Domo-chan

It took Spongebob a couple seasons on television before becoming a merchandising machine, but that's not the case with Domo, America's newest animated star.
Domo started life in the US a little backwards. Before landing a two-minute series on the Nicktoons Network that begins this fall, he was already well-ingrained among American consumers, appearing on T-shirts at Hot Topic and on greeting cards in Barnes & Noble, according to The Boston Globe.

Originally born as an ad icon to attract children to NHK public television in Japan, Domo quickly became a hit. Then in 2001, the character started leaking out of the country virally.
Domo toys became popular comic props on Flickr. Artist-community site deviantART is chock full of illustrations featuring Domo's likeness, and someone even cooked up an online game called Domo-Kun's Angry Smash Fest.

Domo won the hearts of the "kitschy, creative, wired crowd" in the US before any marketer could get to him.

Just a year and a half ago, Big Tent Entertainment finally bought the non-Asia rights to lovable Domo.