Honestly, the zipper on Rilakkuma’s back is quite the mystery—why would a stuffed brown bear have one in his back, and more importantly, what does it conceal beneath? This question is further teased in the newest PV for Netflix’s Rilakkuma and Kaoru animated series.
The video starts with his kind roommate Kaoru pointing out that Rilakkuma is just wearing a gasp costume, with the next scene affirming this proclamation—Kaoru asks him to include his clothes in the wash, and Rilakkuma peels off his entire costume. However, we do not get to see what he looks like underneath, as he is hidden by his bed covers. When the narration asks if there is someone who knows what Rilakkuma looks like beneath the brown bear costume, one character answers, “Zero”.
Rilakkuma and Kaoru was first announced by Netflix in 2017 and was initially slated for a 2018 release. It was eventually moved to an April 19, 2019 world premiere. The series, created using stop-motion animation, will run for 13 episodes that run for around 11 minutes each. Previous trailers revealed for the series have revealed both its Japanese and English dub. The Japanese dub stars Mikako Tabe as Kaoru, while the English dub has Lana Condor voicing Rilakkuma’s human roommate.
The painstaking stop-motion animation in the series was done by Dwarf Studio, best known for the brown furry mascot Domo-kun. The series is headed by director Masahito Kobayashi, with Naoko Ogigami handling the scripts.
Anime News Network describes Rilakkuma and Kaoru’s story as such:
The character’s story begins when the titular Rilakkuma suddenly appears in the apartment of office worker Kaoru and begins living there, spending every day idling around. He has a zipper on his back, but the contents remain unknown. He likes food like pancakes, omelette rice, pudding, and dango. He lives together with the little white cub Korilakkuma and Kaoru’s pet Kiiroitori (“yellow bird”).
Rilakkuma was created by character designer Aki Kondo and was launched by Japanese company San-X in 2003.
Source: Anime News Network