Sanrio Characters Join LINE FRIENDS 15th Anniversary With Pop-Up in Shibuya
Sanrio and LINE FRIENDS are both character-licensing businesses with global retail reach, so a joint anniversary push and a planned January 2027 retail rollout are a straightforward cross-brand merchandising play rather than a content announcement.
Reporting from 1 source: Anime Anime.
LINE FRIENDS announced a collaboration with Sanrio Characters marking the brand's 15th anniversary, with a story that shows the two groups preparing a surprise birthday party for Brown. The concept follows secret shopping trips, cake making, and party outfits while Brown remains unaware. A pop-up at LINE FRIENDS SQUARE SHIBUYA and other retail rollouts are planned for January 2027, with item details still to come.
Hello Kitty and Brown appear together in the announced concept art, which follows the characters shopping in town without Brown knowing, measuring clothing sizes, and completing a cake before a matching-outfit party. LINE FRIENDS is a global character brand that began with stickers for the LINE messaging app, used by over 200 million people worldwide, and it operates in 18 regions including Seoul, New York, LA, Tokyo, and Shanghai, with 8 e-commerce platforms. The anniversary collaboration is framed around Brown's birthday, celebrated 15 years after the brand's debut.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- Anime Anime サンリオキャラクターズが「LINE FRIENDS」15周年をお祝い！ 渋谷でポップアップ開催