Rilakkuma and pals will return to Netflix in upcoming stop-motion animation series

Rilakkuma’s Theme Park Adventure will feature everyone’s favorite relaxed bear character indulging in some amusement park fun.

Despite the proliferation of cute character mascots in Japan, Rilakkuma has proven to be an international favorite ever since company San-X debuted him in 2003. After all, who wouldn’t say no to a character whose name is a portmanteau of “relax” and kuma, the Japanese word for “bear”?

▼ Rilakkuma’s typical appearance (though he’s often depicted lazily lying about)

Rilakkuma and his pals have inspired countless kawaii character goods such as plushies, stationery, kitchenware, home goods, and even a real-life teahouse on Miyajima. Last year, longtime fans were in for a very special treat when Netflix launched a stop-motion animation series by Animation Studio Dwarf called Rilakkuma and Kaoru. The 13-episode series premiered in April 2019 and followed the adventures of Rilakkuma, his office worker roommate Kaoru, smaller white bear friend Korilakkuma, and Kiirotori (literally “yellow bird”). According to Netflix data, it became the second most-viewed program on Japanese Netflix in 2019.

▼ Official trailer for the English version of Rilakkuma and Kaoru

▼ Here’s a short making-of featurette as well

This time, fans will be pleased to learn that a new stop-motion Netflix original series called Rilakkuma’s Theme Park Adventure (リラックマと遊園地) is now in the works with the same production team. This series will stream on Netflix in over 190 countries for eight episodes of approximately ten minutes each. The story will follow a busy day when the group of friends visits a theme park that’s about to close and they encounter many kinds of people. No information is currently available about a slated release date.

By the way, try to keep the following in mind when you’re eventually watching the new series: Rilakkuma is NOT actually a bear.

Source, images: PR Times
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