Shirokuma-kun loves bad puns, and is the owner of an organic cafe in Japan.
His favourite customers are Penguin-san and Panda-kun.
The fuzzy polar bear is the star character in Aloha Higa’s Shirokuma Cafe (しろくまカフェ) manga, which was recently adapted into a super hilarious anime series. Also called Polar Bear Cafe in English, the show follows the every day of a group of animals and humans having a cuppa at the cafe.
Marcelle is a fuzzy French elephant who likes, among other things, baby blue cotton candy.
For those who are often fooled by her sweet wooly demeanour, one must know that Marcelle was once a famous trapeze artist.
She has since left the circus, in hopes of finding greener pastures.
P/S Check back next week for a brand new amiguruMEI crochet adventure!
Mei-chan loves Strawberry Shortcake.
The fun-loving cartoon character first appeared as a greeting card design in 1977 – way before Mei-chan was born, of course.
Strawberry Shortcake has since been given a makeover, evolving first into a tomboy-looking adventure-seeker, and later into a wide-eyed, pink-haired people-pleaser.
Some of her friends from Strawberryland were also given new last names (Raspberry Tart to Torte) and the berry hero herself was last rumoured to have stolen Huckleberry Pie’s pet dog, Pupcake.
In Japan, Children’s Day takes place on May 5. A month prior to that, families would decorate their households with koinobori – carp-shaped wind socks made of paper or fabric.
These carp streamers are traditionally flown on roof tops to celebrate the event known as Tango no Sekku, in honour of sons (and daughters?) in the hope that they will grow up healthy and strong. The biggest koinobori represents the father; the medium and small-sized carps speak for the mother and child.
Meimoirs is no stranger to symbols of the koinobori – her father, who was an exporter of Japanese carps known as koi, found the cloth ‘kites’ amusing and used to have them strewn across the house. Only recently did she find out what the fish was all about, and wished that she had kept one or two in remembrance of her father, and a childhood she still thinks about from time to time.
Panda oji-chan is often befuddled by the everyday.
Why do flowers have thorns? he asks.
Panda Oji-chan believes that he comes from a planet far, far away.
He is a boy of few words, but many questions.
P/S Panda Oji-chan is fashioned after the Little Prince, the beloved character from the 1943 classic by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The book, known to be the most read and most translated publication in the French language, is a favourite of Meimoirs’. It tells of a “shipwrecked” pilot who unexpectedly meets a strange young boy in the desert. He calls him the Little Prince, and learn of his obsessions with a pet sheep, an arrogant rose and the dull yet colourful personalities whom he has crossed paths with during his intergalactic travels.
Read more about the thought-provoking allegory here.
Gus-chan is a snowflake fuwa fuwa kuma (bear).
Originally from the North Pole, the fuzzy cutie now enjoys basking in the sun.
He has once said that while the clouds inspire his imagination, the rain that comes after washes them away.
In the previous post, we touched briefly on the Totoro character.
To be more precise, there are three kinds of Totoro: the large grey Totoro, which is about 1300 years old and seven-feet tall, the medium blue Totoro, which is about 600 years old, and the tiny white Totoro, which is about 100 years old. It seems that as Totoro grows, he sprouts arms and whiskers, and changes colour in the midst of it all.
In amiguruMEI’s world, the big fuzzy Totoro has yet to be sighted in the flesh.
Until now that is, according to Shiro-toro-chan, the white Totoro.
If Meimoirs were given a chance to wander in the realms of amigurumi, she would be Mei-chan – all fluffed up for some kawaii fun!
Mei-chan is a marshmallow-pink fuzzy fox. On her head is none other than a grey fuwa fuwa (fluffy) Totoro hat!
Totoro is a large forest creature that live on acorns and plays the ocarina on moonlit nights. The character first appeared in My Neighbour Totoro, a delightful 1988 anime by Japanese manga artist and acclaimed filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, who co-founded the animation powerhouse, Studio Ghibli.
Mei-Chan is the first of many in amiguruMEI’s Makura Atama (Pillow Head) series. She snacks on mochi and cream puffs, and is known to be a fan of boba tea.
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