Hello Kitty maker cuts ties with Japanese spy drama after China backlash

Sanrio, the company behind Hello Kitty, has apologised and ended its merchandise partnership with a controversial Japanese TV show after drawing backlash in China.

Vivant, a popular spy thriller, has been widely slammed in Chinese state media and by Chinese social media users for its depiction of Chinese agents using brutal torture tactics on a Japanese operative.

The criticism has extended to the internationally beloved Hello Kitty and her friends, including My Melody and Cinnamoroll, who were featured in merchandise dressed as characters from the show.

Sanrio said it terminated its collaboration with Vivant after determining that it "contained elements inconsistent with Sanrio's core values".

"Since its inception, Sanrio has consistently used its characters to convey values such as care and connection, and remains committed to its corporate philosophy of fostering harmony among all people," Sanrio said in the statement late on Wednesday.

"We take the feedback we have received regarding this incident very seriously. Moving forward, we will strengthen our review processes for all future collaborative projects."

China-Japan ties have plunged to their lowest point in years, since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's comments on Taiwan last November sparked a diplomatic firestorm.

Responding to a question in parliament, Takaichi suggested that Japan would activate its self-defence force if China attacked Taiwan.

Beijing has since been heaping pressure on Tokyo, from restricting rare earth exports to curbing tourism and even reclaiming its pandas.

Takaichi told parliament earlier this month that she had recorded episodes of Vivant and planned to watch them over the year-end holidays.

State-run Global Times took aim at Sanrio on Wednesday, saying the hugely popular cat character "should not dance with Japan's right wing".

Sanrio "stands to lose far more than short-term sales" by collaborating with "anti-China content", the Global Times article said. "The trust and emotional bond it has built up over a long time will also suffer."

Hello Kitty is not the only internationally beloved figure to have face such wrath in China in recent days.

Earlier this week, several Chinese brands dropped French footballer Kylian Mbappé over comments he had made about late Chinese leader Mao Zedong - which he has since apologised for.

Vivant is about a Japanese salaryman who finds himself entangled in an international web of crime and espionage.

Its first season, which aired in 2023, was set in a fictional Central Asian country. Its second season, which premiered in July, features Chinese agents torturing a Japanese spy by cutting his fingers and stabbing his abdomen.

Chinese state outlets, including CCTV, argued that these tactics "highly overlap" with those historically used by Japanese troops against the Chinese, and that the drama "distorts the truth".

Masamine Ryuho, the president of Vivant's TV network TBS, said on Wednesday that the show was completely fictional and had no intentions of "disparaging any particular country".