Sanrio worked out crossovers with an array of anime series in 2023; both shonen and shojo titles this year have been transformed with Sanrio’s touch of cuteness. Although they may involve some unexpected choices, even the shonen anime collaborations with Sanrio turned out extra cute.
Here’s a full list of all of the Sanrio anime crossovers in 2023 so far.
Attack on Titan
That’s right – Sanrio kicked off the 2023 new year with a collaboration between it and the gruesome, gut-wrenching anime series Attack on Titan. The Hello Kitty and Friends x Attack on Titan collection was available exclusively at BoxLunch stores in the United States from March 25. The collection featured chibi illustrations of the Attack on Titan cast paired with a Sanrio mascot dressed in the Survey Corps uniform. The collection included t-shirts, hoodies, pajama pants, socks, backpacks, hats, earrings, scrunchies, and other accessories.
Golden Kamuy
Here’s another shounen anime crossover with Sanrio. In late March 2023, Golden Kamuy collaborated with Sanrio for a second time. 11 new designs were illustrated featuring Golden Kamuy characters paired with Sanrio mascots. Pop-up shops and collaboration cafes ran in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, Japan.
Cardcaptor Sakura
Merging two cute franchises together, Sanrio collaborated with Cardcaptor Sakura in late March 2023 to open a premium shop in Japan. The shop sold limited time merchandise featuring new illustrations of Sakura Kinomoto, the protagonist of the magical girl anime series Cardcaptor Sakura, paired with five of Sanrio’s most popular mascots. Each illustration gave Sakura a different outfit, similar to how she changes her look quite often in the anime. In fact, the premium shop opened specifically to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the anime.
Then, in September 2023, retail stores across Japan began selling socks featuring chibi illustrations of the Sanrio x Cardcaptor Sakura collaboration.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War
On June 9, 2023, collaboration merchandise between Sanrio and the Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime (How’s that for juxtaposition?) began popping up at the Tokyo Character Street store inside of Tokyo Station. It lasted until June 22, 2023. The lineup of goods included keychains, bags, folders, and other accessories featuring new illustrations of Bleach characters paired with Sanrio mascots.
Hatsune Miku
At the beginning of August 2023, Hatsune Miku x Cinnamoroll merchandise became available for purchase in Japan. The goods featured illustrations of a new chibi Miku design paired with Cinnamoroll, one of the most popular Sanrio mascots. Taking advantage of Miku’s long hair, some of the illustrations showed Miku and Cinnamoroll with matching updo hairstyles and blue ribbons. The lineup included socks, bags, keychains, charms, scrunchies, and other accessories. The collaboration has continued into September, and even figures featuring the collaboration have been announced.
Natsume Yujincho
In celebration of the 15th anniversary of the anime Natsume Yujincho, Sanrio collaborated with the series to release a collection featuring popular Sanrio mascots and Nyanko-sensei. The theme of the collaboration was sweets, and the illustrations highlighted the adorable characters relaxing in different desserts.
Naruto and Boruto
From August 25 to September 7, 2023, a pop-up shop collaboration between Sanrio and the Naruto and Boruto franchise appeared at the Tokyo Character Street store inside of Tokyo Station. The collaboration began to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Naruto and Boruto franchise. The shop sold merchandise featuring illustrations of Naruto and Boruto characters accompanied by Sanrio mascots.
That was all of the Sanrio anime collaborations new to this year that we could find. Perhaps the next Sanrio crossover will be with your favorite anime series! Considering how the brand has even collaborated with many video games in 2023, at this rate, anything is possible.
Published: Sep 19, 2023 05:00 am