History
The Jewelpet franchise debuted on January 15, 2008 as the first collaborative project between Sanrio and Sega Toys.[5] The franchise originally started off with 33 characters, each of them being best sellers during the summer of that year with each toy having internet connectivity capabilities using special passwords.[6] As Jewelpet entered its first year in 2009, the first season of the anime series of the same name premiered.
In February 2010, 600 items of merchandise were all made with over 25 licensed companies for its overseas and domestic expansion.[7] On March 11, 2010, the 34th Jewelpet, Labra, officially debuted. The characters made their official debut as meet able characters in Sanrio Puroland with their first two shows: Throbbing Jewelpet! Magical☆March (ジュエルペットのどきどき!マジカル☆マーチ) and Jewelpet and Cinnamon's Future Revolution! (ジュエルペットとシナモンのみらいレボリューション!). In addition, after the characters debuted in Puroland, visitors increased by 17% during the fourth quarter of 2010.[8]
In December 2010, three new Jewelpets officially debuted: Angela, Charotte and Jasper. Charotte and Jasper were both winners of a Jewelpet Design Contest that was held during the airing of Jewelpet Twinkle. In 2011, the Webgurumi website was closed down and was replaced by a new website: Jewel Land Online. In December of that same year, the character Sakuran made its official debut alongside 11 new characters in a new subline called Sweetspets. Sakuran herself is also a winner of the new character design contest that was held during the airing of Jewelpet Sunshine.
On March 31, 2012, two new male Jewelpets debuted: Coal and Granite. Jewel Land Online ended its service that date as well. In June 2012, the Puroland show Jewelpet Kira☆Deco! Musical (ジュエルペット きら☆デコッ!ミュージカル) opened in conjunction with the Jewelpet Kira☆Deco! TV series. In August 2012, its first official theatrical film was released in Japanese cinemas with the introduction of the 13th Sweetspet, Gumimin. However, the film proved to be a failure at the box office.
In the January 2013 Issue of Pucchigumi magazine, the 40th Jewelpet, Rossa was officially revealed.[9] In 2014, the 41st Jewelpet, Luea, was also revealed and in the November 2014 issue of Youchien, marked the debut of the 42nd character Larimar.[10] In 2016, the musicals based on Jewelpet ended its run.
As of July 2017, the characters were removed in Sanrio Puroland's catalog of meet of greet characters due to rising popularity of the Rilu Rilu Fairilu Anime series. Japanese netizens expressed their concerns over the issue as the indoor park's representatives stated that the popularity of the new series has caused for the characters to be removed from the lineup.[11]
The franchise officially celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2019 with the re-release of all 7 anime series in YouTube in a limited time basis alongside a new stage show in the 2019 Tokyo Toy Show.[12]
