer products ranging from plushies, school supplies to fashion accessories and even food. These products range from everyday items to rare collectibles. Sanrio's official website (https://www.sanrio.com/) is where you can find a variety of items and many other cute things such as phone backgrounds, paper crafts, and more.

As of 2009, Bank of America began offering Hello Kitty-themed checking accounts, where the account holder can get checks and a Visa debit card with Hello Kitty's face on it. MasterCard debit cards have featured Hello Kitty as a design since 2004.

Sanrio and various corporate partners have released Hello Kitty-branded products, including the Hello Kitty Stratocaster electric guitar (since 2006, with Fender in the US) and even an Airbus A330-20 commercial passenger jet airliner, dubbed the Hello Kitty Jet (2005–2009, with EVA Airways in Taiwan).

2009 marked the collaboration between apparel and accessory brand Stussy and Hello Kitty. Stussy worked with Hello Kitty on a collection focusing on the Hello Kitty character with Stussy signature graphics. This collection included T-shirts, keychains, and hoodies.

In 2010, Hello Kitty entered the wine market with a collection made up of four wines available for purchase online, continuing an expansion of products targeted at older audiences.

In Spring 2005, Simmons Jewelry Co. and Sanrio announced a co-branded jewelry licensed partnership. "Kimora Lee Simmons for Hello Kitty" was launched exclusively at Neiman Marcus prices ranging from $300 to $5000, Designed by Kimora Lee Simmons and launched as the initial collection. The jewelry is all hand-made, consisting of diamonds, gemstones, semi-precious stones, 18K gold, Sterling silver, enamel and ceramic.

In Fall 2008, Simmons Jewelry Co. and Sanrio debuted a collection of fine jewelry and watches named "Hello Kitty® by Simmons Jewelry Co." The collection launched with Zales Corporation to further expand the reach of the brand, and it developed accessories to satisfy every Hello Kitty fan. The designs incorporate colorful gemstones and sterling silver to attract a youthful audience with retail prices starting at $50.

Funko Pop

In 2019. Hello Kitty appeared in the Funko Pop toy line. The Funko Pops, which include Hello Kitty with Cup Noodles, Classic Hello Kitty, and Rainbow Pride Hello Kitty, appeared in the American market in stores, including Hot Topic and Box Lunch

Music

Hello Kitty has her own branded album, Hello World, featuring Hello Kitty-inspired songs performed by a collection of artists, including Keke Palmer and Cori Yarckin under Hello Kitty's record label: Lakeshore Records.

Hello Kitty was also chosen by AH-Software to become a Vocaloid. The choice was attributed to the fact it was their 50th year anniversary. The Vocaloid was named Nekomura Iroha and was released in Japanese.

Ranking in the Sanrio Character Ranking

In the 2013 Sanrio Character Ranking, if Hello Kitty reaches first place, she will go to your side and hug you. She won the ranking that year, then did a journey to hug everyone in Japan.

Being the mascot of Sanrio and main protagonist of the Hello Kitty franchise, Hello Kitty herself expectedly had never fallen below the top 10 since the rankings' founding in 1986, with her lowest position being 9th in 1987 and 1994. Despite being one of the most recognized characters in the world, it wasn't until 1998 when she accomplished her first win, however, due to strong competition of certain other popular Sanrio characters (My Melody, Cinnamoroll, Kuromi, etc.), which continues to this day. Her last win so far occurred in 2019. On the other hand, Hello Kitty has by far the most consecutive wins in the rankings out of every character, being 11 wins in a row (after Cinnamoroll and Pochacco with 5), between 1998 to 2009. In total, she has acquired 1st place fourteen times in the official rankings so far, making Hello Kitty unsurprisingly the most common winner by fans.

• 1986: 8th place
• 1987: 9th place
• 1988: 6th place
• 1989: 6th place
• 1990: 8th place
• 1991: 8th place
• 1992: 8th place
• 1993: 7th place
• 1994: 9th place
• 1995: 4th place
• 1996: 4th place
• 1997: 2nd place
• From 1998 to 2009, she was 1st place.
• 2010: 3rd place
• 2011: 3rd place
• 2012: 1st place
• 2013: 1st place
• 2014: 2nd place
• 2015: 7th place
• 2016: 5th place (8th in the Nade Time Ranking)
• 2017: 4th place
• 2018: 4th place
• 2019: 1st place (3rd in Taiwan)
• 2020: 5th place (1st in the United States, 2nd in Italy and France, 3rd in Taiwan and Germany)
• 2021: 6th place (3rd in Taiwan)
• 2022: 6th place
• 2023: 5th place (3rd in Brazil, 4th in Taiwan and Germany, 6th in South Korea, 7th in Hong Kong, 8th in the United Kingdom and Australia, 9th in Singapore)
• 2024: 5th place (3rd in South Korea; 6th in Brazil and the United Kingdom; 7th in Singapore; 9th in Hong Kong, the United States, Italy, and Thailand; 10th in France and Spain)
• 2025: 5th place (3rd in China and Hong Kong, 4th in Singapore, 6th in Taiwan and South Korea, 9th in France, 10th in Brazil)
• 2026: -- *rankings ongoing*

