employee Aki Kondo had previously created characters such as Amagurichan and Mikanbouya. At the time, San-X ordered staff members to create one character per month. After watching a TV show about dogs at the height of the pet boom in Japan, Kondo not only wanted a pet dog, but also envied its life, as she was busy with work and hoped to relax more. This inspired her to create Rilakkuma, with its name a portmanteau of the words "relax" and "bear" Rilakkuma was designed with a slightly sloppy posture because Kondo found it amusing, believing that it should look "cute", yet "out of place." Kondo had also designed Rilakkuma with a zipper on its back, which became one of its quirks. San-X initially found Rilakkuma too gangly and had preferred characters with small hands.
Character
Rilakkuma was launched in 2003 and first seen in San-X's four-panel comic series titled Rilakkuma Seikatsu. In Rilakkuma Seikatsu, which describes his origin story, it appears one day in the apartment of a female office worker named Kaoru, who only appears as a silhouette. Rilakkuma spends every day relaxing. The zipper on its back reveals that his appearance is a costume, and its true form is unknown. It is accompanied by other creatures in the series, who also have their own character lines.
Korilakkuma
Korilakkuma is a white bear introduced in Rilakkuma Seikatsu in 2003. Like Rilakkuma, it appeared in Kaoru's apartment one day and was named by Kiiroitori. It has a red button on its chest and does not appear to be a real bear. It has a mischievous personality and loves pranks.
Kiiroitori
Kiiroitori is Kaoru's pet yellow bird introduced in Rilakkuma Seikatsu in 2003. He can leave his cage at any time and takes care of both Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma.
Chairoikoguma
Chairoikoguma is a brown honey bear introduced in 2016. Korilakkuma finds it one day in the forest and befriends it, bringing it to meet Rilakkuma and Kiiroitori. Chairoikoguma has defined fangs when its mouth is opened, as well as bear-shaped honey patches on its feet and rear. Its friend is Kumanbachi, a honey bee.
Marketing and distribution
Along with stationery and product lines, Rilakkuma has collaborated with multiple organizations, brands, and character cafes. In September 2017, Aliquantum International became the exclusive distributor of San-X products in North America. In partnership with Aliquantum International, San-X opened its first temporary pop-up Rilakkuma shop in Florida, USA. In September 2018, a second pop-up shop opened at the New York City's Times Square. A stop motionanimated series called Rilakkuma and Kaoru began streaming on Netflix on April 19, 2019. The series was made at Dwarf Studio. It is directed by Masahito Kobayashi and written by Naoko Ogigami, with Mikako Tabe voicing Kaoru in Japanese and Lana Condor voicing Kaoru in English.
Reception
Initial sales for the Rilakkuma product line were low but slowly picked up popularity in 2004, with Rilakkuma breaking the stereotype of cute characters needing to be energetic. In May 2010, Rilakkuma ranked as the fifth most popular character in Japan in a survey of the Character Databank.
