Japan's 10 Most Terrifying Yuru-kyara Mascots

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Yuru-kyara (ゆるキャラ), literally "soft characters", are usually cute, anthropomorphic amalgams of the local products and landmarks of regions and cities that are intended to help boost tourism. They're seriously big business in Japan with approximately 1700 yuru-kyara entered into the 2014 Yuru-Kyara Grand Prix and still others that weren't. Amid all this cuteness, however, there exists a truly terrifying category of yuru-kyara that is the product of a designer's sense of humour, a tactic to enliven a town's dull image, or the unfortunate and unintentional result of a sincere attempt at cuteness.

For your consideration, in no particular order, the top 10 most terrifying yuru-kyara Japan has to offer.

 

1. Ama-zoness (あまゾネス) 

Hometown: Ama City, Aichi Prefecture
2014 Grand Prix Rank: 173rd
Category: Fifty shades of RUN AWAY!

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A pun on Ama and Amazon, Amazoness carries a leak, a local product of Ama City, to whip genkiness into Japan.

That's it.

That's the only explanation given for releasing this bizarre nightmare out into the world.

Ama can mean sweet, and Ama City could have had a sweet little yuru-kyara of its very own. But the lure of the leak was just too much.

As was the legendary ancient race of female giants.

And David Bowie.

2. Mojarō (もじゃロー) 

Hometown: Gunma Prefecture
2014 Grand Prix Rank: 385th
Category: Son of The Blob

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Little Mojarō here is an anthropomorphic monjayaki, or monja, the Kanto region's version of okonomiyaki. He was designed by the kids from the Isesaki Chamber of Commerce and Industry Youth Group to deal with the epidemic of people who are able to sleep soundly at night. The official word, though, is that monja is soft (yurui) and thus a natural choice to become a yuru-kyara (soft character).

3. Nejiri Honnyo (ねじり ほんにょ)

Hometown: Miyagi Prefecture2014 Grand Prix Rank: 411st
Category: Cereal killer

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Haunted hay stack? Curse of the shag carpet? One of those creepy Muppets that's just a guy in a suit? No, it's a bunch of rice, and it knows where you live.

4. Aisai-san (あいさいさん)

Hometown: Aisai City, Aichi Prefecture
2014 Grand Prix Rank: 366th
Category: Serial killer

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Aisai City would like to have you believe that its mascot "Aisai-san" just loves his little vegetable friends so much that he always carries them around in his pocket. But that blank, sociopathic stare betrays his true intentions. It's plain to that those poor fellows are screaming for their crunchy little lives. Judging by their smiling faces, those bastards, Carrot and Leak, probably helped lure the others into Aisai-san's pocket of death.

5. Voice Man (ボイスマン)

Hometown: The studios of NHK Osaka
2014 Grand Prix Rank: 1733rd
Category: Stalker

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A manifestation of the dissatisfied voices of NHK Osaka viewers - thanks a lot, NHK Osaka viewers - Voice Man is just your average Joe Stalker in a creepy bodysuit that proudly displays viewer complaints.

6. Zombear (ゾンベアー)

Hometown: Hokkaido Prefecture
2014 Grand Prix Rank: 637th
Category: Zombie

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Little Zombear is said to have good luck but such a terrible sense of direction that he spent 70 years searching for his lost owner on foot until somebody found him and stitched him up. Zombear is obviously a warning of the horrifying consequences of the de-emphasis on domestic skills in the school curriculum.

7. Kusayaa Man (くさヤーマン)

Hometown: Niijima Village, Tokyo Metropolis
2014 Grand Prix Rank: 539th
Category: Revenge of the Fish

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Kusayaa Man is the unofficial mascot of Niijima Village, a collection of four small islands, two of which are uninhabited, in the northern Izu Islands. Not to be mistaken for a horribly mutated, rabid, microwaved cockroach, which apparently has been happenng a lot lately, Kusayaa Man is the ghost of "kusaya" or sun-dried salted horse mackerel. Kusayaa Man's special skill is the "Kusayaa Soup BUSSHAAAAA" which I'm sure is just as hideous and revolting as it sounds. While Kusayaa Man has certainly succeeded in raising awareness of Niijima Village, I'm not sure anyone would want to chance an encounter with him by visiting.

8. Orinyan (オリにゃん)

Hometown: Osaka Prefecture
2014 Grand Prix Rank: 1649th
Category: Eyesore

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Orinyan are a pair of manekineko ("lucky cats") who bring good luck by shooting their eyes out of their heads. This is a visual pun on the word "medetai" (目出度い), meaning "auspicious," as if written "me detai" (目出たい), could mean "want eyes to protrude." Which is more terrifying? These soulless cats or mankind's ability to create such terrible puns?

9. Melon-guma / Melon Bear (メロン熊)

Hometown: Yūbari City, Hokkaido Prefecture
2014 Grand Prix Rank: n/a
Category: Foreboding Fruit

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Part Yūbari musk melon, park brown bear, and all nightmare, Melon Bear is most often found biting the faces off other yuru-kyara. Recently there have been calls for a cull of yuru-kyara. Could Melon Bear be the answer to the problem of yuru-kyara overpopulation?

10. Haunted Tokei Guy ホーンテッド時計GUY

Hometown: Sapporo, Hokkaido
2014 Grand Prix Rank: n/a
Category: Tower of Terror

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Haunted Tokei Guy was designed by video game company Kutsushita Kikaku to appease the hoards of ungrateful tourists who just don't appreciate Meiji-period architectural gems. Modeled on the famous, yet apparently dull and disappointing, Sapporo Clock tower, one sharp fanged mouth was clearly not enough to convey the horrors of traveling all the way to Sapporo only to be met with a tiny little wooden building surrounded by overbearing skyscrapers. A diligent reporter, active blogger, radio show host, and destroyer of childhoods, Haunted Tokei Guy enthusiastically promotes terrifying local tourist activities such as red fox watching and potato eating.