The girl with two ponytails made her debut at an official event held at midnight on September 8, 2009. Since then, she has starred in multiple chain store advertisements and promotional items delivered to Tsukumo customers. While it was not exclusive to the chain stores located in Akihabara, it did gradually become an important element of the district, even winning a popularity poll of "Moe Characters You See in Akihabara", not one, but one. eleven consecutive years.
However, Tsukumo-tan's eleven-year string of victories has been definitively interrupted, due to his joblessness. It was reported on the store chain's official Twitter account that Tsukumo-tan's user license agreement has expired and was not renewed.
While Tsukumo-tan's name is a direct reference to the chain of stores, in reality, the chain does not own the character. Tsukumo-tan belongs to a character design and marketing company called Toy’s Planning, which licensed the character to use the store chain for advertisements and promotional items.～ お知らせ ～— ツクモ (TSUKUMO) (@TSUKUMOofficial) September 8, 2020
この度、マネージメント契約終了にともない
ツクモ マスコットキャラクター
『つくもたん』
の展開を終了することとなりました。
11年の長きにわたり、
ご愛顧いただきました皆様に心より御礼申し上げます。
「つくもたん」今までありがとうございました❗️🙇♂️ https://t.co/TryQwjXyhw pic.twitter.com/LCVdd33vkr
At the news, many Tsukumo-tan fans were stunned to learn, at first, that it was never owned by the company, but more so when they learned that this means goodbye. Although this announcement was made on September 8, in reality the contract had already lost its validity since August 31. "We would like to express our deep gratitude to all those who have loved Tsukumo-tan during these eleven years," the final statement said.
Source: Official Twitter Account
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