Jewelpet (Japanese: ジュエルペット, Hepburn: Juerupetto) is a Japanese media franchise and toy line created in 2008[1] as a joint venture between Sanrio and Sega Toys, produced by the third character designer of Hello Kitty, Yuko Yamaguchi and illustrated by the character designer of Cinnamoroll, Miyuki Okumura.

[2] The franchise was originally launched on January 15, 2008, focusing on animals named after jewels, birthstones and minerals, who can use magic using their eyes.

[3] Due to its success, Sanrio and Sega Toys expanded the Jewelpet franchise overseas.

In an antique shop, there was a magical Jewel Box which sat there for centuries and shined in very bright colors.

For a Jewelpet to become a magician, it must go through rigorous training and studying with their human partners to prevent the crisis in Jewel Land.

[4] The Jewelpet franchise debuted on January 15, 2008 as the first collaborative project between Sanrio and Sega Toys.

[5] The franchise originally started off with 33 characters, each of them being best sellers during the summer of that year with each toy having internet connectivity capabilities using special passwords.

In August 2012, its first official theatrical film was released in Japanese cinemas with the introduction of the 13th Sweetspet, Gumimin.

[9] In 2014, the 41st Jewelpet, Luea, was also revealed and in the November 2014 issue of Youchien, marked the debut of the 42nd character Larimar.

Japanese netizens expressed their concerns over the issue as the indoor park's representatives stated that the popularity of the new series has caused for the characters to be removed from the lineup.

Each plush Jewelpet contains a password to access the Web-Gurumi website, a special site in which the customer "adopts" this pet in the virtual world.

As with other Sanrio character franchises such as Hello Kitty, My Melody, Sugarbunnies and Cinnamoroll, Jewelpet merchandise mostly consists of stationery, school supplies, bags, raincoats, umbrellas, bento boxes and even toy replicas of the Jewel Stick and Jewel Pocketbook from the anime series.

A Trading Card Game spinoff was also released by Bushiroad, the creators of the Weiß Schwarz, Alice X Cross and Cardfight!!

A third installment, titled Jewelpet Sunshine (ジュエルペット サンシャイン, Juerupetto Sanshain) premiered on April 9, 2011.

[15] The sixth installment, Lady Jewelpet (レディジュエルペット, Redi Juerupetto) was announced by Sanrio via the official Anime Twitter account[16][17] and aired from April 5, 2014, until March 28, 2015.

[18] Jewelpet: Magical Change (ジュエルペット マジカルチェンジ, Juerupetto Majikaru Chenji) was revealed in the 2015 Winter Wonder Festival and later in the March 2015 issue of Pucchigumi.

On December 28, 2009, a second manga was then serialized in the Shōjo Magazine Ciao with illustrations and story by Sayuri Tatsuyama under Sanrio and Sega Toys' permission.

was released as part of Kadokawa's Tsubasa Bunko Children's Light Novels on May 11, 2012, written by Hiroko Kanasugi and illustrated by POP.

Jewelpet ranked 3rd place in the Bandai Child Questionnaire in June 2010, due to its popularity with children aged 6 to 8 years old and older females alike.

[22] The first Jewelpet anime ranked 7th in the Kanto Video Research, from December 27, 2009 to January 3, 2010 after airing Episodes 39 and 40.

The company had the target sales of 400,000 by the end of the year and had a combined total of 700,000 units sold on all three Jewel Pods.