Cogimyun: 9 Things To Know About This Relatively New Sanrio Character That’s Rising In Popularity

By Rachel Yohannan on 14 Feb 2023

Senior Digital Editor

Crazy cat lady who loves afternoon tea, kawaii Japanese fashion, and all things Sanrio.

Sanrio lovers might have noticed the emergence of a new character as of late - a cute little puffball that resembles a cloud. This little critter is Cogimyun, and although she first made her appearance in 2015, she’s been receiving an increasing amount of love lately, even beating the likes of Gudetama, Badtz-Maru and Tuxedosam to snag 9th place in the global Sanrio Character Ranking of 2022. There was also a Cogimyun themed hotel in Japan that came with free merch.

Here are 9 things you need to know about Cogimyun, whom we’re sure is set to be a big Sanrio favourite in no time.

#1: Cogimyun is not an animal; She’s made of wheat flour

Photo from Sanrio

A majority of Sanrio characters are animals - from bunnies to frogs and dogs - but Cogimyun is of a different species altogether. Despite her cottony appearance, she’s actually a wheat flour spirit. In fact, her name Cogimyun was likely derived from “komugiko”, the Japanese word for flour.

#2: She has a sensitive personality and is easily overwhelmed

Photo from Sanrio

Poor little Cogimyun - with a highly sensitive personality, she tends to get flustered by the slightest inconvenience. When that happens, she often crumbles into a pile of loose flour on the floor, but that’s nothing to worry about ‘cause she regains her original form soon enough!

Guess we can say she’s pretty much the epitome of the “I’m baby” meme ?

#3: Her dream is to become an onigiri

Photo from Sanrio

Though she doesn’t actually know what onigiri is, one of Cogimyun’s biggest goals in life is to become one - simply because she knows that it’s her grandfather’s favourite food. Well, we all know this isn’t actually possible because onigiri is a rice ball, while she’s made of wheat flour, but oh well - a girl can dream.

#4: She manages her grandpa’s apartment complex business

Photo from Sanrio

Speaking of Cogimyun’s elusive grandfather, whom Sanrio fans have yet to get a glimpse of - the cute character’s ojii-san is the owner of Cogimu Housing Co-op, an apartment complex that houses a handful of other flour-based food characters, aka the Cogimunists. This company fell to Cogimyun’s management after she came back to find her grandpa gone, with a note stating that he had left to travel for an unspecified period of time.

#5: Her pet and best friend is a cute little fried shrimp

Photo from Sanrio

The Cogimunists are a lively and friendly bunch, which means Cogimyun has a ton of friends living in the building with her. But the one she’s closest to is undoubtedly her pet, a breaded shrimp whose name is, well, Ebi Fry - also known as Ebi-chan. Ebi-chan’s speaking ability only extends to saying “ebi, ebi”, but he’s always by Cogimyun’s side, offering her companionship and comfort wherever she goes.

#6: Unlike many other Sanrio characters, Cogimyun has her own official TikTok channel & YouTube show

Perhaps part of Cogimyun’s rising popularity is due to the fact that she’s a successful “influencer” of sorts - with official Sanrio-run accounts on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, LINE, and YouTube. Each of them differ in content, so you’ll have to follow them all to get the best of everything!

This is something a lot of other well-loved Sanrio characters do not have the privilege of. For example, My Melody - one of the oldest and most popular characters of the Japanese franchise - only has Twitter and YouTube, while the iconic Hello Kitty doesn’t even have Instagram or TikTok.

Cogimyun's YouTube channel in particular is especially interesting, as it features a series of short 40-second films surrounding the character and her floury friends. The shorts are all in Japanese though.

Check out Cogimyun’s official social media channels:

#7: A quirk of hers is saying “myun” after almost every sentence

Photo from Sanrio

Watch the Cogimyun shorts and you’ll notice that Cogimyun tends to say “myun” after almost every sentence, or even as a random interjection. This doesn’t actually have any meaning, and is just a cute personality quirk that’s specific to her. Think of it like how a cat character might say “meow” in-between sentences, or use it to replace certain words in part or full.

#8: Her brother came to life after her tears fell on a ball of wheat clay

Photo from Sanrio

There hasn’t been any mention of Cogimyun’s parents so far, and her younger brother Cogimyon actually came to be because of her. It all happened during a cooking class, where Cogimyun was struggling terribly while her peers had already made beautiful cupcakes and bread loaves. She began to cry, and while doing so, her tears rolled down her cheeks and fell onto her ball of wheat flour.

Photo from Sanrio

We’re not sure what sort magic was at play, but her tears somehow made the flour ball come to life - and thus her little brother was born. She was the one who named him too!

Photo from Sanrio

Although she’s often easily defeated when it comes to her own matters, Cogimyun is a doting older sister to Cogimyon, and takes care of him very well.

#9: Singing is her passion and there are many cute song cover MVs to her name

One of Cogimyun’s not-so-hidden talents? Singing. Despite her inability to do a lot of things, she’s great at belting out J-Pop hits. Check out her song covers on YouTube, all sung in her cutesy baby-like voice and accompanied by original music videos! Some of these include Chocolate Disco by Perfume, Neko by Dish, and Crazy Party Night (Pumpkin no Gyakushū) by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu.