Lloromannic (2007)

Lloromannic (Berry and Cherry) were created to be the Kuromi equivalents to Cinnamoroll, they’re little demons who cause trouble for no reason and they probably have my favourite designs out of any Sanrio characters, they appeal to me specifically and I love them for that. Berry actually created Cherry to be his friend because he was lonely and he accidentally added salt instead of sugar into the recipe which made her sassy as a result. The mansion they both live in actually used to belong to one of Espresso’s (Cinnamoroll’s friend and Cherry’s unrequited crush) ancestor Espriana. They aren’t completely forgotten characters (merch of them still gets made and they’re used in collaborations quite often) but I don’t get why they’re not utilised more? They’re a mix of Cinnamoroll and Kuromi, some of the brands most popular characters, if they were used/more I can guarantee that they’d be a lot more popular but eh, I can dream. Another fun fact is that they’ve actually appeared in an episode of Onegai My Melody but Cinnamoroll doesn’t show up once, I just found that really funny.

Pierrot (1984)

Pierrot was created as a part of the Fancy Friends brand (characters that existed throughout the late 70’s and the early 90’s to appeal more to adults due to their calmer and less “childish” designs). No merch has been made of him and he’s a retired character, which is such a shame because I genuinely ADORE his design! He’s so cute and simple, I would love to have a plush of this guy. And he’s actually quite popular from what I’ve seen since there’s a lot of fanart of him so I’d love for him to be brought back in some way.

Magical Twin Comets (2007)

The Magical Twin Comets (Lili and Lulu) are witches and the Kuromi equivalent to the Little Twin Stars, but unlike Kuromi and Lloromannic who are antagonistic towards their counterparts, Lili and Lulu are actually the childhood friends of Kiki and Lala and aren’t rivals with them. I actually thought they were fanmade for a while until I realised they were official and that’s because almost no merch of them exists, trust me, I’ve looked, but I couldn’t find anything. Which really sucks because I’d love a plush of their mouse friend Mimi.

Coro Chan (1973)

Coro Chan is the cousin of Hello Kitty’s bear friend Thomas and his cheeks are apparently croquettes that he sometimes eats on occasion. He predates Hello Kitty, making him Sanrio’s first ever published character, I have no strong feelings about him but it’s a cool part of the company’s history, I get why Hello Kitty’s the mascot now, I wouldn’t want a filthy cannibal fronting my brand either.

Hummingmint (2014)

Hummingmint is a deer character who looks really unique compared to everyone else, I love how soft her palette is and the one plush I’ve seen of her is actually really cute, it sucks that her popularity died out in recent years because I’d really like to see more merch of her she’s adorable.

Pop N’ Berry (2003)

Pop N’ Berry (Berrina, Banyanyan, and Melorina) are a trio of animal themed fruit fairies and they were created in collaboration with Bandai (to this day they’re the only characters Sanrio and Bandai have made through collaboration). I don’t have strong feelings about them but I think their designs are cute and there IS still merch of them it’s just few and far between (I’ve seen some stuff on EBay but idk about other places).

Darkgrapeman (2012)

Darkgrapeman is the sidekick to the superhero Ichigoman (which is Hello Kitty’s alter ego that she transforms into once she wields a strawberry shaped smartphone). Darkgrapeman is another character that I feel like would fit into alt subcultures really well since his design is quite striking (I think the cherry symbol on his face is meant to be glasses since all of the plushies I’ve seen of him have it made from more see through material).