The final results of the 2020 Sanrio Character Ranking are out, and Yoshikitty is now officially more popular than Hello Kitty in some countries.
For this year’s Sanrio Character Ranking competition, the event let fans from all over the world to vote on a selection of Sanrio’s 80 most beloved characters. And thanks to the massive international support for Yoshikitty, the character has been hailed as the sixth most popular Sanrio character worldwide, just behind Hello Kitty, who has secured the fifth place in the overall ranking.
Though Hello Kitty remains more popular than Yoshikitty globally, the latter now has more fans than the former in some territories. For instance, Yoshikitty currently ranks no. 1 in France, Germany, and Brazil. The character is also the second most favorite Sanrio character in China, next to Cinnamoroll who holds the top spot.
For those who are not familiar with Yoshikitty, the androgynous cat-like character is based on the appearance and personality of Yoshiki, the leader of the visual kei rock band X Japan. Created by the original Hello Kitty designer Yuko Yamaguchi in 2009, Yoshikitty is the first Hello Kitty character modeled after a real, living person.
This is the fifth consecutive year that Yoshikitty has secured a spot in the Top 10 of Sanrio Character Ranking, and Yoshiki couldn’t be more grateful for all love and support from fans. “Thanks to everyone who voted for Yoshikitty. I’m so happy to see the support from fans not just in Japan but also from around the world,” said Yoshiki in a statement. “Maybe I’ll compose a theme song for Yoshikitty to say ‘thank you’ for all the support. Not only that, I would like to continue delivering wonderful music, so that I can give back to everyone as much as possible.”