Rilakkuma

This limited edition 2014 Rilakkuma onesie might just be the most outrageously warm and snuggly thing we have ever seen. It also answers the burning questions that fans of the character have been wrestling with for years: if Rilakkuma is a bear, why does he wear a bear suit? Is he even a bear at all?

Sure, you could wrap yourself in a blanket to keep warm this winter. Or, you could become Rilakkuma with this luxurious loungewear. Wrap yourself up from head to toe in furry goodness, and solve the mysteries of the cartoon bear universe at the same time.

The Rilakkuma×fu-moPREMIUM is, as one might expect, a collaboration between San-X (the company behind Rilakkuma) and fu-mo, which makes super-long hooded onesies. It’s made from microfibre blanket, and retails at 6,800 yen (US $62).

Looking at that toasty-warm material in these pictures, we can see why they call them premium. And we can also see why the pre-orders have already sold out!

▼ When they say super-long, they mean super-long.

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▼ The onesie can be fastened up to keep it off the floor (right). And check out those cute paws!

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The best thing about this suit, though, is that it’s brilliantly meta. In the picture books, Rilakkuma often wears costumes, and many of them are (identical) bear costumes. So it’s implied that his body is actually a costume…which means that by wearing a Rilakkuma suit, you aren’t just dressing up as him; you are becoming him.

Because he has an unexplained zip down his back, people sometimes say that Rilakkuma isn’t a bear at all, just an old man wearing a cute bear suit. But coming after that whole distressing debate about Hello Kitty not being a cat, we’ll leave that disturbing thought for now and just assume that Rilakkuma is a bear. And now, you can be him too.

(Once they’re back in stock.)

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Source and images: San-X

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