RILAKKUMA AND KAORU, the first stop motion animated series of one of Japan's most beloved characters, has begun production and will premiere globally as a Netflix original series in Spring 2019.
Rilakkuma is a soft toy bear who showed up one day to live with a young woman named Kaoru. It spends its days lounging around the apartment. Although there is a zipper on its back, what is inside is a mystery. Rilakkuma loves pancakes, rice omelets, custard pudding and "dango" rice dumplings. Its friends are Kaoru's pet bird Kiiroitori and a small white bear cub named Korilakkuma who also showed up out of the blue. Japan's leading stop motion animation studio dwarf (Domo, Komaneko) will create a total of 13 episodes in the series, supported by the original character creator Aki Kondo for story development. With internationally acclaimed filmmaker Naoko Ogigami (Kamome Shokudo, Close-Knit) joining as screenwriter, the series promises to appeal to audiences across all ages. The director is Masahito Kobayashi, and San-X will oversee the project. Rilakkuma and Kaoru will premiere as a Netflix original series in Spring 2019 in more than 190 countries around the world.Videos