Sanrio’s Newest Character Is Taburerona, An Overemotional iPad Who Works As A Tour Guide

For those of you who don't obsess over third-tier Sanrio characters, here's the best way I can think of to describe it: Hello Kitty is like Superman. She's the most iconic and tenured character on the roster, a worldwide symbol who's synonymous with both the company and an entire genre, which in her case would be cute, incredibly marketable corporate mascots. But just as DC doesn't end with Superman, Sanrio has a whole roster of other characters, deep cuts that occasionally get really, really weird. And this week, they have added a new one to the roster.

Her name is Taburerona, and she is essentially an overmotional iPad who works as a tour guide and wants you to buy Sanrio's new line of 8-Bit Hello Kitty merchandise.

Taburerona is joined by her assistant, a relatively calm smart phone named Sumaikya, and according to Anime News Network, they'll be featured on an upcoming series of animated specials called Sanrio World Tours, where they'll be (obviously) serving as our guides to the strange world where a cat who might not be a cat can own another cat. For now though, they're making their debuts in ads, which feature Taburerona going through a whole roster of emotions, from embarrassment...

...to lovestruck wistfulness...

... to, uh, being on fire?

I'm not really sure that last one counts as an emotion, but it certainly shows off her range.

The upcoming World Tour specials will be produced by DLE Inc., the studio perhaps best known for Eagle Talon and the 1986 NES game Fight! Super Robot Life-Form Transformers: Mystery of Convoy, in which players took the role of Ultra Magnus to investigate the murder of Optimus Prime.