The name roughly translates to “life in the corner”. The main Sumikko characters are Shirokuma, a polar bear who dislikes the cold, Penguin? who is unsure of being a penguin, Tonkatsu, a piece of leftover pork cutlet, Neko, a timid and anxious cat, and Tokage, a dinosaur who pretends to be a lizard. Minor Minniko characters include Furoshiki, a polka dot furoshiki cloth, Zassou, a weed with a positive attitude, and Tapioca, multi-colored leftover tapioca pearls. The characters were created by Yuri Yokomizo, a graphic designer working for San-X, and the first products were released in 2012. Their main inspiration was the feeling of comfort when one is near a corner, and they were based on Yokomizo's notebook doodles when she was a student. Books, mobile apps, and video games based on the franchise have also been produced.Ī wealth of merchandise, such as stationery, plush toys, and clothing, is sold. Two animated films with Sumikko Gurashi were released in 20. Targeting Japanese people with an affinity for “corners”, such as the corner seat of a café or the corner of a room, the characters are anthropomorphised animals and food items. The characters are split into “Sumikko' the main characters, and “Minikko” the smaller side characters. The main characters have common traits: they have a slightly negative personality, they are castaways in everyday life, and they feel most relaxed when they are near a corner. In contrast, some of the Minikko characters have a more positive outlook, like Zassou, the weed with big dreams. Yuri Yokomizo was a new designer when she developed the Sumikko Gurashi characters in her first year of joining San-X. Before getting hired at San-X, Yokomizo studied graphic design at Tama Art University where Hikaru Suemasa, creator of the San-X character Tarepanda, was one of her professors. Yokomizo based the Sumikko Gurashi characters on doodles she made in the corners of her notebooks as a student. They were first conceived as a series of cute animal characters, and early concept art included a sheep and a giraffe. The addition of the leftover pork cutlet character Tonkatsu shifted the focus. Yokomizo said in 2015 that characters like Tonkatsu and Tapioca were inspired by a feeling of pity for that which is left over. In 2019 Yokomizo said that some parts of the books are based on her own experiences, like a scene where the characters are afraid of answering the phone. In 2019, The Japan Times described Sumikko Gurashi as being part of a trend which first began with the release of the San-X character Rilakkuma in 2003, where characters have more negative personality traits compared to earlier kawaii (cute) characters which were more cheerful or bland. Marceline Smith, author of a book about kawaii, described Sumikko Gurashi as 'characters that feel left out or anxious' which makes them 'more relevant for a generation who face greater uncertainty in their lives'.

Koukou gurashi .student files