Monokuro Boo
Monokuro Boo are anime-style characters that were created in 2005 by the Japanese company San-X. The characters are composed of two pigs, one white and one black, with square-shaped bodies, dots for eyes, a snout and a curly tail at the back. They are also occasionally seen with a bee flying around them. The black pig name is Monokuro, while the white pig name is Boo.
Monokuro Boo's tagline is "Simple is Best", and one or both of the pigs can also be seen with speech bubbles that say, "Boo", "Love?", "Enjoy?", or "Happy".
Two Monokuro Boo picture books by Atsuko Hoshino were published in Japan in 2006 and 2007.
A Nintendo DS game was released in 2009.
Character Concept and Name
The original character name was "Monotone," with "mono" coming from "monochrome" and "ton," a word for pig. The designer deliberately bucked the then-current trend for colorful goods for a monotone palette, hoping to create a fun style.In line with the character's concept, the name "Monokuro Boo" is also a derivation of the words "Monokuro" and "Boo".
Baby Boo
San-X has also created a spin-off line of products which features smaller, pastel or candy-colored pigs known as Baby Boo. Baby Boo consists of seven pigs who are named and colored as follows:- Berry – pastel red
- Peach – pastel pink
- Orange – pastel orange
- Lemon – pastel yellow
- Mint – pastel green
- Soda – pastel blue
- Grape – pastel purple/lavender