We know we can always count on capsule toy maker Qualia Co., Ltd. to come up with unique and surprising capsule toys. For example, in December we introduced their Year of the Ox capsule toys featuring mythical versions of the legendary Akabeko cow.

Gorilla + Randoseru = Gorirandoseru

But now, they're back with another surprising "mascot figure" toy lineup. For some reason, they imagined what it would be like if a gorilla enrolled in a Japanese elementary school and showed up, just like any other student, wearing the iconic square randoseru backpack. He's probably too big to wear the standard elementary school uniform but at least he can wear that yellow cap.

Perhaps it was just a play on words fusing "gorilla" and "randoseru" which inspired the concept, but whatever the reason was, here we are in late February 2021 with an announcement for the Gorirandoseru ゴリランドセル capsule toy series!

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Let's take a look at the lineup:

Gorilla about to go home 帰りぎわゴリラ

The bell rang and it's time to go home. Well aware that his classmates are watching, Gorilla slings his randoseru over his shoulder and strikes a pose before he heads home. Maybe there's a Japanese equivalent of The Man in the Yellow Hat waiting for him there?

The recorder flute and the gorilla リコーダーとゴリラ

His human classmates would probably sit differently when playing the recorder flute, but he's a gorilla so that's how he does it.

Lining up 前ならえ

One of the things you learn in Japanese elementary school is lining up in an orderly manner, which is important when moving together under the teacher's guidance or during sports festivals when students are required to perform activities requiring organization and coordination. To keep things orderly and perhaps to also prevent them from chatting, students are told to put their hands out in front of them to maintain distance and create a neat line. The student in the front of the line puts their hands on their hips to indicate that they are at the head and no other students need line up in front of them. This practice is called 前ならえ mae-narae, literally "line up in front."

Gymnastics style sitting 体育座り

Another part of Japanese elementary school life, 体育座り taiiku-zuwari (literally "gymnastics sitting") is sitting on the floor grasping one's knees. It is the way students are required to sit whenever there are no chairs available or when the teacher specifically asks students to sit on the floor to gather around, pay attention to something, etc. In the photo below, students at a sports festival are sitting in the yard lined up in a row.

Secret シークレット

Since it's a capsule toy, and you don't know which one you'll get until you buy it, there's one secret Gorirandoseru model which will be a surprise, although based on the silhouette, it's safe to assume it will be gorilla doing radio calisthenics or warm-up exercises like this:

Here are the figures from different angles as seen in Qualia's promotional video:

With permission from © Qualia Co., Ltd.

Gorirandoseru will be available for 300 yen at capsule toy dispensers throughout Japan from April 2021.

You can visit Qualia's website to see their complete lineup.