Yuru-kyara "Funassy" is sweeping the country

Hi everyone.

About half year ago I wrote about Kumamon, a yurukyara (local mascot) of Kumamoto Prefecture. The cute bear character is still popular, but it does not appear in the media as often as before.

Yes, Japanese are so fickle and we have found a new mascot that enthuses us. So, who took the place of Kumamon, the champion of Yuru-kyara Grand Prix 2012?

It is ふなっしー（Funassy), a pear-shaped unofficial  mascot of Funabashi City (Chiba Prefecture) ! He (she? it?) won the ご当地キャラ総選挙２０１３（Gotochi kyara sosenkyo 2013),  a local mascot competition sponsored by the Japan Department Store Association. 

That's Fnassy. He calls himself a "fairy of pear"and his name is made up of Funabashi City and nashi (梨、pear in Japanese), the city's special products; however, he is not authorized by the city as its official mascot, despite his tremendous popularity.

When he first appeared in the media, many people, including myself, found him bizarre rather than cute, because he was too far from the common image of yuru-kyara.
 
In general, the yuru-kyara mascots don't talk at all, and move relatively slowly and in a lovely manner, while Funssy restlessly jumps up and down, screaming in a high-pitched male voice, and talks... "a lot."

When he began to appear on TV as one of the yurukyaras, many people were surprised at this unexpected character setting. I still remember several TV show hosts said in astonishment -- "Do you talk?"

Actually, he has a good sense of humor and makes people laugh, which grabbed people's heart and made him popular rapidly, although the he is a bit too unsophisticated in design.

Check him out on Youtube below.  This is the promotion video of his fist DVD released in July by Pony Canyon, a major music and image software company. I heard it was successful in sales. What a surprise...

Not only this DVD, but also other products using his image, such as mugs, pillows, towels, stuffed toys, etc. are currently available at stores and on internet.

As I mentioned before, however, Funabashi City has no intention of authorizing him as its official character. I was wondering why and one day I happened to find an article on this matter. According to the article, a spokesperson of the city government explained that Funassy was a character created by an individual, not officially chosen by public; and that pear production is not only thing Funabashi can be proud of.

Umm... Funabashi municipal government seems dislike Funassy for some reason. Recently they created an official yurukyara, going through a proper procedure. See the image below. That's him, Funaemon!! Looks like a good boy, but he is not as appealing as Funassy. What do you think? 

 

さて、ここからは日本語で。

ゆるキャラの一番人気は熊本県の「くまモン」でしたが、今は船橋市の「ふなっしー」。

ゆるキャラ                         local muscot
一番（いちばん）　　　　　　　　No. 1
人気（にんき）　　　　　　　     popular
熊本県（くまもとけん）　　　　　Kumamoto Prefecture
今（いま）　　　　　　　　　　　　now
船橋市（ふなばしし）            Funabashi City

ふなっしーは市の特産、梨の妖精なんだって。多くのゆるキャラが、ゆっくりした可愛いらしい動きであるのに対して、ふなっしーは、甲高い声で叫びながら、せわしなく跳びまわります。

市（し）　　　　　　　　　　　　　　city
特産（とくさん）　　　　　　　　　specialty
梨（なし）　　　　　　　　　　　　 pear
妖精（ようせい）　　　　　　　　 fairy
多くの（おおくの）　　　　　　　 many
可愛らしい（かわいらしい）　　cute
動き（うごき）　　　　　　　　　　motion
～に対して（たいして）　　　　　while
甲高い（かんだかい）　　　　　 high-pitched
声（こえ）　　　　　　　　　　　　　voice
叫ぶ（さけぶ）　　　　　　　　　　scream
せわしなく　　　　　　　　　　　　restlessly
跳び回る（とびまわる）　　　　 jump around

一番の驚きがよくしゃべること。それにおもしろいんです。

驚き（おどろき）　　　　　　　　　surprise
しゃべる　　　　　　　　　　　　　talk
それに　　　　　　　　　　　　　　in addition

この、ゆるキャラらしくないキャラがうけて、今年のご当地キャラ総選挙で優勝しました。

～らしくない　　　　　　　　　　　not like
キャラ（キャラクター）　　　　　 character
うける　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 be accepted
今年（ことし）　　　　　　　　　　 this year
ご当地（ごとうち）　　　　　　　　local
総選挙（そうせんきょ）　　　　　general election
優勝（ゆうしょう）　　　　　　　　 get the first prize

それに、7月にはDVDも発売されたよ！

それに 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　moreover
発売（はつばい）される　　　　　be released

こんなに人気なのに、ふなっしーは船橋市に正式に認められていないのです。

正式（せいしき）に　　　　　　　　officially
認める（みとめる）　　　　　　　　admit

ちなみに、船橋市の公認キャラは「船えもん」だって。かわいくないね。

ちなみに　　　　　　　　　　　　　　by the way
公認（こうにん）　　　　　　　　　　officially authorized
船えもん（ふなえもん）　　　　　　name of a yuru-kyara