Public enemy number one of this blog:
She gave an interview to Time Magazine. From the evil creator herself (as if there was ever any doubt of their plans):
What will Hello Kitty be doing in 10 years?
In 10 years’ time, everybody around the world will know her. Also, the number of male and female fans will be the same. Men who are still reluctant to be seen with Kitty in public today might be wearing Hello Kitty boxers. But they will eventually stop being shy and will show off Kitty proudly.
One more warning sign that all is not right in the world…
Dayyyamn she’s crazy looking!
Though she seriously looks much different than she did when she first started Hello Kitty waaayyy back in ’76 (yes, I have the history of HK book).
Excerpt: “‘Is there an item that we will never see Hello Kitty on?’
Knives. The knife-killing rampage in Tokyo in June made me feel even more certain that we are right about not producing knives.”
Oh, darn and just when I was hoping for a thowing knife… but does that include throwing stars too then???
I let out a yelp when the picture came up. I thought there were weird things eating her brains then I realized it was her hair…
So this is the psycho at fault for all these INSANE HK products? If anyone needs to have her head checked, it’s THIS lady!
HK vibrators indeed….
LoL, my significat other says her appearance is quite fitting considering what we’re dealing with here! I’m giggling like mad over here but I really can’t be surprised! While this is terrifying (I much rather preferred when HK was a more exclusive product, much like anything I love!) in her (reluctant) defense, any creator of anything wants this for their cash cow!
Still… yikes! XD
“In 10 years’ time, everybody around the world will know her. Also, the number of male and female fans will be the same. Men who are still reluctant to be seen with Kitty in public today might be wearing Hello Kitty boxers. But they will eventually stop being shy and will show off Kitty proudly.”
Gasp! that makes me a pioneer. 😉
Then again I I have some mixed feelings. I do so because I am a furry lifestyler second I always been eccentric. I may go out and be more public ie replace the 48″ Dot Warner plush with a similar size hello kitty in my truck and put more hello kitty items in my apartment.
Unless there a major shift product and strategy or the colleges are successful in emasculate men and boys (something I am adamantly against) I do not see Hello Kitty growing very much among men.
I think Ms. Yamaguchi is caught in the mantra that there is no difference between males and females.
LoL
I’ll take Dot off your hands, Acton! ;P
@ moriyah & mhkitty
I have to agree, something looks very, very disturbing about her and her hair (or hair piece?)….
I think it’s quite greedy of her to think that EVERYONE will know HK, I think she may be only seeing things with emerald eyes.. Anyone ever heard the saying pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered??? That’s not a crack BTW 😉 I think this lady’s head is getting close to the same size as HK’s!!!
Sara Dane, I don’t think she’s seeing the world through emerald eyes so much…I think she’s seeing it through her Hello Kitty contact lenses.
No, wait…that’s Darlene.
Just in case you do not believe me.
//actonrf.livejournal.com/20449.html
@m no way! Shes the perfect girl friend, Low maintenance, doesn’t nag me to death, all I have to do is vacuum her once in a while. Now if anybody knows her similar size brothers for sale. I also been accused in trying to scam my way on to the HOV lane.
@ Acton
Ahahahaha!!! I was thinking the same HOV thing ROFL
@Acton: that must mean you are from an area similar to mine… all they do is try to cheat!
@A…that was a GREAT line!!!!
OMG… her hair is TOOOOO funny! I think someone watched a little TOO much Sailor Moon (which IS awesome btw). All I think of when I look at that picture id “Meatball head”!!!
😉
Omg what is that ugly thing!?!?!
That lady looks like something that would pop out after opening the Arc of the Covenant.
Its ironic that someone so hideous created something that so many people think is so cute!
Why do people think HK is cute anyway? I don’t get it
Hellokittypocalypse is coming!!!
Hide your children, castrate your kitties and hide in the anticrazyhaircreepygal bunker!!!
they won;t make knives…but they make guns. that makes perfect sense!!! Imagine how rich she is though. Its not right.
Oh! I see why Hello Kitty is shaped like her!
I know that was mean, but I mean her head is round and well, um yeah.
Maybe she morphed into more of HK or vice versa.
My brain hurts…..
@britty
Hey, by the way if you haven’t gotten this yet, my apologies on the misunderstanding in the pirate zombie tattoo post. Thanks.
Wow, what’s with her hair? O.o
She looks very colourful, I can tell you that.
I’d suggest that, to get people to like HK, you’ve got to actually achieve market penetration with the Anime (and Manga if applicable). not just stuff like the HK nunchaku! 😉 Well, they won’t do knives, and someone else already got Shuriken!
Some sadistic abusive nurse dressed this dementia patient. How cruel.
@Acton
Oh, we believe you.
I think she covered her horns with her hair so they
wouldn’t be so obvious!
….I dig HK, but now really how can I see her as cute when the creator is such a train wreck……
Since I was a tiny 6yr old, I’ve been tricked by this wicked woman!
