On March 26, the Sanrio Villager Amiibos for Animal Crossing: New Horizons will go on sale. Animal Crossing fans are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Etoile, Chai, Chelsea, Marty, Toby, and Rilla- and plotting to kick out some of their existing villagers in order to bring the Sanrio ones to their islands. The Sanrio villagers were originally available in New Leaf, but the highly anticipated collaboration is finally coming to Animal Crossing: New Horizons just in time for the game’s one-year anniversary.
Sanrio’s most recognizable character is, of course, Hello Kitty. To call Hello Kitty iconic would be an understatement, but the Sanrio villagers and items in Animal Crossing are not all Hello Kitty inspired. Sanrio is also the company behind several other adorable characters that Animal Crossing players may not be as familiar with. The cute designs of the villagers and their houses reference many of the most classic Sanrio characters and, with context, can be appreciated even more.
Etoile the sheep is inspired by Little Twin Stars; a twin brother (Kiki) and sister (Lala) who were introduced to the Sanrio universe in 1975. According to their origin story, the twins were born on Christmas Eve in the Dream Star-Cloud. After being a little spoiled by their parents, Kiki and Lala were sent to Earth to learn how to be more self-sufficient and shine brighter.
Little Twin Stars was originally part of a Christmas promotion drawn by Yasuko Matsumoto, but they’ve since then become year-round favorites. Matsumoto didn’t name the twins at first, but when readers of the Sanrio magazine Strawberry News wrote him asking for more information about them, he began accepting name suggestions. The names Kiki and Lala were eventually decided on.
Etoile’s design and her room feature brighter colors than Little Twin Stars, but the overall aesthetic is very similar. Star and cloud imagery reference Kiki and Lala’s home among the stars, while pink and blue represent the twins’ hair colors. Etoile’s primary color is purple, which doesn’t seem to tie in at first, but a lot of Little Twin Stars artwork is featured on a light purple background. With that in mind, all of the colors are spot on. Kiki and Lala themselves are also on Etoile’s rug. The Kiki and Lala items in Animal Crossing are some of the most versatile and are likely to be the most popular.
Chai is one of the most popular Sanrio villagers thanks to her cute design and pastel color theme. Because of the teacup on her head, she’s often compared to Tia, another elephant villager whose design is teapot-inspired. With both the teapot and the teacup, they make the perfect pair. However, Chai is actually inspired by the Sanrio character Cinnamoroll.
Cinnamoroll is a fluffy white puppy from the clouds. When he was created in 2001 he was originally named Cinnamon, but the name faced some trademark/copyright complications. As a result, the puppy was renamed Cinnamoroll in 2007, which suits him much better anyways. Even though he’s from a cloud, Cinnamoroll is commonly associated with cafe treats. His name obviously contributes to that and he’s often pictured with cinnamon rolls, but the cafe association goes farther than that.
Also in 2007, Cinnamoroll starred in his own short film simply entitled Cinnamoroll: The Movie. In it, he is adopted by a cafe owner named Ms. Anna and is introduced to her other puppies, Espresso, Mocha, Chiffon, Milk, and Cappuccino. She’s not a puppy, but Chai is a natural addition to the family.
Cinnamoroll’s influence is obvious in Chai’s design. Not only does she have an image of the puppy on her outfit, but the couch, the rug, and the cafe sign in her home also feature the puppy’s likeness. Players will also be able to obtain Cinnamoroll clothing items for their Animal Crossing character. The blue and pink pastels represent Cinnamoroll beautifully, and the teacup on Chai’s head is the perfect nod to his cafe home.
Chelsea is a white deer villager wearing pink bunny ears in reference to My Melody, Hello Kitty’s bunny best friend. My Melody has a very sweet and innocent personality and she’s kind to everyone she meets, which is probably why Chelsea has the normal personality type. In Animal Crossing, normal personalities are very kind and soft-spoken, making it a perfect fit for a My Melody-inspired character. My Melody was originally inspired by Red Riding Hood, which explains the pink hood she wears over her ears.
Because My Melody is Hello Kitty’s best friend, she doesn’t always get the spotlight, but she did actually get her own anime in 2005 called Onegai My Melody. In it, My Melody hangs out with her other best friend, a pink sheep called My Sweet Piano, Flat the mouse, her parents, and her brother, Rhythm. My Melody also has an impish rival, Kuromi, but she’s usually kind to her as well.
