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Harmless Sanrio Mascot Cinnamon Bullied on Twitter
posted on by Eric Stimson
The Sanrio character Cinnamon has his own Twitter account, @cinnamon_Sanrio, which he uses to keep his fans updated on his important activities.
おはよう♪今日から5月、お出かけが楽しい季節だね。 pic.twitter.com/xazIEICmxk
— シナモン【公式】 (@cinnamon_sanrio) April 30, 2015
Good morning ♪ After today it's May, a fun season for going out!
電車がきたよ!レッツゴー!! pic.twitter.com/PO3njaJXVE
— シナモン【公式】 (@cinnamon_sanrio) May 3, 2015
The train's here! Let's go!!
みんなでキャンプに来てるんだ!お外で食べるのっておいしいね! pic.twitter.com/7peNyN819m
— シナモン【公式】 (@cinnamon_sanrio) May 4, 2015
I went camping with everyone! It sure is tasty to eat outdoors!
Unfortunately, some of his followers don't seem to appreciate Sanrio's signature cute and fluffy style, and have responded with rude or inappropriate comments. @homenori_s wrote "Shut up, it's college time, you baldy," to the May tweet. "That train's gonna derail," wrote @0319Arararara about the train tweet. @play0ffline wrote "So Cinnamon also eats animal intestines stuffed with ground meat" in response to the camping tweet.
ぐるり〜ん pic.twitter.com/G5RHO41u44
— シナモン【公式】 (@cinnamon_sanrio) May 2, 2015
Gururi~n [This doesn't actually mean anything, it just sounds cute]
By now the comments have escalated to bullying. In response to the above post, people have tweeted things like "Giant erasers don't roll," "Break your neck and die," "You're shaking the ground, die" and "Fall from the grown-ups' floor and die." (It is common in Japanese bullying to end sentences with "die.")
On May 11, Sanrio finally took action, blocking over 200 accounts and sending this tweet:
シフォン「おはよ!半分しか出たくないシナモンに代わって挨拶に来たわ。シナモンはアタシが守るから、お友達のみんなはそっと見守っててね!」 pic.twitter.com/RPOisDmfTH
— シナモン【公式】 (@cinnamon_sanrio) May 11, 2015
Chiffon: Good morning! I'm here to greet you in place of Cinnamon, who only wants to come out halfway. I protect Cinnamon, so gently protect all your friends too!
So far this has only inflamed the bulliers. @Unestablished_ wrote "Come out by yourself, you scum." ”Don't coddle Cinnamon. You're nothing but a fatty. Come on out and face us yourself! Relying on other is the worst," tweeted @CARIGANE. "You're not 'Chiffon,' I'm changing your name to 'Poop Ears.' Don't talk anymore, Poop Ears," posted @matsukon0322.
When asked for comment, Sanrio replied that it is "very sad" about the situation. Cinnamon appears unfazed, however. "It's sad that the friends who enjoy my tweets are in such bad moods. I'm fine, so don't worry! I'll tweet again tomorrow, so wait for it♪"
Meanwhile, this year's Sanrio character poll seems headed for an upset, with the usual winners, Hello Kitty and My Melody, not even in the top five. Show By Rock!! bands ShinganCrimsonZ and Plasmagica are polling #1 and #2, respectively. Cinnamoroll (the character series including Cinnamon), for all the bile it's receiving, is ranked #3. Gudetama and Pompompurin round out the top five.
