why pompompurin was the only one capable of beating cinnamoroll
the 2025 sanrio character ranking results are in, and a new era of sanrio is upon us.
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pompompurin takes home the crown!!
Cinnamoroll’s reign of terror is officially over. Back in April, voting for the 2025 Sanrio Character Ranking opened up, and the cracks in our democracy began to show. After a five-year win streak, Sanrio fans grew tired of Cinnamoroll winning the crown year after year—making this year’s ranking especially crucial.
As a result of the widespread push for “anyone but Cinnamoroll,” Pompompurin was crowned the first place winner—garnering 185,676 more votes than the tiny dictator himself. As one of the many Sanrio fans that swore off voting for Cinnamoroll, I’d be lying if I said Pompompurin’s win wasn’t immensely satisfying.
surprise, pompompurin is part of sanrio’s core four
The last time Pompompurin took home the crown was in 2016, and this year’s victory marks his fourth time ranking first. In fact, since 1998, Pompompurin, Cinnamaroll, My Melody, and Hello Kitty have been taking turns winning the first place spot. So even though we’re celebrating Cinnamoroll’s long-awaited dethroning, there’s still a clear pattern in the history of first place winners.
Although the past few years have undoubtedly been dominated by Cinnamoroll’s reign as favorite character, Pompompurin has always remained just as prominent—serving as the 2nd place winner in 2017, 2018, and 2020-2023. The fact of the matter is, we needed a character with enough untapped potential to overthrow Cinnamoroll, and Pompom was the ideal candidate.
chococat was robbed, as usual
Like most elections, it’s important to take the good with the bad. While Chococat remained at 24th place—he ranked first in Brazil, second in the US and the UK, third in Spain, fourth in Germany and France, fifth in Italy, and seventh in Australia. So, even though Chococat (clearly) hasn’t been able to crack the top 10 internationally, he still has a fiercely loyal fanbase outside of East Asia.
usahana is the it girl to watch
Although TikTok fans might be disappointed to realize Usahana did not make the top 10 like they might’ve hoped, she actually made huge strides in this year’s ranking. Not only did she land the 17th place spot (the last time she ranked above 20th was when she was awarded eighth back in 2005), she took home big wins in the UK and the US—securing the nations’ third and fourth place spot respectively.
Usahana once ruled the Sanrio rankings in the early 2000s—with her highest spot being sixth place in 2004. And now, after cracking the top 20, Usahana’s popularity symbolizes a brand new era of “kawaii nostalgia”—one that’s undeniably defined by Gen Z’s obsession with the 2000s.
what happened to my boys keroppi and badtz-maru?
Aside from the obvious upset, this year’s results also included Keroppi and Badtz-Maru’s slow decline into the top 20. Keroppi peaked in the early ‘90s, winning the first place spot in 1990 and slowly declining year after year. Similarly, Badtz-Maru took home the crown in 1996, and has slowly dropped to the top 20—with 20th place in 2015 being his lowest ranking.
This year, Keroppi was awarded the 14th place spot, while Badtz-Maru ranked slightly above him at 11th. While it makes sense that older characters would fall in and out of relevance among a growing fanbase, it really makes me wonder if Keroppi and Badtz Maru’s fall from the top 10 is evidence of a brand new Sanrio—one that’s ruled by dog characters and the “soft and whimsical” kind of kawaii.
here lies old sanrio
We might not have gotten Hangyodon or Chococat in the top five this year, but if nothing else, the 2025 Sanrio Character Ranking is a major hint at the future of the brand as a whole. We’ve seen the rise and fall of beloved characters, and I have no doubt that we’ve already entered a brand new period.
Of course, change doesn’t happen overnight. There’s an age-old sentiment that empires only last for 250 years, and (although on a much smaller scale) the same is true for Sanrio characters. Popular characters only remain popular for so long, and Sanrio’s annual ranking only further proves this.
It’ll take at least a few years to see our favorite obscure characters make the top 10, but maybe that’s for good reason. I mean, how weird would it be if we woke up one day and Marshmallowmitainafuwafuwanyanko was in the first place spot?
Check out the full results of the 2025 Sanrio Character Ranking here. Did your favorites rank where you wanted them to?
Ahirunopekkle top ten i PRAYED for days like these!!!!!