もう改札で止まらない！ So goes the catchy line in this advert featuring the pudgy, bulging yurukyara character that is Tokyu’s ‘Noru-run’. The picture speaks a thousand words, but can you figure out the Japanese? It’s quite clever!
What exactly is のるるん? And what, good sir, is a ゆるキャラ??
Born in 2012, Noru-run is an amalgamation of 乗る and ルンルン♩ (musical note added for emphasis). A ゆるキャラ is local mascot character usually cute in a dorkish, spaced-out sort of way. The Japanese literally translates to something like ‘feeble character’!
As below:
「乗る」や「るんるん」を連想させ、電車に乗ることの楽しさを表現しており、幅広い年代のお客さまにとって呼びやすく、親しんでいただきやすいこと、またいとこにあたる東急バスのマスコットキャラクター「ノッテちゃん」との親和性もあり、「のるるん」の愛称に決定。
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