# Rilakkuma and Kaoru (リラックマとカオルさん)
**Rilakkuma and Kaoru** (リラックマとカオルさん) is a Japanese stop-motion animated series that premiered as a Netflix original on April 19, 2019, following an office worker named Kaoru who shares her apartment with three toy-like animals, chief among them the lazy bear [Rilakkuma](https://www.edgepedia.org/rilakkuma)[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80196883) • [2](https://lp.p.pia.jp/article/news/46748/index.html). It was the first animated series featuring Rilakkuma, a character that the stationery company San-X introduced in 2003[3](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/rilakkuma-and-kaoru-will-premiere-globally-as-netflix-original-series-in-spring-2019) • [4](https://features.japantimes.co.jp/rilakkuma/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Stop-motion animation, 13 episodes of roughly 12 minutes each[2](https://lp.p.pia.jp/article/news/46748/index.html) • [5](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese-learning-resources-database/rilakkuma-and-kaoru/) |
| Premiere | April 19, 2019, as a Netflix original in 190 countries[2](https://lp.p.pia.jp/article/news/46748/index.html) • [3](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/rilakkuma-and-kaoru-will-premiere-globally-as-netflix-original-series-in-spring-2019) |
| Key staff | Director Masahito Kobayashi; writer Naoko Ogigami; studio dwarf; creative advisor Aki Kondo; production rights San-X[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80196883) |
| Main cast | Kaoru voiced by Mikako Tabe; cast also includes Takayuki Yamada[6](https://stream-tracker.com/en/serie/rilakkuma-and-kaoru-2019) |
| Music | Main theme "SAMPO" performed by Quruli, with music producer Shigeru Kishida[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80196883) |
| Recognition | Director Kobayashi nominated for the 2020 Annie Award for Best Direction in the TV/Media category; IMDb rating 8.2/10 from about 2,100 users[7](https://dw-f.jp/index.html?target=20) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9348716/ratings/) |
| Follow-up | Rilakkuma's Theme Park Adventure, a second Netflix series, began exclusive worldwide streaming on August 25, 2022[9](https://www.san-x.co.jp/release/22.08-25_rilakkuma_netflix_haishinkaishi.pdf) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and characters
Kaoru is an ordinary office worker at a small trading company in Tokyo whose life changes when Rilakkuma, a soft bear with a zipper on its back, takes up residence in her apartment unannounced[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80196883) • [10](https://www.netflix.com/jp/title/80196883). Rilakkuma spends its days eating, napping, and doing nothing in particular, yet proves impossible to dislike[6](https://stream-tracker.com/en/serie/rilakkuma-and-kaoru-2019). The household also includes Korilakkuma, a smaller, mischief-loving white bear, and Kiiroitori, a yellow bird who keeps busy cleaning up after the two bears[3](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/rilakkuma-and-kaoru-will-premiere-globally-as-netflix-original-series-in-spring-2019). The name Rilakkuma combines "relax" with *kuma*, the Japanese word for bear[11](https://assets.informa.com/digitaleditions/LIC/LG/LG%20Archive/2015/licliesd30615_ezine.pdf).
The animals do not speak words, and the series centers as much on Kaoru as on them. She copes with self-doubt, worry about money after a reduced winter bonus, feeling undervalued at work, and loneliness; caring for her unusual roommates helps her through these small trials[12](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/rilakkuma-and-kaoru) • [13](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2021/4/27/hidden-gems-series-rilakkuma-and-kaoru-review/). Episodes mix mundane situations with surreal touches, including mushrooms sprouting in the apartment during the rainy season and a ghost who appears to tell her story[5](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese-learning-resources-database/rilakkuma-and-kaoru/) • [12](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/rilakkuma-and-kaoru).
## Production
Netflix announced the project in October 2017 as the first stop-motion animated series for the character, with dwarf, the studio behind NHK's Domo and Komaneko, producing 13 episodes[3](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/rilakkuma-and-kaoru-will-premiere-globally-as-netflix-original-series-in-spring-2019). Production began in 2017 with seven months of filming, during which a single animator could produce up to 10 seconds of finished footage per day[14](https://e-library.siam.edu/e-journal/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/siam-communication-review-vol18-no2-2562.pdf). The team set up 10 separate stages and filmed on them simultaneously, aiming for 10 seconds of footage a day from each team; director Kobayashi described it as a larger production scale than he had ever experienced[4](https://features.japantimes.co.jp/rilakkuma/) • [2](https://lp.p.pia.jp/article/news/46748/index.html). The 10-stage, 10-team setup was a first for both dwarf and Japanese stop-motion animation, and the production also introduced a motion-control camera[15](https://animeanime.jp/article/2019/04/19/45003_2.html).
