Among local yuru-chara flooding Japan, who is the hottest? The champion of "Yuru-chara Grand Prix 2011" Kumamon (Kumamoto Prefecture), you say?...... "Boo!" The correct answer is "Funassyi" (Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture) — my personal, biased take (＾◞౪◟＾). Lately appearing in TV commercials, it is breaking big.
According to its own site (http://terawarosu.jimdo.com/) and elsewhere, it calls itself a fairy of Funabashi's famous pears. An "unofficial" character not created by the city for PR; in November 2011 it started tweeting on its own, and from spring 2012 applied for PR events but was ignored, so it uploaded videos shot at home and in parks to YouTube — and in June got its first job, a "one-day store manager" request from a baby-goods chain. City hall and the chamber of commerce would not bite; it pushed by gate-crashing citizen festivals and pear PR events (Tokyo Station) as "volunteer appearances," and in October of that year made the "Yuru-chara Soccer Tournament," rising in fame after a close loss to Kumamon in the final. And then — February 2013, selected for Asahi Soft Drinks' Juroku-cha commercial! Then back-to-back on TBS "Johō 7Days News Caster" (Feb. 9), NTV "Sukkiri!!" (11th), TBS "Akko ni Omakase" (17th) — a full breakout.
Funassyi looks, you might say, like a knockoff of Fujiko F. Fujio's "Obake Q" (ancient!!). Crayon-drawn eyes and a "sloppy, loose face like graffiti come to life" (site bio); even the zipper on its back is clumsily hidden — that "handmade feel" is oddly charming. What stands out is the action. Restlessly shaking like a boxer, 150 cm tall yet jumping over 50 cm again and again, flying all over TV studios — jaw-dropping. In a high voice, its "nasshi!" — a distinctive
catchphrase rattled off at hyper tension — once seen, never forgotten. On "Sukkiri!!" Terry Ito and others jabbed "You're on drugs, aren't you" — unfazed, it kept moving＝= photo upper left, and even got spectacularly sumo-thrown by host Kōji Katō — wildly selling its playful, destructive personality.
Funabashi is close — 30 minutes from Takebashi on the Tōzai Line. I was once a Chiba resident, yet shamefully did not know Funabashi was a pear-producing area. With Funassyi's image, I may never forget...... or rather, it might show up in my dreams — scary! (｡-´_｀-｡)