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Sanrio Boys Project Auditions Real Boys Who Love Sanrio
posted on by Kim Morrissy
Sanrio's self-referential mixed media project about a group of high school boys who enjoy the company's different mascot characters is celebrating its 5th anniversary with a public audition. The audition began in November, and announced its final selection with a livestream on Friday, where five entrants will have their Sanrio-related dreams granted.
The livestream was broadcast exclusively on the virtual theater app "smash." at 6pm JST. The top 10 contestants will make an appeal for themselves with an original video showcasing their love for Sanrio characters. The five winning contestants were contacted live during the show. Singer-songwriter Yosuke Kishi served as the MC.
A public vote was held between February 14 to March 14 to narrow down the audition selection to the top 30. Their names and profiles can be checked on the project's official website.
The project's premise follows Kōta Hasegawa, a high school boy who loves the yellow Pom Pom Purin dog. By mere coincidence, he ends up attending the same school as Yū Mizuno, a boy who likes the bunny My Melody. Yū tells Kōta that there's nothing to be ashamed of for liking Sanrio's cute characters. Together, Kōta, Yū, Shunsuke Yoshino, Ryō Nishimiya, and Seiichiro Minamoto learn to accept their love of the characters instead of feeling embarrassed.
The overall project launched in January 2016, and Sanrio launched a merchandise line for the project in April 2016. The anime adaptation premiered in January 2018 and streamed on Crunchyroll.
Source: Anime! Anime!
