Meet Sanrio’s feline explorer, Chococat! This cute black cat makes everyone fall in love with his boundless energy and his adventurous antics. Chococat might not be the number one cat character from Sanrio (that spot is reserved for the kawaii powerhouse’s megastar, Hello Kitty), but he’s loved by tons of kawaii fanatics all around the world, especially in the US! Grab your backpack because today we’re heading to Chocotown Colorado to learn more about the charming cat, Chococat!
- Japanese name: チョコキャット (cho-ko-kya-tto)
- Birthday: May 10
- Favorite food: Chocolate balls
- Hobby: Exploring different places and looking at stars
- Fun fact: He knows almost everything since he can pick up information with his antenna-like whiskers!
WHO IS CHOCOCAT?
Named after its cute chocolate-colored nose, Chococat is a playful black cat that comes from Chocotown, Colorado. This cutie was born on May 10 to his cat parents, Rory and Catrina. Ever since the two divorced, Chococat has been living in the Choco Choco House together with his mother. Despite coming from a broken family, Chococat stays upbeat and optimistic by playing around with his buddies!
WHAT IS CHOCOCAT?
It’s understandable that some kawaii fans are careful when identifying the type of animal or object that Sanrio characters are based on. After all, the Sanrio does have a tendency to make deceptively cute characters that aren’t what people think they are (like Cinnamoroll who turns out to be a dog and not a bunny). However, it should be pretty clear by now what Chococat is! After all, the design of this kawaii superstar makes it pretty obvious. With its cute triangular ears, big wide eyes, and a long expressive tail - Chococat is undoubtedly a feline.
WHAT COLOR IS CHOCOCAT?
When you hear the name Chococat, you instantly think of a chocolate brown cat. The truth though is that this kitty actually has luscious black fur and big, big expressive black eyes. It’s Chococat’s nose that’s a sweet chocolate brown! That’s his charm point.
Besides his nose, one of Chococat’s special features is his four whiskers that work like antennas (they can tell him the latest news around his home, that’s why he’s always up to date with everything that’s going on). Like his Sanrio sibling, Hello Kitty, Chococat doesn’t have a mouth. That doesn’t stop him from chatting away the days with his buddies though!
WHAT GENDER IS CHOCOCAT?
Well, that’s easy, this little feline is a boy cat. Sometimes people get confused. In real life, it’s a bit difficult to know what a cat’s gender is without looking at its cute little behind. Cats tend to be a bit androgynous creatures. It’s the same for Chococat. Some people get confused with Chococat’s gender since he typically doesn’t wear any clothes in Sanrio media and shows. But there’s no doubt that this cutie is a boy!
HOW TALL IS CHOCACAT?
Well, this one’s a bit of a mystery. Unlike Hello Kitty whose height measures up to five apples, Sanrio doesn’t have any specific info on how tall Chococat really is, however, in most images where Chococat hangs out with his Sanrio siblings, this kitty seems a bit smaller than other characters. He’s smaller than Hello Kitty, Pompompurin, Kuromi, and My Melody. What a surprise!
WHEN WAS CHOCOCAT CREATED?
Chococat might be pretty trendy now, but did you know that this kitty actually made his cute little cat debut in 1996? He was created by the Sanrio designer Ikuko Shimizu as part of the “Sanrio Friends” lineup. (If you'd like you can read more about Chococat's creator in our Ultimate Guide to Sanrio). Because of his expressive eyes and cute design, Chococat quickly became a popular character, appearing in all sorts of Sanrio goodies and media! To this day he’s one of Sanrio’s most successful cat characters in the West.
WHAT IS CHOCOCAT’S PERSONALITY?
Like real-life cats, Chococat is always curious about the world. He just wants to know almost everything. Even though he can be clumsy and scatterbrained at times, Chococat is an adventurous little cat who loves exploring new places and trying new things. This kitty has a zest for life and is filled with so much energy.