**Design choices.** Writer Naoko Ogigami, the filmmaker known for *Kamome Shokudo* and *Close-Knit*, wrote the screenplay, and Rilakkuma's creator Aki Kondo participated as creative advisor[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80196883) • [3](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/rilakkuma-and-kaoru-will-premiere-globally-as-netflix-original-series-in-spring-2019). Kobayashi built the fictional city of Ogigaya, a mash-up of Tokyo's Ogikubo and Asagaya neighborhoods, as the setting, and wanted the design to show the tension between everyday life and an office town rather than only smiles and happiness[4](https://features.japantimes.co.jp/rilakkuma/). Kaoru herself had previously existed only as the unnamed "woman living with Rilakkuma" in books and merchandise; this series gave her a visual design and a leading role in the narrative for the first time, with Kobayashi drawing on complaints his largely female staff shared about daily life[16](https://realsound.jp/movie/2022/12/post-1214249.html/amp) • [4](https://features.japantimes.co.jp/rilakkuma/).
## Reception
Critics received the series steadily well, with particular praise for its animation and mood[6](https://stream-tracker.com/en/serie/rilakkuma-and-kaoru-2019). Reviewers highlighted the craftsmanship of the miniature sets, so detailed that viewers notice the ruffles on Kaoru's dress and the wood paneling of her dresser, and the honesty with which the show depicts adult struggles alongside the roommates' wholesome adventures[13](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2021/4/27/hidden-gems-series-rilakkuma-and-kaoru-review/). Common Sense Media rates it for ages 10 and up, noting that it is geared toward teens and adults because it focuses on the experiences and sometimes complex emotions of a woman in her twenties and thirties, with little objectionable content[12](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/rilakkuma-and-kaoru). On IMDb the series holds a weighted rating of 8.2/10 from about 2,100 users, with individual episodes ranging from 7.5 to 8.8[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9348716/ratings/).
The series also found an audience among Japanese learners, since its short episodes, simple everyday language, and Netflix subtitles in Japanese and English make it usable in bite-sized study sessions[5](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese-learning-resources-database/rilakkuma-and-kaoru/).
## Legacy
The show's success led to a second Rilakkuma series. Rilakkuma's Theme Park Adventure, again produced by dwarf for Netflix, began exclusive worldwide streaming on August 25, 2022, with Mikako Tabe and [Takayuki Yamada](https://www.edgepedia.org/takayuki-yamada) returning and [Reina Ueda](https://www.edgepedia.org/reina-ueda) joining as a new character[9](https://www.san-x.co.jp/release/22.08-25_rilakkuma_netflix_haishinkaishi.pdf). Netflix and dwarf deliberately aimed that follow-up at a broader, family audience rather than continuing Kaoru's story, after the first series had resonated strongly with adult women in Asia[17](https://futaman.futabanet.jp/articles/-/123190?page=1).
## References
1. [Rilakkuma and Kaoru, Netflix Media Center](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80196883)
2. [リラックマは実在する!? 監督が語る『リラックマとカオルさん』, ぴあ映画](https://lp.p.pia.jp/article/news/46748/index.html)
3. [Rilakkuma and Kaoru will premiere globally as Netflix original series in Spring 2019, About Netflix](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/rilakkuma-and-kaoru-will-premiere-globally-as-netflix-original-series-in-spring-2019)
4. [Rilakkuma: Bear essentials, The Japan Times](https://features.japantimes.co.jp/rilakkuma/)
5. [Rilakkuma and Kaoru Review, Tofugu](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese-learning-resources-database/rilakkuma-and-kaoru/)
6. [Is the TV show Rilakkuma and Kaoru available on Netflix, Disney+, Prime or Apple TV+?, Stream Tracker](https://stream-tracker.com/en/serie/rilakkuma-and-kaoru-2019)
7. [Netflixシリーズ「リラックマとカオルさん」, dwarf studios WORKS](https://dw-f.jp/index.html?target=20)
8. [Rilakkuma and Kaoru (TV Series 2019) - Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9348716/ratings/)
9. [Press Release, San-X (August 25, 2022)](https://www.san-x.co.jp/release/22.08-25_rilakkuma_netflix_haishinkaishi.pdf)
10. [リラックマとカオルさん, Netflix Japan](https://www.netflix.com/jp/title/80196883)
11. [Licensing Book e-zine (LICLIESD30615)](https://assets.informa.com/digitaleditions/LIC/LG/LG%20Archive/2015/licliesd30615_ezine.pdf)
12. [Rilakkuma and Kaoru - Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/rilakkuma-and-kaoru)
13. [Hidden Gems Series: 'Rilakkuma and Kaoru', The Harvard Crimson](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2021/4/27/hidden-gems-series-rilakkuma-and-kaoru-review/)
14. [Siam Communication Review Vol.18 Issue 2](https://e-library.siam.edu/e-journal/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/siam-communication-review-vol18-no2-2562.pdf)
15. [「リラックマとカオルさん」小林雅仁監督インタビュー, アニメ！アニメ！](https://animeanime.jp/article/2019/04/19/45003_2.html)
16. [『リラックマと遊園地』ドワーフ＆Netflixが切り開いた新境地, Real Sound](https://realsound.jp/movie/2022/12/post-1214249.html/amp)
17. [こま撮りアニメで作られたNetflix『リラックマと遊園地』制作秘話（２）, ふたまん＋](https://futaman.futabanet.jp/articles/-/123190?page=1)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Anime and manga › Anime series, episodes, and franchises › OVAs, ONAs, and streaming-original anime*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license