角落生物又叫做角落小夥伴 (Sumikko Gurashi) (すみっコぐらし)，它們是日本設計師横溝友里，在 2012 年時， 創立了一群喜歡躲藏在角落的小生物角色，並推出了首批商品，2015 年時，營收上看50 億日元，2019 年更突破 200 億日元營收，獲得「日本虛擬角色大賞2019」最具人氣獎，這些角落生物喜歡一起躲在「不被注意的角落」，並擁有自己的故事和夢想的設定，讓不少人為之瘋狂，也紅到我們這邊來，也是不少人都在收集角落生物角色。
角落生物知名角色有北極熊，也有不少人叫它白熊，因為他覺得北方太寒冷，它又非常怕冷，所以逃往南方，北極熊還會怕冷，看吧，設定很巧妙；自稱爲企鵝的這隻生物，雖然自稱爲企鵝，不過它好像隱約記得，自己的頭頂上曾經有個蓋子，或許它其實是一隻河童；恐龍是一隻住在大海的恐龍，因為太罕有，爲避免被抓住，因此就自稱蜥蜴，並以「蜥蝪」的身分在森林中生活，還有更多的角落生物，但角色太多，族繁不及備載。
幾年前，角落生物火紅之後，我有位姪子，他就迷上了角落生物，應該說角落生物在他和他同學間爆紅，前面所說的角落生物的一些背後故事，也是我們在閒聊時，他和我說的，而他最喜歡的角色是恐龍，我問他為甚麼喜歡恐龍，他說，他覺得恐龍很酷又很可愛，而且它也很會游泳，所以喜歡它，至於，是不是投射心理，他認為自己就像恐龍一樣酷，我就不確定啦。
正好，逛到一間賣角落生物的店家，裏頭有各式各樣的角落生物玩偶，還有幾台專屬的夾娃娃機，內容物都是角落生物的角色，假如是靠夾娃娃機夾到娃娃的話，我可能要花好幾倍娃娃的價錢，才有可能夾到，恐龍是綠色的，蠻好認的，是不是順便買一隻，趁著年節回去時，巴結一下姪子這個小麻煩啊？不過，依照他喜新厭舊的個性，他現在還在迷角落生物嗎？我又碰到了一個兩難了。
Sumikko Gurashi (すみっコぐらし), were created by Japanese designer Yōko Mizoguchi in 2012. She founded a group of small creatures who love hiding in corners and introduced the first batch of products. By 2015, their revenue reached 5 billion yen, and in 2019, it surpassed 20 billion yen. They won the "Japanese Virtual Character Award 2019" for the most popular character. These Sumikko Gurashi enjoy hiding together in "unnoticed corners" and have their own stories and dreams, driving many people crazy. It has become popular even outside Japan, and many people collect these corner creature characters.
One of the well-known characters is the polar bear, often referred to as the white bear because it finds the northern regions too cold and is afraid of the cold. So, it escaped to the south. The polar bear is still sensitive to the cold, showcasing the clever design. There's also a creature that claims to be a penguin but vaguely remembers having a lid on its head, suggesting it might actually be a kappa, a river imp in Japanese folklore. The dinosaur lives in the ocean and pretends to be a lizard to avoid being caught, calling itself a "lizard" and living in the forest. There are many more Sumikko Gurashi, but there are too many characters to list.
A few years ago, when the Sumikko Gurashi became popular, my nephew got obsessed with them. They were a huge hit among him and his classmates. The background stories I mentioned earlier are things he shared with me during casual conversations. His favorite character is the dinosaur. When I asked him why, he said he finds dinosaurs cool and cute, and they can swim well, which he admires. As for whether it reflects his psyche, claiming to be as cool as a dinosaur, I'm not so sure.
Coincidentally, I came across a store selling corner creature merchandise, including various plush toys and a few claw machines filled with corner creature characters. If I try to win one from the claw machine, I might have to spend several times the price of the toy. The dinosaur is green and quite recognizable. Should I buy one and use it to butter up my nephew during the Lunar New Year festivities? However, given his tendency to quickly lose interest in things, I wonder if he's still into Sumikko Gurashi. I find myself facing another dilemma.
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