Kawaii fans also love how loyal this kitty is to his buddies! Chococat values his relationships. He’s always there to support his friends! Whether it’s offering a helping paw when his friend is in trouble or whether it’s giving a listening ear when they’re down, Chococat is always there.
HOW OLD IS CHOCOCAT?
Chococat might be a few decades old in real life, but in the kawaii world of Sanrio, this cutie is forever young! Energetic and adventurous, this kitten is just brimming with playful youth. Chococat will never get old.
WHAT DOES CHOCOCAT LIKE?
Besides adventure, one of the things that Chococat likes the most is sweets! His guilty pleasure is chocolate. This kitty loves all things chocolate! Did you know that Chococat is also a big fan of science? He’s curious about everything under the sun. His whiskers twitch whenever he can feel something going on. Besides chocolate and scienece, this kitten also loves flowers and well-balanced meals!!
WHAT DOESN’T CHOCOCAT LIKE?
Seeing how adventurous Chococat is, a lot of people assume that this cat is a thrill-seeker who isn’t afraid of anything. The truth is though, Chococat is a bit afraid of the dark. This might come as a surprise to fans! Everyone knows that cats can see well in the dark. It’s safe to say that despite Chococat’s adventurous nature, this cute Sanrio kitty is actually a bit of a scaredy cat.
CHOCOCAT’S FRIENDS
Friendly and playful, Chococat can make friends wherever he goes. In this section, we’ll get to meet all of Chococat’s closest buddies. From the choco-chip-obsessed Cookie Bow to the singing ducks called the Duckies, we’re going to get to know all of Chococat’s besties one by one.
Cookie Bow (クッキーバウ)
One of Chococat’s good friends, Cookie Bow is a boy dog with orange fur that loves baking chocolate chip cookies. Born on October 20, Cookie Bow is a strong little doggy!
Jelly Bean (ジェリービーン)
Jelly Bean is another good friend of Chococat. This boy bunny born on May 24 has lovely grey fur. He loves wearing a blue ribbon around his neck! Jelly Bean loves mystery novels.
Nutz (ナッツー)
This male hamster character gets its name from its obsession with nuts! A cute little guy, Nutz celebrates his birthday on March 30.
Duckies (ダッキーズ)
Duckies isn’t just one duck, it’s a group of three little quackers! These ducks are siblings named Leafy, Chiffon, and Lemonade. They love singing songs and dancing to all kinds of choreography!
WHO IS CHOCOCAT’S CRUSH?
Now that’s a good question. Chococat’s crush seems to be a mystery, even to Sanrio! This kitty’s fans might want to see Chococat falling in love with one of his friends from Sanrio (you can check out all of the cuties that Sanrio has to offer in our Ultimate List of Sanrio Characters) , but it seems like he’s just too busy going on all sorts of adventures. We’ll just have to wait and see whether this cat catches feelings for someone!
WHO IS CHOCOCAT DATING?
Unfortunately, no one really knows. Chococat doesn’t have a crush or a girlfriend. He does have a lot of friends though and he loves hanging out with them a lot! That’s why you shouldn’t really worry about Chococat’s love life that much. Maybe in time, he’ll find someone to call his girlfriend.
HOW POPULAR IS CHOCOCAT?
Chococat is an adorable kitty and the kawaii community does love him a lot. However, Chococat isn’t really that famous in Japan. After nabbing the 9th place in Sanrio’s yearly character rating contest in 1997, this kitty saw a steady decline in popularity in Japan. From 1998 to 2009, Chococat would be below the top ten, and then after 2010, he would find himself somewhere between the 50th to 85th spot in the Sanrio Character Ranking.
That doesn’t mean that Chococat isn’t loved though! This chocolate-nosed kitty actually does pretty well in Western countries. In 2024, Chococat made it to the top ten in Sanrio’s poll outside of Japan. He was top 2 in Brazil and top 3 in the US! Hopefully, Japanese kawaii fans will turn around and see how special this chocolate-loving cat actually is. If you'd like to learn more about Sanrio's annual character contest, you can check out our blog on the Sanrio Character Ranking!
