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Hello Kitty’s hilariously meta YouTube debut is a hit with netizens, earns likes and subscribers

Katy Kelly Sep 21, 2018
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Sanrio’s star has turned to vlogging, and Japanese social media appreciates her blunt truths and eternal grade-schooler optimism.

Kitty White, also known as Sanrio’s most famous mascot Hello Kitty, always has a lot on her plate. Between extinguishing ghosts and boosting company sales, she never has an idle moment. Her latest mission is breaking into the competitive world of virtual YouTubers, alongside stiff competition like bilingual idol Sakura Fujima and the cinematic information scout Flavie.

What does this little mascot have that her peers don’t? Well, her video goes a long way towards explaining that.

In her chirpy debut video, Kitty reminds all her fans who she is and explains that she’s wanted to open up a YouTube channel for a long time, but was dissuaded by ‘the company’ (Sanrio). They cited all kinds of reasons to her, mainly that the Internet can be a scary, mean place for a little girl, but Kitty was adamant! And now here she is, with her own channel.

▼ Kitty broadcasts from her cute room in her native London

While the video is clearly marketed towards children, one of the most targeted demographics of YouTubers in general, there are a lot of fun little lines and jokes that long-time fans of Sanrio will catch. One such instance is when she’s listing other popular characters: having previously listed herself as a ‘veteran’ at the company, one of the characters she mentions is actually even older than she is.

▼ Coro Chan, the bear on the far right, was made in 1973 – Kitty came along a year later!

She also pokes fun at her famous status as Japan’s number one collaborative character. “I googled myself, and people are saying that I have no standards for who I’ll work with,” she says, grumpily kicking the air. “That’s not true! There’s just all kinds of work I want to do.”

▼ It isn’t that Kitty will work with just anyone, she just has a LOT of hobbies and workplaces!

When she signs off from her video, she even quips that she should do what the other YouTubers do and tell her viewers to subscribe to the channel.

▼ The video is voiced in Japanese (in a robotic voice that she jokes about) but it has English captions!

Japanese viewers appreciated the tongue-in-cheek tone of the video, and lots of them were excited about potential guest spots from the Little Twin Stars characters, Pom Pom Purin and My Melody. Others joked that as Kitty had been a veteran in the company for so long, they really shouldn’t be referring to her with the cutesy signifier Kitty-chan anymore – surely she’s at least a mature Kitty-san by now?

Though the reaction has been generally positive, some users were a little sad that her voice was so different in her YouTube updates. Many people grew up with top-earning voice actress Megumi Hayashibara voicing Kitty, and for some viewers this new VOCALOID-esque iteration just doesn’t cut it.

▼ Megumi Hayashibara singing the opening to Hello Kitty: Apple Orchard Fantasy

As one commenter said, “It really takes someone of Kitty’s calibre to take up all those jobs just because she wants to.” Keep working hard, Kitty! Just heed your company’s warnings and don’t burn out too soon.

Source: Hachima Kikou, YouTube/HELLO KITTY / ハローキティ【Sanrio Official】
Images: YouTube/HELLO KITTY / ハローキティ【Sanrio Official】