Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty's popularity has been waning in Japan for over a decade. In 2002, Hello Kitty lost her place as the top-grossing character in Japan in the Character Databank popularity chart and has never recovered. In the most recent survey, she is in third place behind Anpanman and Pikachu from Pokémon.
Cultural references
In 1999, in Hong Kong, a brutal murder known as the Hello Kitty murder took place. The popular name the case derives from the fact that the murderer inserted his victim's head into a Hello Kitty doll after decapitating her.