My Melody’s love for pink definitely comes across in Chelsea’s home design, while My Melody herself is featured on the rug and the headboard of Chelsea’s bed. Chelsea’s pink rabbit ears are also hard to ignore as a direct reference to the Sanrio character. Chelsea’s hair could be a nod to Flat, the mouse My Melody often spends time with, but sometimes he looks blue instead of green so that’s up in the air. As with the other Sanrio villagers, players can also buy a hat and pink outfit to cosplay as My Melody and truly make the most of the Animal Crossing: New Horizons collaboration.
Marty is a bear cub Sanrio villager with the lazy personality type. He’s also one of the more popular Sanrio villagers, partly because he’s one of the only male options (and arguably the cuter of the two). Marty’s home is also one of the most strongly themed — Marty is inspired by the Golden Retriever Pompompurin, and every element of his house, personality, and personal style perfectly encapsulate the lovable dog.
Pompompurin was created in 1996 and made his debut in the Strawberry News magazine. Originally, his name was My Pudding, but it was changed to Pompompurin later. The character was actually created during a contest Sanrio held for employees to create a new dog character, and of course, Purin was the winner. Pompompurin loves sleeping, milk and cream caramel pudding, “purin aerobics,” and collecting his owners’ shoes. He is also described as having a laid-back personality, which works well for a lazy Animal Crossing villager.
Pompompurin is everywhere in Marty’s design. Not only is the dog everywhere in his room, Marty (and the player) also has Purin’s trademark beret. The colors are also spot on, representing both Pompompurin himself and the cream caramel pudding he loves so much. In Marty’s bed, fans will spot Muffin, the hamster that Pompompurin loves to hang out with.
Toby is the second male villager in the Animal Crossing Sanrio collaboration. He’s inspired by Kerokerokeroppi (Keroppi for short), a frog character that was also the winner of an in-house Sanrio character creation contest. Keroppi lives in Donut Pond, which looks exactly how it sounds. Keroppi is frequently drawn with a bowtie similar to the one Toby wears, and the pink circles on his cheeks come straight from Keroppi’s design.
Keroppi has a huge family, most of which have a variation of the same name. He lives with his father, Keroppa, his mother, Keroma, and his baby brother, Kokero. Goodness knows how his family keeps all those names straight, but that’s not all — Keroppi is a triplet as well. His brother’s name is Koroppi (although he was called Curtis in North American dubbed animations) and their little sister, the only family member to get away from the “K” names, is Pikki (Kevin in North American dubs).
Toby’s home design is definitely the most understated out of all the Sanrio villagers, but it still nods to Keroppi in several ways. The rug, of course, features Keroppi himself, but the windows are also shaped like little frogs and the lilypad flooring is a reminder of Keroppi’s home in Donut Pond. Toby’s snowman-esque headdress also references Teru Teru, Toby’s sunshine doll that likes to collect ribbons and predict the weather.
Of course, Sanrio didn’t forget about their superstar, Hello Kitty. Sanrio’s mascot is represented by Rilla, a pink gorilla. For Animal Crossing fans who aren’t familiar with a lot of Sanrio characters, Hello Kitty’s influence on Rilla’s design will be the most obvious.
Hello Kitty, or Kitty White, was created in 1974 as one of the earliest Sanrio characters. Nearly everyone has seen Hello Kitty’s face on merchandise, but what fans might not know is that she’s been featured on Sanrio merchandise since the beginning. Her first piece of merchandise was on a vinyl coin purse that ended up being one of the top-selling items in all of Japan. She arrived in North America in 1976 and retains popularity today. In 2008, Hello Kitty was even named the ambassador of tourism in China and Hong Kong.
Blue, red, and white are the main colors in Rilla’s house, but her yellow hair completes Hello Kitty’s color scheme. Hello Kitty’s silhouette is on the table, dresser, headboard, chair, and rug in Rilla’s room. Rilla’s red bow is a nod to the bow Kitty always wears, and players will be excited to cosplay as Hello Kitty herself with a hat and matching outfit. There are tons of Sanrio clothing items and furniture pieces to obtain in the Animal Crossing collaboration, and each one has a special meaning for the character it represents.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch and the Sanrio Amiibo cards will be available at Target starting March 26.
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