Japanese entertainment company Sanrio is known for its adorable animated characters. And despite the more recent Cinamoroll and Kuromi gaining popularity in the past few years, one of its earlier characters, Hello Kitty, remains iconic.
On Thursday (18 July), Sanrio’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Brand Management Jill Koch reiterated that Hello Kitty is not actually a cat, but a human child.
Source: Unsplash
This revelation sparked a flurry of reactions on social media, with many fans finding it hard to accept Hello Kitty’s true identity.
“Hello Kitty is not a cat. She’s actually a little girl,” said Koch in an interview with Today.
According to Koch, she was born and raised in the suburbs of London with her parents and twin sister, Mimmy. She also noted that the character weighs three apples and is five apples tall.
Interestingly, there is an actual cat in the world of Hello Kitty—Hello Kitty’s pet, Charmmy Kitty, a white Persian who looks like her owner but has a more cat-like character.
Source: Fandom Wiki
This is not the first time that Sanrio has revealed the character’s real identity.
In 2014, the company revealed that Hello Kitty is a “British schoolgirl named Kitty White who lives just outside London,” as reported by BBC.
Source: Unsplash
Additionally, anthropologist Christine Yano, who wrote a book about the Sanrio character, told the LA Times, “She’s never depicted on all fours. She walks and sits like a two-legged creature.”
On why the Japanese animated character is British, Ms Yano said it was due to the popularity of British culture in Japan during the 1970s.
Following the Today Show interview, fans on social media expressed their surprise regarding their beloved character’s true identity.
Source: @PopCrave on X
Many said that despite the revelation, the character will always be a cat to them.
Source: @PopCrave on X
Also read: Hello Kitty cable car cabins available for rides at Mount Faber Peak from 1 June to 31 Dec
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Featured image adapted from Unsplash
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