@ Cat
The horns thing was great! haha!! 😀 I think she got kicked out of Harjuku school??? She’s Harajuku Girls Gone Wild…lol
@Sara Dane
I think your right… She’s a wanna be Harajuku girl gone bad….hahahaha
@ Binks
I’m still scared….
@ Binks & Catherine:
I’m glad I’m not the only one!
I was thinking the horn thing too 😉
And WTF is with the bows?????
ewww
@Indiana
She has slowly but surely taken the shape of her unholy creation! It has already HAPPENED!!!!
ROFL!!
I am not surprised in her looks. In my time in Japan I found Japanese society very conformist as result while they are very detailed and process people they are not very inventive. I figure if one wants to be inventive and show any originality and ingenuity, one would be out side the fringes of Japanese society.
Inventors and entrepreneurs usually are the mavericks.
@Catherine, mhkitty06 Before I assume anything
huh?
Oh my God…
Been reading this blog for… hell, I don’t know. 5 months? And this is the creepiest picture I’ve seen so far. And yes, we, normal people should really prepare to the Hello Kitty apocalypse… dig a bunker in your garden, give shelter to your loved ones and start praying that someone shoots down this crazy chick before that ‘ten years’.
LoL, Acton that is HILARIOUS! Puts my Warner plushies to SHAME!
I figure the creator of HK is in her 50’s. I hope I’m having that much fun when I’m in my 50’s!!
@m
funny enough you can’t find her birth year only day… Interesting (rasies one eyebrow).. I don’t care how old she is, I hope I can make that kind of money whenever I get to whatever age she is!
mhkitty does your book say how old she is?
@Andophiroxia,
I agree. xD
@andophiroxia.
just got it.
my apologies as well it wasn’t my place to step in,
but the whole post was a little crappy that day, huh?
@noel.
I would call it constructive feedback from you. 😉 But it was well appreciated. I was operating on a sense of ‘fuzzy logic’. Meaning you were right, I just read you wrong. 😀
You know, Yuko (creator of Hello Kitty) would be in her mid-40’s to 50’s. Is it just me or a TAD grotesque that she’s trying to dress like a teenager again. Just everything is sort of strange or wrong.
And HK’s eyes seem to glow a diabolical shade of red. What happened to the black!?!?!?
HELLO KITTY = GOD!
@andophiroxia
glad to get that cleared upppp.
lol yeah hello kitty is just like starbucks, walmart etc. they just want to rule the world. So EVERY where you turn….. that little yellow nosed feline will be staring at you with those beady black eyes…..
(btw love your blog, your a great writer)
UUUUUUUHHHHHG! She looks like an old hag trying to dress like my little sister! Is anyone with me on this! It’s just wrong! DRESS YOUR AGE, LADY!
@ Liz: OMG!!!! She is way too old to be dressing like that, and what is up with her hair?!
@ andophiroxia: I’m glad someone notices the odd coloring of the eyes. Very odd indeed…
But in all honesty, are any of us really shocked looking at the creator of HK? This woman obviously has to be young at heart to continue to create new stuff for over 30yrs. Not to sound too much like darlene, but Yuko must be very happy with her life, not only b/c her creations has made her richer than one could spend in a lifetime, but she helps to make little children as well as adult collectors happy too. Any fan of HK will tell you that just looking at her image brings a smile.
Even though I think that Yuko is odd for dressing like she’s some Anime come to life, creative people seem to dress abnormal anyway, so what’s the big deal?
@Sara Dane: The book said only she as in her early 20’s when HK first came out, so that’d mean 1976… lets say she was 23… that would mean she’s what? 55????
mhkitty:
That’s pretty much what I figured.
Really, you shouldn’t make fun of her appearance. Make fun of her mental instability instead. Men are too “Shy” to take up Hello Kitty? Man, has she met many men? Shy isn’t the sort of thing that prevents men from liking Hello Kitty.
Things like Abject horror are, and possession of good taste.
“Men are too “Shy” to take up Hello Kitty? ”
At first I thought she was dead wrong and I just an exception. Now I am having doubts.
The question in my mind and the monkey wrench in my argument are was she referring to the western or Japanese ideal of masculinity and the Japanese ability to compartmentalize their lives. Could this be a cultural miscommunication or is she on to something I do not comprehend.
@ Stratagemini
I don’t think it’s really that we’re making fun of her appearance, as much as we’re saying she at 55+ should be dressing more her age and not like a 5 year old on her first day of school… Not that 55 is old!! I think the woman as probably more mentally stable then most, I mean look at the mega company she’s got going here, I don’t think anyone too unstable could have made it this far?
But then again as I’m thinking to myself as I’m typing this visions of Marc Jacobs, Betsy Johnson, Heatherette’s, Patricia Field, etc… They all have quite the unique way of dressing themsevles.. So I guess it’s just a part of that designer/creator way of thinking?? IDK?
Yeah I mean I get it. It’s just … she dresses as a little kid and well that’s a bit weird.
At least she’s not trying to pull off the 17 year old sexpot thing. That would be kind of grotesque on a lot of women that aren’t 17 anymore.
