YMMV / Hello Kitty

• Fan-Disliked Explanation: Sanrio's initial claim that Kitty isn't actually a cat, despite looking like one, is widely laughed off by fans. Eventually they clarified that Kitty is specifically an anthropomorphic cat, just not a literal four-legged one, though some people still to this day believe the original claim.
• Fridge Brilliance: The Hello Kitty x Takarazuka Revue Elisabeth crossover seems wildly inappropriate and a case of Misaimed Marketing unless we take the character of Rudolf into account, with a large amount of Black Comedy. He was a liberal who wanted to revolt against the imperial order, saving the people of Austria and Hungary from their living conditions. He felt that he was voiceless at court, a useless figurehead/puppet, as authority was fully in the hand of his father. He killed himself after persuading an innocent young girl into a Murder-Suicide pact with The Power of Love. Kitty is a loving, mouthless cat ^note In-show, a young Rudolf proudly told Death that he killed a cat the day before they met., often marketed to innocent young girls.
• Friendly Fandoms: There is some degree of overlap between the Hello Kitty fandom and the Garfield fandom, due to both characters being cats, but very different in terms of personalities. Also, both franchises dominate opposite sides of the globe; Hello Kitty is more popular in Asia, especially its home country of Japan, while Garfield is popular in the Western world.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Like her fellow Sanrio characters, Hello Kitty is undeniably just as, if not more popular outside of Japan. Even the Chinese are ironically big fans of her.
• Ho Yay: Due to My Melody being Hello Kitty's best friend, a majority of Sanrio animated works (such as The Adventures of Hello Kitty & Friends and Supercute Adventures), merchandise, live appearances, etc would feature the duo having a very platonic friendship. This resulted in ton of Sanrio fans shipping both characters as a result.
• I Am Not Shazam: The titular Kitty's whole name is not Hello Kitty, it's Kitty White.
  • Oddly enough, in Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater, her name is Hello Kitty, but it could be an Early Adaptation Weirdness.
  • She is also referred to as Hello Kitty or HK for short in Supercute Adventures.
• Misaimed Merchandising: Mindful that several specimens are not officially licensed by Sanrio (for reasons that should be obvious), the eponymous Kitty has turned up on a lot of surprisingly inappropriate products:
  • Hello Kitty condoms. Vibrators, too. These, believe it or not, are legit.
  • Don't forget the guns. You know, for your budding Little Miss Terrorist!
  • Other items include Hello Kitty beer, Hello Kitty motor oil, the Hello Kitty love hotel, Hello Kitty coffins, Hello Kitty bongs, Hello Kitty nipple pasties, Hello Kitty cigarettes...
• Moe: Part of the reason why she has Periphery (and later Fleeting) Demographic among older male Otaku.
• My Real Daddy: Yuko Yamaguchi, the third character designer of Hello Kitty, is considered to be Kitty's "real mama".
• Periphery Demographic: Yes, there is a sizable group of male fans. The fansite Hello Kitty Junkies even has a subgroup just for men.
  • So much so that the world record for the largest collection belongs to a 62-year old retired police officer.
• Tear Jerker: In the episode "Watch The Birdie" from Hello Kitty's Paradise, Kitty and Mimmy find a bird with a hurt wing. The two take care of it until the bird is better, and they reluctantly set it free. That night, they have flashbacks and remember all the good times they shared with the bird, and go to sleep all teary eyed. If you ever had to set a wild animal you found free, you might tear up a bit as well, and you feel sad for Kitty and Mimmy,
  • Thankfully, the bird comes back the next day, and with another little bird! making this a Heartwarming Moment.
  • In "Eating Nicely" when the talking utensils sing the song about being unable to do their jobs, and when Kitty's ice cream melts.
  • Kitty being "so tired [she doesn't] feel like doing anything" in "Going to the Bathroom".
  • Kitty's Heroic BSoD when she "breaks" the computer in "Saying I'm Sorry"
  • Seeing Mama Cat sad in "Eating Our Vegetables".
  • The episode Mom loves me after all from Hello Kitty and Friends is rather sad when Kitty starts to think her mom doesn't love her anymore, it's hard not to want to tear up when she seen crying about it. Thankfully her grandparents remind her that she'll always be loved by her mother in the end.

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