BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL. Her name means "black beauty" and like few other characters, Kuromi has the power to combine beauty and naughty. A spin-off from Sanrio's My Melody universe, Kuromi was born on a cold and misty Halloween night, and some say this is the reason for her mischievous and playful ways.

© Sanrio Co., Ltd.

Among Sanrio store customers, Kuromi has quickly rosen to become one of the most popular characters among 15-17 year olds and 18+ year old students. At the Sanrio web site, "Kuromi" was one of the most top-search terms in 2007 and 2008, beating her closest competitor more than 200%. Kuromi merchandised gear is frequently seen with singers and artists and she has also proven to be extremely popular with counter- and subculture members of all age groups.

Created in 2005 at Sanrio studios, Kuromi quickly made a name for herself as the friendly rival to the sweet and gentle My Melody rabbit character from 1975. She is a true romantic, and her hobby is boys! She loves to write in her journal about all her adventures and dreams and intends to write a novel some day. Her favorite color is black, but she always likes to brighten it up with something colorful - that's why she has adorned her black jester's cap hood with a bright pink good-luck-skull. Kuromi sometimes wears fuchsia pink skull cherries on her right ear, and instead of an ordinary rabbit tail, she of course carries a black, pointy devil's tail. Her favorite food is pickled shallots.

The Sanrio artists have mastered the fine art of creating pure imagery with instant recognizability and "personality". While their character icons do not need surrounding storylines to make a genuine impression, there is a "soap opera" quality to several of Sanrio's properties, with a number of subsidiary personalities revolving around the brand character. The Sanrio style was deliberately developed to differ from bold American cartoons with aggressive colors and sharp lines - more subtle, with rounder features, more pastel colors and a kind of coziness. The characters' limbs are shorter, the view is often full frontal and the pose iconic and static. As design icons, Sanrio's kawaii properties represent an aestethic quality that embodies values like care, innocence and gentle silliness and seems to respond to basic and universal human needs, for children and adults alike.