Sanrio announced on Sunday June 29 the results of its 2025 character ranking, which racked up over 63 million votes worldwide. Compared with 2024's results, this year saw Pompompurin leap from fourth place to snatch the crown with just over 5.6 million votes. Previous champion Cinnamoroll dropped to second place with 5.4 million votes, and Pochacco also saw a dip in popularity, slipping from second to third place to earn 3.9 million votes.
But what about the iconic Hello Kitty? With 3.3 million votes, she hasn't budged from last year's position of fifth place, and actually hasn't even managed to crack the Top 3 since taking the crown in 2019. (The lack of votes hasn't stopped Kitty from getting her own airport though, so we reckon she's doing just fine.)
This year's Top Ten characters are:
1. Pompompurin
2. Cinnamoroll
3. Pochacco
4. Kuromi
5. Hello Kitty
6. My Melody
7. Little Twin Stars
8. Hangyodon
9. Tuxedosam
10. Ahirunopekkle
See the full ranking of all 90 characters here.
More from Time Out Tokyo
Iconic Ghibli films come to life in 3D at the studio's sculpture exhibition in Tokyo
Embark on a creative journey through time and space at the Leiji Matsumoto exhibition
Evangelion's 30th-anniversary art exhibition is happening later this year
3 Tokyo restaurants named in the World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 list
The 55-minute fireworks at Lake Kawaguchiko is back this year
Want to be the first to know what's cool in Tokyo? Sign up to our newsletter for the latest updates from Tokyo and Japan.