Official description (2001)

Hello Kitty was born on November 1st and she lives in London, England with her parents and her twin sister, Mimmy. They have lots of friends at school with whom they share many adventures. Her hobbies include traveling, music, reading, eating yummy cookies her sister Mimmy bakes, and best of all making new friends. As Hello Kitty always says, you can never have too many friends.^[10]

Trivia

• Despite being Sanrio's mascot for five decades and is now widely known for her legendary status, Hello Kitty is not the first character ever to be created by the company; Coro Chan predates her by one year - 1973. She is in fact the second original character during Sanrio's early history. Interestingly enough, both share the same creator - Yuko Shimizu. Hello Kitty is, however, the first overall to be majorly successful, as Coro Chan was considered a commercial failure.
• When asked why Hello Kitty is not depicted with a mouth, a spokesperson from Sanrio officially stated that she is not normally given a mouth because "without the mouth, it is easier for the person looking at Hello Kitty to project their feelings onto the character" and that "the person can be happy or sad together with Hello Kitty".
• There has been some suggestion that Hello Kitty has its origins in Maneki Neko, and that the name "Hello Kitty" itself is a back-translation of Maneki Neko, which means "beckoning cat" in English.
• Sarah Anne Williams is the current English voice actress of Hello Kitty.

  

• In the animated series Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater, Hello Kitty and Friends, Hello Kitty's Paradise, Growing Up With Hello Kitty, and Hello Kitty's Animation Theater, Hello Kitty is depicted with a visible mouth.
• During Hello Kitty's 50th anniversary in 2024, Tomokuni Tsuji, Sanrio's CEO, claims it is very difficult to point out the single reason for the character's phenomenal appeal and the longevity of the fandom, suggesting even Sanrio itself has no idea. He said "We’re amazed. To develop a character that sustains for 50 years is not an easy thing.”
• As Hello Kitty's official profile states she is 5 apples tall in height and 3 apples in weight, realistically, this would make her extremely tiny - only about 30 cm and 540 grams (11.8 inches and 1.2 pounds) in size, which is relative to a medium plushie. However, some media depicts her at a significantly larger size.
  • On the other hand, some related Sanrio series, such as Onegai My Melody, characters are depicted at such a small size.
  • A vintage 1970s era profile states Hello Kitty's weight being 6.6 pounds.
• While Hello Kitty's nationality is supposedly British, she has an American accent in most English dubs, much like her friends.
• Hello Kitty's birthday is the same as the day she was created in 1974, November 1st.
  • Sanrio's current president, Tomokuni Tsuji - Shintaro Tsuji's grandson, as well as her creator Yuko Shimizu, shares the same birthday as Kitty.
• Hello Kitty's very first appearance in the 1975 vinyl coin purse product depicts her in blue overalls without a shirt.

  

• Alongside her twin sister Mimmy, Kitty's best friend is My Melody.
  • From the start, My Melody herself has been commonly seen alongside Hello Kitty in merchandise and other media in and outside the Hello Kitty franchise, suggesting the two to be partner characters. Although never outright stated by Sanrio, most fans have believed My Melody to be its secondary mascot behind Kitty herself.
  • Hello Kitty and My Melody's universes are separate worlds rather than faraway lands. Additionally Kitty doesn't appear often in Melody's starring shows, only having appearance in eyecatches of the first two seasons of Onegai My Melody, while Hello Kitty didn't even make appearance at all in the Netflix show My Melody & Kuromi.
• She does not like stepping on sidewalk cracks, as revealed in the Hello Kitty Super Style! episode "Plushie Life".
• Dear Daniel, who made his first appearance in 1999, 25 years after her own, was created to be officially depicted as Hello Kitty's boyfriend, which was initially met with controversy.
• In Hello Kitty Super Style!, Hello Kitty has gained a rival named Frido, who is likely inspired from My Melody's relationship with Kuromi and Cinnamoroll with Lloromannic.

  

• Although Hello Kitty's eyes are usually plain black like other Sanrio characters, on rare occasions such as herself traveling around the world in her global channel or Hello Kitty Island Adventure where she is shown in 3D, she (alongside Mimmy) is revealed to have brown irises.
  • However, in her 2021 Sanrio Character Ranking artwork, they are depicted as blue, instead. Oddly, in the same rankings, Mimmy's eyes are shown with a different color from her identical twin - green.
• Hello Kitty's massive global success of her franchise in merchandise rivals Pikachu of Nintendo's Pokémon franchise, who is its mascot.
  • However, in terms of revenue, as of 2023, Hello Kitty has earned $84 billion while Pokémon received over a whopping $150 billion. Therefore, Sanrio's flagship series is the second highest-grossing media franchise of all-time.
• In Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures, it is revealed in the "Happy Campers" episode that Hello Kitty owns a car. Despite this, it is not seen in this media. However, another episode, "Hello Kitty's Summer Camp Adventure", does depict her driving a bus.
• In spite of Hello Kitty being famous for not having a visible mouth, not all fans enjoy seeing the character talk in this manner, as they claim it to be a little strange or creepy and rather see her speak properly by having a mouth like other mainline characters or classic 2D animated media released in the 1980s to 2000s, especially since with the mouth, her expressions can also be seen much more clearly.
• At times, Hello Kitty can be seen wearing Mimmy's clothes, especially in older media.

