The Aporia · Hello Kitty owner Sanrio scraps Japanese TV show Vivant deal over China backlash

Hello Kitty owner Sanrio scraps Japanese TV show Vivant deal over China backlash

Read the original at South China Morning Post ↗

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Lin, C. (2026, October 29). Hello Kitty owner Sanrio scraps Japanese TV show Vivant deal over China backlash. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3372526/hello-kitty-owner-sanrio-scraps-japanese-tv-show-vivant-deal-over-china-backlash

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Quick Summary

Sanrio, the company behind Hello Kitty, has ended its partnership with the Japanese TV drama series Vivant due to backlash from China. The decision came after Chinese criticism of the show's portrayal of wartime torture by Chinese intelligence agents against Japanese characters. Sanrio cited incompatibility between the show’s content and their corporate values. The company will cease all collaborations with Vivant, including future seasons and promotional activities, following strong opposition from China’s state broadcaster CCTV, which alleged that the series distorts history and smears Beijing.

Written by AI on 2026-10-30, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Sanrio, the company behind popular characters like Hello Kitty, has ended its merchandise partnership with the controversial Japanese TV show Vivant after facing backlash in China. Chinese state media and social media users criticized Vivant for depicting Chinese intelligence agents torturing Japanese operatives using brutal methods similar to those used during wartime. Sanrio terminated the collaboration and apologized, stating that the content was inconsistent with their core values of care and connection. The company announced it will strengthen its review processes for future projects to avoid such issues. This incident highlights the strained China-Japan relations and the sensitivity surrounding historical grievances in both countries.

Written for “Hello Kitty Ends Spy Show Collab” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

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⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 28 claims Outlet record 59/100

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 4 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

Leans left

of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate

Publisher signals

64/100

South China Morning Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Entertainment

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-10-30 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

South China Morning Post · 3422 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Caroline Lin

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 15 articles by Caroline Lin →

Topics

China Chinese Hello Kitty Japanese Vivant

Subjects

Japanese NORP · 3× China GPE · 2× Chinese NORP · 2× Sanrio ORG · 2× Vivant ORG · 2× Beijing GPE · 1× CCTV ORG · 1× Hello Kitty ORG · 1× the Sanrio Group’s ORG · 1×

Narrative

The controversial series includes scenes depicting Chinese intelligence agents torturing Japanese operatives, prompting China’s state broadcaster CCTV to accuse the show of distorting history and “deliberately smearing” Beijing.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-30

2026-10-30 · South China Morning Post

Hello Kitty owner Sanrio scraps Japanese TV show Vivant deal over China backlash · assertive framing

Claims (4 extracted, 0 hedged)

Hello Kitty owner Sanrio scraps Japanese TV show Vivant deal over China backlash The company best known for its cute characters cut ties with the drama after strong Chinese criticism of its evocation of wartime torture asserted

company → scrap → torture

In an official statement released late on Wednesday evening, the company acknowledged that the Japanese spy drama contained content that “does not align with the Sanrio Group’s corporate philosophy”. asserted

that → release → philosophy

agents → include → Beijing

In its statement, Sanrio confirmed that it was ceasing the current collaboration with Vivant – which premiered in 2023 and opened its second season in July – along with all related future projects and promotional campaigns. asserted

which → confirm → projects