I don’t see many guys sporting hello kitty pride in 10 years or even 40 yrs. HK is mostly a girl thing. Honesty If I saw a guy with a bunch of pink hello kitty items I would probably feel a bit scared.
Also, I am so disapointed about the no knives thing 🙁 I was looking forward to my hello kitty switchlade that I could use to defend myself from the HK zombie pirates.
hm…she pulls off that hair really well. I think that she started a great enterprise with hello kitty and it grew into an amazing and but almost suffocating thing over the years. Kudos to her, I’d like to see hello kitty haters create something that infectious and wonderful. (and money-making!)
@shelley… ‘I was looking forward to my hello kitty switchlade that I could use to defend myself from the HK zombie pirates.’
ROFL 🙂
@Mandie… I kinda liked the ‘Goodbye Kitty’ shirts that were out at one point… featured a likeness of HK in a lit cannon with a big frown… my dad had to get one 🙂
I am beginning to suspect press bias in the selection of the photo. I have known of many examples media to find photos to make in order to inject their own bias in the story. The plenty of other pictures of Yuko Yamaguchi why this one?
For example
//search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20040826f1.html
Correction: After reading the story, perhaps she is right I may be one of the first of many male minions of the cat.
Now we know who darlene is!!!!!
@Tamichiko
ROFLMFAO 🙂
@Tamichiko
If you are talking to me: survey says………..
NO
Sorry that was not the right answer. You lose and do not even get the home version of the game.
I am 100% real, a guy and 100% furry and a bit eccentric but no way am I like the name that should not be mentioned.
I also have a fascination with corporate business. Yuko Yamaguchi career has outlasted many big CEOs. With a career lasting to decades and a proven winning streak that alone say she may be on to something. Remember looks can be deceiving.
Actually, you could say much the same about Walt Disney as about YY. Hmmm, that explains a lot; Sanrio are a Japanese copy of Disney, that just works better? 😉
Um, Acton, I think he meant Darlene is Yuko Yamaguchi… not you, silly 🙂
@Tamichiko:
I’ve often wondered that too… but her English is too good. But other than that it does make sense considering the lovey-dovey babble that comes out her mouth!
*Mhkitty06
OK I admit I do get unnecessarily defensive at times.
Be greatful for this Butt Ugly Alein holding the HK.. it is enough to scare the crap out of children and hopefully it will be enough to encourage them not to buy HK..
Yip.. Silent bob is back with a whole new set of insults!
Dammit…. i know where i saw her before.. it is the crews morphing ugly alien from Red Dwarf…
**Shudders at the ugliness**
ps I want that plushie
I’m just curious… this is the first time I’ve ever heard of this person and I’ve been pretty familiar with Sanrio all these years since my first job in a Sanrio store back in 1984.
Even the official website makes no mention of her: //www.sanrio.com/about/company.php
Nor does Wikipedia. WTF?
This wouldn’t be the first time that an Anime’s actual creator got erased from the “official history” if they worked for a corporation, rather than being a genuine freelancer.
Welcome back Silentbob!!!
@Trixie:
I have a 30th anniversary book that talks about her and shows her sitting at her desk and a few of the original cartoon cells prior to printing… I’ll have to scan the pages and get them to you all.
@mhkitty06:
That would be very interesting to see – I would really appreciate it. Not that I pretend to know everything about Sanrio, but this woman truly was a big surprise to me.
Thank you!
@ Trixie
I too worked for the wonderful world of Sanrio while in college 🙂 It’s true that’s the woman responsible for HK.. Maybe your confused because you’re thinking she is the founder of Sanrio?? She created the HK character, but not the Company if that helps any 🙂 Also, I think her name has changed since she first created her (possible Mr. HK creator) so that could be why you couldn’t find her on Wiki??
I Love Hello Kitty! ^_^
Can Youu Buy All These Stuff? :S
Some1 Please Reply :):D
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that lady is crazy. she is totally aiming for hk world domination. i can see it
YY: “Today japan, tomorrow the world!”
Update:
17 Hello Kitty Plushes
15 Sanrio figures
1 set of Hello Kitty Sheets sheets
2 Hello Kitty comforters
1 hello kitty back pack
3 assorted HK Items
Yuko is right because I am there and not ashamed of my Hello Kitty items. Sweet Dreams Mr HKH.
Not To Be Dumb or Anything… But Who is the Creator of Hello kitty? I am The Well Known Hello Kitty Fan But Really. I Know The Company “Sanrio” Owns it But Who Was The First person to draw the Scetch or Drawing Of Hello kitty?
@Action: Sorry you’re barely a . on the HK fanatic map. The only thing that makes your collection=fanatic is your male status.
And, (sorry) no I don’t think HK will catch on with boys.
If HK does become a boy thing … just unspeakable
HK is a product, one can chose to like and buy or hate and ignore. Well, hate is a powerful word but, one can choose to ignore it. Who are all of you to judge how she looks? She is different, so be it, funny looking you may say but all those mean comments about Ms. Yuko isn’t necessary.
A product can’t sell unless people buy it!!
omg i love hello kitty ur amazing
Well coming back and looking at my original post I feel bad…