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Line Friends (stylized as LINE FRIENDS) are featured characters, invented by South Korean designer Kang Byeong Mok, based on the stickers from diverse applications of the South Korean internet search giant
Naver Corporation Naver Corporation () is a South Korean internet conglomerate headquartered in Seongnam that operates the search engine Naver. Naver established itself as an early pioneer in the use of user-generated content through the creation of the online ...
and the Japanese messaging app Line.


History

In January 2015, in order to further enhance the character brand value, the independent business LINE FRIENDS International Cartoon Image Brand Company was established, which is a subsidiary of NAVER. LINE FRIENDS has so far launched various cooperative products with international brands around the world in more than 5,000 character products, animations, games, cafes, restaurants, theme parks and other fields, and has launched various cooperative products in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Chengdu and Nanjing. In addition to the 11 popular characters that LINE stickers currently have, LINE FRIENDS' latest project "FRIENDS CREATORS" has jointly launched a new series of cartoon images with Korean idol group BTS and Chinese idol Wang Yuan. Currently, there are four series of cartoon characters: BT21, ROY6, WDZY and TRUZ. The brand has currently managed by its subsidiary Line Friends Corporation since 2015.


Characters


Brown and Friends

The original Line characters were created by South Korean designer Kang Byeongmok, also known as "Mogi" in 2011.


BT21

BT21 is the first presentation from ''FRIENDS CREATORS,'' a project formed to create new characters for the Line Friends series. Popular South Korean boy group
BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. The band consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, who co-write or co-produce much of their material. Originally a hip hop group, they ...
was the first artist of this project, and the main theme of the project is to show the connection between BTS and Line Friends in terms of popularity in the world. It comprises eight special characters designed by
BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. The band consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, who co-write or co-produce much of their material. Originally a hip hop group, they ...
, with seven characters representing individual BTS members and one character representing their fans, "Army". The character designs were based on original ideas and sketches by the group's members. Videos of BTS designing BT21 were uploaded to the official BT21 channel on YouTube. The name "BT21" is a combination of the group's name BTS and the 21st century. Member Suga commented that the name should represent both BTS and the 21st century, so they would live for the next 100 years. BT21 was officially launched by Line Friends in October 2017. In 2023, IPX Corporation had the rights to BT21, while Line Friends had less than before. Owned the rights to BT21, while Line Friends has some rights.


ROY6

ROY6 is a character brand created by Chinese Millennial idol Roy Wang, in collaboration with the global character brand, Line Friends. China's first and world's second FRIENDS CREATORS project, Roy Wang participated in every step, starting from initial sketches and storytelling to product planning. Videos of Roy Wang designing ROY6 are uploaded on the ROY6 YouTube Channel. ROY6 was officially released by Line Friends in November 2018.


ChiChi

Blackpink Blackpink (, stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment. The group is composed of four members: Jisoo, Jennie (singer), Jennie, Rosé (singer), Rosé, and Lisa (rapper), Lisa. Regarded by ...
member Jisoo designed the new character named ChiChi, in collaboration with
Nexon Nexon Co., Ltd. (formerly ) is a South Korean video game developer and publisher. It develops and publishes titles including ''MapleStory'', ''Crazyracing Kartrider'', ''Sudden Attack'', ''Dungeon & Fighter'', ''The First Descendant'', and ''Bl ...
's kart racing game '' KartRider Rush+'' and Line Friends. ChiChi is a rabbit character based on Jisoo's nickname "Tuttle Rabbit Kim," which is well-known by fans.


Anime

Two anime series, ''LINE OFFLINE'' and ''LINE TOWN'', were produced in 2013, picturing the Line Friends as employees for the fictional Line Corporation.


''LINE Offline''

''Line Offline'' is an animated series created by Shogakukan Productions, based on
salaryman The term is a Japanese word for salary, salaried workers. In Japanese popular culture, it is portrayed as a white-collar worker who shows unwavering loyalty and commitment to his employer, prioritizing work over anything else, including family. ...
characters working at "Line Corporation". All 114 episodes last about three minutes. The series was aired from January 8, 2013, to October 1, 2013. The episodes of Line Offline are not connected. The idea behind the series is to represent the ordinary life of company employees (in this case Line's employees, hence the name "Line Offline"), in which every small problem could lead to awkward and hilarious situations that require some effort to restore the status quo. Most characters from Line Offline are part of Line's universe (the characters who are shown in the animated series are also Line Friends, and can be seen by users in Line Messaging App and used as emoticons).


Episodes


''LINE Town''


Episodes


Theme songs


''LINE Rangers''

''Line Rangers'' is an animated miniseries created to tie in with the Line Rangers mobile game, which featured the Line Friends characters. It originally premiered as shorts on the Line Global YouTube Channel in 2015. It was aired as a miniseries on Cartoon Network Korea in July 2018. An English dubbed version went up on Amazon Prime in North America on July 20, 2018. A Japanese dub which is broadcast on TV Tokyo.


''Brown & Friends''

On December 12, 2019,
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
collaborated with Line Friends to create an original animated series based on the characters from Brown & Friends. All the episodes from the first season, including 3 special episodes based on seasonal occasions, such as
Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
and Christmas, released on December 29, 2022.


Unnamed anime television series

On May 15, 2023, it was announced that the fourth generation of the LINE Creators Support Program would inspire an anime television series adaptation that would premiere on CBC TV in 2024.


Products

* Friends (smart speaker) – with Brown and Sally as the speaker's appearance * LINE FRIENDS x Sailor (fountain pens) – Sailor Pens produces fountain pens of Brown and Sally in their Pro Gear Slim size with 14K gold nib choices of EF, F, MF, M, and B. The pens are exclusive to the North American market and were announced in July 2022.


Physical stores

Apart from its online store, physical stores have been opened in: The popularity of Line Friends in China surged in 2016. During that one year, six physical storefronts were opened. At one time, there were as many as twelve of them in different cities in China. As their segment of the market became increasingly crowded, however, Line Friends began to phase out its physical presence in China by closing down shops. As of May 2021, only the Chengdu and Nanjing stores remained open.


Collaborations

On November 21, 2019, it was announced on the official
Brawl Stars ''Brawl Stars'' is a multiplayer online battle arena and third-person hero shooter video game developed and published by Finnish video game company Supercell (company), Supercell. The game was released worldwide on 12 December 2018, on iOS an ...
YouTube channel that Brawl Stars would collaborate with Line Friends, adding new skins based on Line Friends characters.


See also

* Line *
KakaoTalk KakaoTalk (), commonly referred to as KaTalk () in South Korea, is an instant messenger and online services platform operated by Kakao Corporation. It was launched in 2010 and the app is available on mobile and desktop platforms. KakaoTalk is ...
*
Kakao Friends Kakao Friends (stylized as KAKAO FRIENDS; ) are featured characters based on KakaoTalk emoticons released in November 2012 by Kakao. The copyrights of the characters are currently owned and managed by Kakao's subsidiary Kakao IX, which was for ...


References


External links


Official website

Online store

BT21 official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Line Friends Naver Corporation 2013 anime television series debuts Advertising characters Emoticons Internet characters introduced in 2011 Mascots introduced in 2011 South Korean brands Toy brands