During the month of May, the Chinese toymaker POP MART, best known for its LABUBU IP and blind boxes, released a series of animated shorts for one of its recent IPs – Nyota, also called Tata (塔塔).
The series, currently on episode 4, features roughly 1 minute episodes and follows the titular Nyota and her pet cat Lumi, who was adopted in episode 1, through a calm, yet not uneventful life. Over time, she rescues a bird, struggles with her bangs, confronts and accepts overgrowing dandelions in her large garden, all at her peaceful two-storey detached home.
Introduced in 2024, Nyota is a relatively new entrant in the constellation of IPs and characters from POP MART and is an original character, according to the toymaker. It is a girl playfully drawn with innocence, reminiscent of art by the Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara. POP MART also puts emphasis on her personality with her MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) type being INFP. Her “slow” and relaxed lifestyle has been the focus of POP MART’s collaboration with the Chinese fashion brand D’zzit.
POP MART has been going strong both financially and in the stock market. The toymaker saw its revenue grow 165% to 170% year-on-year (YoY), with 95% to 100% growth in China and 475% to 480% growth overseas. On 19 May, POP MART reached another historic high at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) at 207 HKD (26.47 USD) per share at its highest.
As POP MART continues to grow, it is also addressing some of the doubts that investors and pundits have. In fact, the latest Nyota shorts are one of POP MART’s strategies for overcoming this. One of the concerns is that POP MART has been depending too much on its popular IPs, such as LABUBU, the rest of the MONSTERS, and MOLLY. The other is the lack of storytelling or narrative behind each IP. Nyota is one of the new IPs introduced to POP MART’s lineup to diversify its roster, while the shorts give a backstory to the character, much like what Disney and Sanrio do. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how Nyota’s “songchigan” (松弛感, chillax) resonates with young consumers in China.