K.R.T. Girls

The K.R.T. Girls being featured on a promotional poster. From left to right: Ann, Xiaoqiong, Amelia, and Nana.

The K.R.T. Girls (Chinese: 高捷少女) are four anime-styled characters that serve as mascots for the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit, a rapid transit system which covers metropolitan Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The girls consist of Xiaoqiong (小穹), who is depicted as a station worker at Yanchengpu Station; Amelia, a half-Taiwanese, half-German girl who works as a train driver; Ann,婕兒), a train mechanic; and Nana(耐耐), a Vocaloid-powered train announcer.[1]

Drawn in the "moe" art style popular throughout the region and Japan, the first of the girls was introduced in November 2014. They have since been the focus of various promotional efforts by the metro system, through the mediums of songs, posters, merchandise, as well as social media. A light novel and visual novel featuring the girls have also been produced. Riders of the system, as well as internet commentators, have reviewed the characters positively, with many finding them to be cute.[2] Designed to be iconic representations of animated comics, the girls have brought in revenue of NT$2 million (US$61,576) in just seven months to the KMRT through merchandising.

The girls

A navigation poster at Yanchengpu Station, featuring Xiaoqiong.

The K.R.T. Girls are composed of four mascots. By order of their date of introduction, they are:

Conception and creation

Interior of a railway carriage featuring the K.R.T. Girls

The first of the K.R.T. Girls, Xiaoqiong, debuted in early November 2014 at two-day event for independent comic and video game creators hosted in Kaohsiung.[4] They were created through a joint effort between the transport company and a team of animated artists to promote the subway and increase revenue.[8] Following popular and positive reception from commuters, the other characters were later revealed independently at different dates.[3] They were created to be "iconic representations of animated comics", and, according to the n chairperson of theKaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation,Hao Chien-sheng (郝建生), this was as the company sought only to "transport passengers to their destinations, but also aspires to be mobile platforms of cultural creativity."[3]

The characters are drawn with a "moe" art style, which is becoming increasingly popular across Taiwan and Japan. The K.R.T. Girls have been positively reviewed by Japanese netizens as well.[9] Even before the mascots debuted in 2014, the Taiwan Railways Administration had already been incorporating "moe" mascots into its promotional efforts, through five anime girl characters dubbed the "Miss Taiwan Railway".[10] This is reflective of the phenomenon to use anime-styled characters to promote products in East Asia, such as Hikaru Aizawa for Microsoft Silverlight;[10] Simon, the company which conceptualized the K.R.T. Girls, had worked on such "moe" characters before in the past, such as Xuanying (絢櫻) of Pingtung County, and Air (also spelt Ai'er)(艾兒), who was created for an advocacy campaign by the Vehicle Engineering Faculty of the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.[10]

The promotional campaign, titled "Go ahead! K.R.T. Girls!" (前進吧！高捷少女！),[11][12] has been commercially very successful.[8] According to Focus Taiwan, the girls have brought in additional revenue of NT$2 million (US$61,576) in just the first seven months of 2015, and have also drawn the interest of a local video game firm and Japanese publishers.[8] The KMRT has also stated that revenue from official K.R.T. Girls merchandise could reach NT$4 million by the end of 2015.[8]

Promotion and popularity

A selection of official merchandise featuring the characters

The girls have featured in various promotional efforts and official merchandise of the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit. This includes public service announcement posters for subway etiquette,[4] near-lifesize cardboard cutouts,[7] as well as being temporarily plastered over trainsets on the Orange Line, which has been likened to "itasha carriages" by the Taipei Times.[3] These special carriages feature three distinct art themes to allow travellers to "interact" with the girls,[3] and have attracted several fans and cosplayers, including ones from Japan.[8] The timetables for the carriages are posted on the company's website and updated daily.[3] An image song featuring Xiaoqiong, titled Next Station. With You (下一站．與你) has also been released.[9] Containing a "vibrant" and "happy" vibe, the song talks about travelling together with a loved one on board the Kaohsiung's MRT, with the Formosa Boulevard, Sizihwan, Weiwuying, and Cingpu stations being featured.[9]

Various products featuring the K.R.T. Girls have been released.[8] These include objects such as shopping bags, backpacks, fans, postcards, bookmarks and badges with images of the four fictional women, which have been sold in collaboration between the metro operator and the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.[8] A serial light novel featuring the K.R.T. Girls has been published online by GA Bunko in Japanese since September 2015, with printing beginning at the end of the year.[8] There is also an official Facebook page for the girls.[7]

As reported by the Taipei Times, an online video featuring Xiaoqiong had amassed more than 10,000 Facebook likes in one day, as well as generating a long discussion thread.[6] The Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation said that it considers online discourse and responses about the characters to be positive, as different opinions and perspectives allow them to better understand their fanbase.[6] A visual novel featuring the K.R.T. Girls, titled Go ahead! K.R.T. Girls Initiating Station (前進吧！高捷少女 Initiating Station) was released on January 30 in Taiwan.[13][14] A song album, titled K.R.T. Girls Character Image Songs Station.1 (高捷少女角色形象歌曲 Station.1) has also been released.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mike (7 Aug 2015). "Taiwan pulls ahead of Japan in moe race, plasters subway cars with doe-eyed girls". Rocket News 24. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  2. ↑ 高捷超萌「小穹」亮點　網友喊「戀愛了」 (in Chinese). NextTv News. 18 Nov 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Wang Jung-hsiang; Chung, Jake (3 Aug 2015). "KMRT reveals 'itasha' carriages". Taipei Times. p. 3. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Baseel, Casey (29 Nov 2014). "Taiwanese subway's anime mascot wants you to mind your manners, watch out for the Hamburglar". Rocket News 24. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  5. ↑ "Metro Arts and Architecture". Metrobits.org. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Wang Jung-hsiang; Chin, Jonathan (24 Sep 2015). "K.R.T Girls' Xiaoqiong speaks for first time in video". Taipei Times. p. 5. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rogers, Krista (20 Dec 2014). "Taiwanese subway debuts second anime mascot, net users experience moe overload". Rocket News 24. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lee Hsi-chang; Kuo Chung-han (26 Aug 2015). "K.R.T. Girls bring in revenue for Kaohsiung metro". Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 Coello, Joan (5 Feb 2015). "Taiwan's moe train mascot's new image song somehow reminds Japanese netizens of erotic games". Rocket News 24. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 Coello, Joan (13 Aug 2015). "Moe, more moe! Taiwan is in the running to be the next moe-land with these cute anime mascots!". Rocket News 24. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  11. ↑ 高捷超萌「小穹」9亮點　網友喊「戀愛了」 (in Chinese). Next TV. 2014-11-18. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
  12. ↑ 涂建豐 (17 Dec 2014). 宅男快來　高捷最萌站務員來了 (in Chinese). Apple Daily. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
  13. ↑ Jessica (30 Jan 2016). 【TpGS 16】Narrator 以單機《前進吧！高捷少女》、漫畫《草食系男友》作品參展. GNN Gamer. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  14. ↑ 周之鼎 (20 Dec 2015). 「高捷少女」首款遊戲面世！國內遊戲社團Narrator擔綱. Game ETToday. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  15. ↑ Diadem (5 Feb 2016). 高捷少女角色形象歌曲 Station.1. Gamer.com.tw. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
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