Hello Kitty maker Sanrio cuts ties with TV spy show after China backlash
Sanrio said the tie-up with the spy drama contained content inconsistent with its corporate philosophy and will halt future promotional campaigns.
- On Wednesday, Sanrio terminated its collaboration with the Japanese television drama Vivant after the series faced intense public backlash in China over its content.
- Chinese state broadcaster CCTV accused the spy thriller of "deliberately smearing" Beijing by depicting Chinese intelligence agents torturing Japanese operatives in scenes critics interpreted as distorting wartime history.
- China accounts for about 40% of Sanrio's overseas sales and roughly a quarter of operating profit, with the company booking 9.8 billion yen in Chinese revenue during the first quarter, up 25% year-over-year.
- Sanrio pledged to strengthen review procedures for future projects, while TBS President Masamine Ryuho defended the drama as "entirely fictional and has no intention of disparaging any specific country" at Wednesday's press conference.
- Tensions between China and Japan have remained elevated since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested a Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response; the incident echoes recent backlash against footballer Kylian Mbappe.
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Hello Kitty company ends collaboration with Japanese spy series after backlash in China The post Hello Kitty: Torture, agents and the geopolitical Japan-China clash over the billion-dollar franchise appeared first on in.gr.
Hello Kitty maker Sanrio apologizes, ends ‘VIVANT’ tie-up
Hello Kitty maker Sanrio announced on its official Japanese website on the afternoon of October 29 that it was canceling all collaborations with the Japanese television drama VIVANT and halting all related future projects and promotional activities with
Hello Kitty plush figures slip into the shape of Japanese secret agents for a product line. There is a political dispute with China. The manufacturer is rowing back.
The Sanrio company apologized to China, which represents a strategic market for its business. The scandal mainly reveals the diplomatic tensions between the two countries since a dispute over the question of Taiwan in 2025.
The Japanese company behind Hello Kitty announced that it will end its commercial collaboration with the television series 'Vivant'.
The Japanese brand Sanrio interrupts the collaboration with the TV series Vivant, accused by the government media of discrediting the Asian giant, after the protests on social media. In the background the already tense Beijing-Tokyo relationships and the weight of the Chinese market for the Japanese company
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