WHY IS CHOCOCAT SO POPULAR IN THE WEST?
That’s a pretty good question. Why is Chococat so popular in the US but not so much in Japan? We guess it’s because Chococat is one of the lead characters in the popular Sanrio YouTube series, Hello Kitty and Friends Super Cute Adventures. In the English show, fans get to see all of Chococat’s kawaii qualities - his playfulness, his love for adventure, and his loyalty to his friends.
CHOCOCAT’S ANIME COLLABS!
In 2022, Sanrio decided to have a fun little collab with the popular shonen or boys' anime series, My Hero Academia. The team-up between the two resulted in tons of cute Sanrio merchandise featuring cuties like Hello Kitty, Pompompompurin, Cinnamoroll, and Chococat together with characters from My Hero Academia. Chococat was paired together with the show’s homeroom teacher, the Erasure Hero, Shota Aizawa.
That’s not all! After nabbing the My Hero Academia collab, Sanrio decided to work together with another major boys’ anime series, Naruto Shippuden. Hello Kitty became Naruto, My Melody became Sakura, and Chococat took on the role of Sasuke. The collab resulted in a lot of cute merch, from kawaii plushies, charms, to cute little collectibles. It was a pretty cute ninja transformation!
CHOCOCAT’S GAMING ADVENTURES
Chococat doesn’t have any video games of his own, but you can find him in Hello Kitty Island Adventure! The chocolate-nosed cat is one of the many different cuties that you meet on the plane while flying to Big Adventures Park in the game. You can find Chococat in his tent near the resort gate of the game. A lover of exploration and adventure, Chococat is one of the fan-favorite characters in the game!
HOW TO DRAW CHOCOCAT?
One of the best things about Chococat is the simplicity of his design. You can draw Chococat using simple shapes and figures! There are a ton of instructional videos on how to draw Chococat online. Just grab a pencil and some paper, find a fun instructional video, and start learning how to draw Sanrio’s adventurous choco-nosed kitty!
NAB A CHOCOCAT HAPPY MEAL AT MCDONALD'S
Sanrio loves creating kawaii collaborations! In 2024 the company decided to teamup with Yu-Gi-Oh and Mcdonald's to create super fun merch to go along with Happy Meals. Sanrio Cuties like Hello Kitty, Cinnamoroll, Pompompurin, Kuromi, and Chococat all got collectibles where they were dressed up as Yu-Gi-Oh characters. Chococat went as the Winged Dragon of Ra!
CHOCOCAT BECOMES A PURSE PET
Hoping to bring kawaii fashion to life, Sanrio created a line of interactive kawaii character shoulder bags in 2022 called Purse Pets. Not only do these bags serve as cute pouches, but they also serve as kawaii travel buddies that can blink and respond to touch with over 30 unique sounds and reactions. Only a few Sanrio characters were turned into Pursepets and Chococat was one of them!
WHERE CAN I BUY CHOCOCAT MERCHANDISE?
Thinking of adding Chococat goodies to your kawaii collection? Sanrio produces a lot of fun Chococat items like plushies, bags, t-shirts, and charms. Though most of the good stuff can be found in Japan, you don’t really need to book an airplane ticket just to find a cute Chococat figure to set on your display. There are a lot of great stores online offering a lot of kawaii collectibles, and that includes Blippo!
Whew! We hope you enjoyed our adventure learning all about Chococat. An energetic and curious little kitty, this chocolate-nosed cat is certainly a star in the kawaii universe. Though he’s not as popular in Japan right now, we’re all hoping to see Chococat run his way to the top of the charts!
What do you think of Chococat? Are you one of this kitty's fans from the West? Have you always been a Chococat appreciator? Don’t be shy - leave us a message in the comment section below.