  

• In Hello Kitty and Friends, Kitty is shown to be the braver or more heroic sister while Mimmy is shown to be particularly shy and timid in comparison. This has led some fans to find Hello Kitty to be a parallel to Mario as opposed to Luigi for Mimmy, from Nintendo's Super Mario franchise, with the former being the video game giant's mascot.
  • Coincidentally, some classic artworks and media has Hello Kitty wearing blue overalls with a red shirt, which is identical to that of Mario's. She even sometimes performs the V sign.
  • In the Wii U Super Mario Maker game, Hello Kitty can replace Mario via a Mystery Mushroom costume.
  • Another parallel to the Mario Bros when it comes to Kitty and Mimmy is they are iconic twins with one being significantly more popular than the other. It should be noted, however, that Hello Kitty has made far more appearances than her sister.
• Hello Kitty owns a jewelry box and her pet, Charmmy Kitty, wears the key around her neck. It is said that Kitty gave it to her because she became fond of the key on how it was small, cute, and shiny.
• In Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater, where Kitty was given an English voice for the first time in 1987, she was voiced by Tara Strong. Coincidentally, this was also the iconic actress' first ever role in her professional acting career, at the age of 13.

  

• Her trademark red bow was a special gift from her mother, revealed in Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures. As shown in various media, Hello Kitty does not like being seen in public without her bow, similar to My Melody and Kuromi with their hoods.
  • Rare merchandise exists of Hello Kitty with removable bows or not having such at all.
  • The bow itself is one of the three main meanings of the character. It represents human connections and people should get along with each other according to Shintaro Tsuji.
• Hello Kitty as well as Mimmy makes a cameo in the Bunny Maloney TV show pilot.
• Hello Kitty is featured as a playable character in Dance Dance Revolution: Hello Kitty. A plush of her was also included along with the game.
• Season 7's 11th episode of Rupaul's Drag Race featured a ball inspired by Hello Kitty, with the themes "Hello Kitty BFF Realness" and "Hello Kitty Eleganza".
• Hello Kitty is featured in Sanrio's Fragaria Memories project. In this project, she is the ruler of the Hello Kitty Kingdom, as well as the lord of the Fragaria Hallritt.
• Hello Kitty is the first of a few Sanrio characters to have an ASMR video on the official Hello Kitty and Friends YouTube Channel, which basically goes through her nighttime routine.

References

• Hello Kitty Character Profile on Sanrio.eu
• November 2016 Calendar on Sanrio.com
• Hello Kitty's Family and Friends on Sanrio.co.jp
• Hello Kitty Timeline on Sanrio.com
• Hello Kitty Profile on Sanrio.co.jp
• Hello Kitty Ranking on SanrioCharacterRanking.com via Archive.org (2016)
• History taken from an official interview from the book Pure Invention: How Japan's Pop Culture Conquered the World by Matt Alt

Site Navigation

1970s Sanrio Characters

Coro Chan • Hello Kitty • Yachiyo Charmer • Bunny and Matty • Patty & Jimmy • My Melody • Little Twin Stars • Robby Rabbit • Spunky Burro • Tiny Poem • Strawberry King • Lullaby Lovables • Small People • Peek-a-Boo • Fancy Elephant • The Little Train • Peter Davis • Button Nose • Boy & Girl • Boo Gie Boo • Lovee Days • Big Challenges • Tuxedo Sam • Mokuba • Captain Willy (human) • Fairy Charmer • Seven Silly Dwarfs • Playin' Paradise • Cheery Chums • TRIP TO WONDERLAND • Tric Trap • Dopey Demons • Qui-Quaks • Howdy

Hello Kitty Universe Characters
Main	Hello Kitty
Family	Mimmy White • Mary White • George White • Margaret White • Anthony White
Friends	Dear Daniel • Fifi • Joey • Judy • Jody • Thomas • Rorry • Tim and Tammy • Tippy • Tracy • Cathy • Lottie
Tiny Chum	Tiny Chum • Tiny Lavender • Tiny Green • Tiny Pink • Tiny Cream • Tiny Blue
Charmmy Kitty	Charmmy Kitty • Honeycute • Sugar • Tiramisu • Mille-Feuille • Biscuit • Chocola • Pearl • Sapphire • Emerald • Ruby • Black Opal
Ichigoman	Ichigoman • Darkgrapeman • Honeymomo • Pineapple Man
Other Media only	Catnip • Grinder • Fangora • Robert • Fifi's Mom • Haroshee • Frido • Zonty • D.B. • Nori • The Beaver Triplets • Zing • P.I. • Vastus • Podo Pooch