kitty2

Is Hello Kitty cute enough to get an analog camera to sell in 2016?

kitty3

It goes without saying, perhaps, but if there is a single “Queen of Cute,” it would be Hello Kitty. The character’s adorableness is pretty much her only selling point — and she’s been making bank for as long as she’s been around! Of course, since Sanrio is open to licensing Hello Kitty to all sorts of stuff, it was probably in inevitable that she’d show up in some unusual places. But this might be the strangest we’ve seen yet.

Fujifilm’s Instax Mini Hello Kitty is an instant camera that’s somehow been on the market for around two years. We’re not sure who’s buying them, but we do have to admit that they’re surprisingly cute! If you can get past the whole “cyclops Hello Kitty” thing.

▼ IT NEVER BLINKS!!

kitty

And this year, Fujifilm is releasing a limited edition 2016 model! The new features that make this a must-buy are…a red bow? Well, if you’re a dedicated collector or just looking for a fun way to take photos of your friends, we suppose this would work.

▼ Regular model on left, limited-edition model on right

16444052

As for what exactly this camera does, it’s basically a Polaroid that prints photos on small photos with cute Hello Kitty borders. While it seems kind of odd for people to be using this when nearly everyone has a far more powerful camera built into their phones, there definitely is something fun about having tiny, physical photos. And we bet it’s a lot easier to get people to smile for the camera when it looks like Hello Kitty!

▼ A 2014 commercial for the camera featuring Hello Kitty and…bears?

https://youtu.be/Bzn5FVco6Dg

So, should you run out and buy the new model? Well, we wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to spend 10,670 yen (about US$93) on a camera that takes tiny photos. But at the same time, we wouldn’t blame if you did either! You can find the cameras on Fujifilm’s website, and the regular pink version is available on Amazon Japan and Amazon USA, if you don’t care about the red bow.

And if you’re more interested in sexy than cute, you may want to check out these knit diakon figures. Though we don’t think you’ll want anyone to take photos of you with them…

Sources: Instax, FujiFilm Mall, ITMedia
Images: Instax, YouTube/FujiFilm Japan