Byebye Kitty

Just kidding- nothing is official yet. This article from the NYT suggests that Kitty's days may be numbered, but I think that's far off yet. She may be declining in popularity, but she's still everywhere. I was surprised to read she's not the highest-grossing character in Japan. No, that honor goes to Anpanman, who is, as the article states, "based on a Japanese jam-filled pastry." It can sometimes be called jam, but the more standard English term is bean paste.

Only in Japan would the highest-grossing character be edible. And literally full of beans. He's not really even based on a pastry- he IS a pastry. Well, his head is. That is the part that is edible. Don't worry, Chef will bake him a new head.