All these cuddly animals and monsters running around beg the question: Which one is the most popular amongst children? To answer that, we have the semiannual Characters and Children Marketing Survey results which were recently published in Japan. Let’s take a look.
The survey was taken by around 600 children ages 3 to 12. It studied their awareness of 125 different characters or ensembles of characters. Here are the top 20:
20 – Sazae-san
19 – Shaun the Sheep
18 – Kumamon
17 – Minnie Mouse
16 – Toy Story
15 – Chibi Maruko-chan
14 – Detective Conan
13 – Pokemon: Best Wishes!
12 – Stitch
11 – Tobidase Dobutsu No Mori
10 – Qoo
9 – Koala No March
8 – Winnie-the-Pooh
7 – Tom & Jerry
6 – Taiko No Tatsujin
5 – Rilakkuma
4 – Super Mario
3 – Tonari No Totoro
2 – Mickey Mouse
1 – Doraemon
Not only has Doraemon taken the top spot from this June’s survey but the robotic cat has held it for nine consecutive surveys since 2009. Actually, for the most part, the rankings didn’t change much. However, Kumamoto Prefecture mascot Kumamon debuting on the list at number 18 and the Tobidase Dobutsu No Mori (Animal Crossing: New Leaf) crew at number 11 were some impressive entries.
As an added bonus, the moms of these children were also surveyed with the same characters but had some different results.
20 – Monsters Inc.
20 (TIE) – Chip & Dale
19 – Chibi Maruko-chan
18 – Peter Rabbit
17 – Moomin
16 – Kiki & Lala (Little Twin Stars)
15 – Raccoon Rascal
14 – Toy Story
13 – Pénélope tête en l’air
12 – Rilakkuma
11 – Hello Kitty
10 – Donald Duck
9 – Miffy
8 – Doraemon
7 – Sazae-san
6 – Heidi
5 – Snoopy
4 – Winnie-the-Pooh
3 – Minnie Mouse
2 – Mickey Mouse
1 – Tonari No Totoro
While Totoro was on the minds of women with children ages 3 to 12, poor Mickey was still mired in that number two spot. That being said, the mothers seemed to be overwhelmingly aware of foreign characters overall in their top 20 compared to their kids who seem to prefer domestic fare.
Japanese netizens reacted mostly to the poor performance of Pokemon with the younger generation, particularly against the crudely drawn cat-like mascot for the sugary drink Qoo.
So that’s the current state of affairs with regards to cute characters in Japan. If any major shifts occur in children’s character preferences you’ll hear it here first… just as long as you don’t read any other website or social network.
Source: NicoNico News via Hachima Kiko (Japanese)