What is it about a mouthless cartoon cat or a goth bunny that keeps people coming back for more?
As someone who grew up in early noughties Hong Kong, I understand the appeal. It was near impossible to ignore the many mascots stamped onto stationery and lunchboxes. As an adult, I still plaster Kuromi and Cinnamoroll stickers on everything I own. I’m far from alone.
Joyce first saw Kuromi on television in kindergarten. “You feel an affinity for one character and it just sticks with you for a very long time,” she says. She felt drawn to Kuromi for its edgy, punk feel – at least, as edgy as Sanrio gets. “It’s a dark aesthetic and I used to be into that. I thought that was cool.”
On her debut in 2005, Kuromi was positioned as the playful foil to the sweet and innocent My Melody, who has evolved to symbolise an alternative, online subculture.
The “Kuromi‑core” aesthetic worn by fans fuses punk with kawaii charm, the clothing often accessorised with chokers, harnesses and corsets. “I used to dress in a lot of Japanese brands with darker aesthetics,” says Joyce, who has collected more than 30 Kuromi items, most of them decorating her office desk, “and I think Kuromi really encapsulated that kind of lifestyle”.
