is a Japanese media franchise and toy line created in 2008 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. 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.
Due to its success, Sanrio and Sega Toys expanded the Jewelpet franchise overseas. The franchise is currently being licensed by Italian company Giochi Preziosi for its European release.
The official slogan is "Eyes of Jewel that Shine, glittering with Luck and Good Fortune".
Story
In an antique shop, there was a magical Jewel Box which sat there for centuries and shined in very bright colors. A girl accidentally encountered the box and opened it, causing a strange light to shine and the girl was sucked inside. She was now in a strange new world that shined like jewels. A sign read 'Jewel Land'. The girl was amazed, as everything shone in bright colors and was decorated in all kinds of jewels. At the center of the town, there was a strange tower, also decorated with magical jewels. She went to the tower and went inside.
The girl was greeted by a princess and was happy to see her as she offered her a jewel apple. The girl accepted the gift and the jewel in the girl's hand glowed, magically transforming into a cute animal. The princess said the creature was called a Jewelpet, and each of them live in Jewel Land. However, she also told her the crisis that Jewel Land was facing as the magic was starting to vanish. She told the girl that she must raise that Jewelpet she had into a full-fledged magician.
Each Jewelpet differs from their magical Jewel Eyes and depends on the human partner who awakens them and use magic whenever they need to. They all study magic along with their partners in a special school in Jewel Land for them to become master magicians. The pets and their partners must endure a lot of hardships and even trouble. With each care the human partners give to their Jewelpets, the pets love them back.
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. If the Jewelpet becomes a magician, they'll be rewarded with a magical Jewel Cloak, as a symbol of mastery over its magic.
History
The Jewelpet franchise debuted on January 15, 2008 as the first collaborative project between Sanrio and Sega Toys. 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. As Jewelpet entered its first year in 2009, the first season of the anime series of the same name premiered.
In February 2010, 600 items of merchandise were all made with over 25 licensed companies for its overseas and domestic expansion. On March 11, 2010, the 34th Jewelpet, Labra, officially debuted. The characters made their official debut as meet able characters in Sanrio Puroland with their first two shows: and . In addition, after the characters debuted in Puroland, visitors increased by 17% during the fourth quarter of 2010.
In December 2010, three new Jewelpets officially debuted: Angela, Charotte and Jasper. Charotte and Jasper were both winners of a Jewelpet Design Contest that was held during the airing of Jewelpet Twinkle. In 2011, the Webgurumi website was closed down and was replaced by a new website: Jewel Land Online. In December of that same year, the character Sakuran made its official debut alongside 11 new characters in a new subline called Sweetspets. Sakuran herself is also a winner of the new character design contest that was held during the airing of Jewelpet Sunshine.
On March 31, 2012, two new male Jewelpets debuted: Coal and Granite. Jewel Land Online ended its service that date as well. In June 2012, the Puroland show opened in conjunction with the Jewelpet Kira☆Deco! TV series. In August 2012, its first official theatrical film was released in Japanese cinemas with the introduction of the 13th Sweetspet, Gumimin. However, the film proved to be a failure at the box office.
In the January 2013 Issue of Pucchigumi magazine, the 40th Jewelpet, Rossa was officially revealed. 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. In 2016, the musicals based on Jewelpet ended its run.