My Melody[]
My Melody is a girl rabbitwho always wears a red or pink hood that also covers her ears. Her birthday is on <img alt="My melody.jpg" src="http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100814055010/hellokitty/images/thumb/3/30/My_melody.jpg/180px-My_melody.jpg" width="180" height="241" class="thumbimage" />Added by ThaliasizemoreJanuary 18th. Like Hello Kitty, My Melody is rather popular in Asia and can be found on children's toys and
merchandise. My Melody was first released in 1975 and the first related merchandise was released at the
end of that year. At first she was mostly marketed toward young girls, but like Hello Kitty her popularity
s increased within all age groups, especially in Asia. According to The New York Times, this character is
"moderately successful" in terms popularity but shows no signs of reaching the global popularity of Hello
Kitty.[12]When first released she was the Little Red Riding Hood character in a version of the classic fairy tale featuring all animal characters. The name My Melody first appeared in 1976 and soon the connection to Little Red Riding Hood all but disappeared, with the exception of a series of Little Red Riding Hood-style goods which were re-released in 2000. After 1976, her cute animal friends, such as Flat the mouse, Piano the sheep, Risu the squirrel, and her brother Rhythm, started appearing. The original My Melody goods featured a red hood but as of 1977, merchandise featuring a pink hood was released, which would be the norm for My Melody goods for several years to come.
My Melody's popularity waned toward the late 1980s, and the only goods produced were candy. In 1996, in a Strawberry News (a magazine published by Sanrio) reader survey, My Melody came out amongst some of Sanrio's most popular characters and as a result, standard merchandise started re-appearing as of February 1997 featuring the original red hood. Goods with the pink hood were re-released in 1999 and as of 2000 there were goods released with multiple color hoods.
My Melody has been turned into a Pullip doll, like two other Sanrio characters, Hello Kitty and Cinnamoroll. The doll includes a Flat toy.
On April 3rd, 2005, an anime series based on My Melody and her friends and produced by Studio Comet started to air on TV Osaka and TV Tokyo television stations, called Onegai My Melody (おねがいマイメロディ). This anime also spawned a video game for the Nintendo DS titled Onegai My Melody: Yume no Kuni no Daibouken (おねがいマイメロディ～夢の国の大冒険～). The game relies heavily on a feature of the Nintendo DS console which requires the player to blow air into the microphone of the unit. The player guides My Melody through timed levels by jumping and using her umbrella to float around and avoid enemies. The game also features unlockable content as well, such as music, images, and mini-games. Currently, Sanrio has got no plans to release this series in North America.
My Melody also appears in the Sanrio Digital and Dream Cortex series, The Adventures of Hello Kitty & Friends. She, however, is mouthless there, and her rival doesn't make an appearance.
In 2007, A second game was released for the Nintendo DS titled My Melody Angel Book ~Denshitechou & Enjoy Game~ (マイメロディエンジェルブック～電子手帳＆エンジョイゲーム～). The game's primary function is as a day planner designed for young girls to keep track of appointments, class schedules, and mini diary entries.
On March 26th, 2008, a Japanese music compilation album titled "I LOVE 30 - MY MELODY" from Tearbridge Records was released with My Melody wearing the original red hood drawn in various artwork styles by Groovisions.