Sanrio character ranking underway, Cinnamoroll takes early lead

With the 2020 Sanrio Character Ranking well underway, ranking organizers on Tuesday published the early-stage results of the online voting which saw floppy-eared puppy Cinnamoroll take an early lead.

Voting began for 80 of the characters from the stable of Japanese character business and entertainment firm Sanrio Co. on April 10 with last year’s No. 2-ranked Cinamoroll, the top ranked character in 2017 and 2018, taking an early lead. Pompompurin, the pudding-shaped dog which ranked at No.3 in 2019, currently ranks second. Rounding out the initial top three is another of Sanrio’s canine characters, Pochacco, a character which has seen a significant increase in popularity among Sanrio fans over recent years

In February this year, Sanrio gave a debut to their six-character group “Hapidanbui,” members of which include the current third-ranked Pochacco and other of the company’s old favorites -- Tuxedosam, Keroppi, Badtz-Maru, Hangyodon, and Pekkle -- some of which feature in the early top 10.

Organizers are expecting “veteran” characters to move up the rankings as the votes continue to come in up until May 25, including last year’s No.1 and perhaps the most iconic of the Sanrio stable, Hello Kitty. The final results of the voting are set to be announced on June 9 at the Sanrio Puroland entertainment park. 

The early announcement of the 2020 Sanrio Character Ranking covers only those votes registered via the company’s online ranking page between 10:00 on the opening day and April 12, 11:59, with those votes cast in stores (including the online store) not included.

In conjunction with the announcement of the early-stage rankings Sanrio Co. on Tuesday launched a campaign encouraging fans to forecast the interim rankings set to be announced on May 12. Prizes will be awarded across four categories which include the correct forecast of the interim No. 1-ranked Sanrio character and the correct ranking order of 20 of the characters. 

For the fan who is able to correctly forecast the ranking of all participating characters, from 1 to 80, prizes include a gold character figurine worth one million yen. Fans resident in Japan can take part in the campaign via their personal Twitter accounts with prizes awarded by lottery to those who made the correct forecasts. 

2020 marks the 35th edition of the Sanrio Character Ranking which first took place in 1986 via the company's Strawberry News magazine. 2020 sees Hello Kitty’s twin sister Hello Mimmy among the participating characters for the first time. Voting is open until 12:00 (am) on May 25 with fans eligible to vote for one character each day during the voting period.

Last year’s Sanrio Character Ranking drew over 13,800,000 votes.  

2020 Sanrio Character Ranking English-language page