For some people, the best part of going to a theme park is the rides. For others it may be the food. But for some, there’s no bigger thrill than finally meeting their favourite character in the (sort of) flesh.

But since most theme parks have had to stay closed for the safety of visitors during the coronavirus pandemic, chances to meet the theme park characters and mascots have been thin on the ground.

For lovers of Hello Kitty and her various comrades, Tokyo’s Sanrio Puroland have come up with a way to allow some fan-character interactions without putting anyone at risk.

As part of the celebrations for the 2020 Sanrio Character Ranking (a very important yearly event), characters who ranked within the top 10 will be holding video calls with fans for the first time ever. The fans who applied to take part will be chosen through a lottery.

Using the app Talkport, the lucky fans can directly communicate with their favourite character for 2 minutes, one-on-one, from the comfort of their own home, while the characters will be located at Puroland. The event will take place on 14th June.

For a full run down of this year’s Sanrio ranking including who nabbed the top spot this year, check out our previous article!