History

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The four original LINE Friends, Cony, Brown, Moon and James first appeared in two packs of free stickers, Brown, Cony, Moon and James after LINE launched in 2011, during the time after the 3/11 Earthquake. They became popular immediately because of their hilarious emotions and adorable looks.

Later, in 2013, three other characters: Boss, Jessica and Sally joined the team. Then in 2014, Leonard was introduced and appeared in LINE TOWN and soon Edward was introduced by publishing a pack of stickers: Special Edition and the team was finally seem to be formed.

In 2016, in order to celebrate LINE's 5th anniversary, LINE Corporation announced Brown's younger sister, Choco, as a new member of LINE Friends, which surprises the fans. Then her boyfriend Pangyo was introduced in LINE×Apps for Earth when it was promoting the message "Protect the Environment" of this pack of stickers.[1]

The characters of Line Friends

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The characters of Line Friends are borrowed from ordinary characters that can easily be remembered around us.

The characters are:[2]

Character's name explanation
Brown Brown was made based on a bear. He has timid and gentle personality. The character’s color is brown. so the name is 'Brown'. he's Connie's boyfriend and Choco's brother.
Cony Cony was made based on a rabbit. She is always youthful and energetic. When the sticker to be used in the messenger line was developed, the name of the company representative is 'Cony'. Brown's girlfriend.
Sally Sally was made based on a chick. Unlike the slightest appearance, he shows radical action. He is interested in Brown.
Choco Choco is Brown's sister. She is a fashionist who loves to be fashionable and loves ribbons. Pangyo's best friend.
Moon Moon was made based on the full moon. he has emotional ups and downs. Nobody knows where the door came from.
James James, who loves himself most in the mirror. He is a delightful supernaturalist, but sometimes he is the owner of the sensibility that the mental breaks easily when difficult things happen.
Leonard Leonard was made based on a frog. He is a sensitive romanticist. He dreams of singer-songwriter.
Edward Edward is small and slow, but he loves car racing. He was made based on larva.
Jessica Jessica was made based on cat. She is very clever. She solved friend's problems. Her best friend is Cony.
Boss Boss has an ordinary house, company and job. He is look like just normal worker, but he is mysterious man as he has very various appearance.
Pangyo Pangyo was made based on panda bear. He is sweet and affectionate panda bear. He is an inventor and Choco's boyfriend. 

Character Goods

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Introduction

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When Naver developed a messenger Line (라인), the Line was a basic messenger capable of talking only. Since then, developers have started to think about finding a way to deliver emotions in a effective way on messenger, and as a result of that thinking, 'stickers' are born. When 'sticker' was created as a means of expressing emotions on NHN (Naver) for the first time on the line messenger, they did not think that the protagonists of this sticker were characters. However, as people began to ask about the name and relationship of the sticker, the sticker gradually became a character. As the "sticker" becomes a character, the amount of sticker on the line has increased, and the discussion for monetization begins naturally. To monetize a character, a story or concept was necessary, so NHN produced characters' relationships, series, and stories.[3]

Types

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In addition to items such as games and emoticons, more than 5,000 products are sold including design stationery, clothing, fashion accessories, kitchenware, home decor, toys, and mobile phone cases. Line Friends launched products which collaborate with various brands such as Moleskine, L'Occitane, LAMY, Mulla.

Animation

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[4]

(1) LINE TOWN

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An animation that depicts the daily life of line friends.

(2) Line Offline Salaryman (line friends - Moon's company life)

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It is an animation which shows the life of the company.

Mobile Game

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[5]

Line pop

Line Pop 2

Line bubble

Line Bubble 2

Line rush

Line Disney's Thumbsome

Line Fighters

Line dozer

Line Brown Farm

Line Stage

Line Rangers

More

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Kidult culture

Line Friends Online Store

Line Friends Facebook

Line Friends Twitter

Line Friends Instagram

Line Friends Youtube

Reference

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  1. ^ 윤보람 (2016-03-25). "라인프렌즈 신규캐릭터 '초코' 공개…'패셔너블한 곰'". 연합뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  2. ^ "라인프렌즈가 궁금해? – LINE FRIENDS". store.linefriends.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  3. ^ "라인(LINE) 캐릭터 제임스의 이름이 제임스인 이유". 허핑턴포스트 (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  4. ^ "라인프렌즈 "우리 경쟁상대는 '카카오'가 아니라 '디즈니'입니다"". OUTSTANDING (in Korean). 2015-05-26. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  5. ^ "라인프렌즈 "우리 경쟁상대는 '카카오'가 아니라 '디즈니'입니다"". OUTSTANDING (in Korean). 2015-05-26. Retrieved 2017-11-07.