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Kuromi: Tomoko Miyagawa
Learn more →A white rabbit in a black jester's cap with a pink skull. Born on 31 October. On the list of wrongs done by My Melody — exactly 6,324 entries. Kuromi debuted in 2005 as a villain viewers were meant to hate. Instead they loved her unconditionally — for her honesty in spite, for the flaws they recognise in themselves, for the courage to be who she is even if it doesn't look pretty. Gen Z made her an icon of dark kawaii, TikTok exploded with Kuromi outfits, and in 2021 she overtook Hello Kitty for the first time in Sanrio's popularity ranking. The story of her creation, however, has a darker side — Studio Comet, which animated Onegai My Melody, claims that it was their animator Tomoko Miyagawa who designed Kuromi from scratch, and that Sanrio appropriated that authorship. In 2025 a lawsuit was filed. The case is ongoing. How did a villain become the voice of a generation? Who do we really owe Kuromi to? And why did a black cap with a pink skull turn out to be stronger than all the well-behaved hoods in the world?