The Bear Half of This Crossover Needs Some Context
Haikyu!! fans may not recognize the other name on this announcement. Rilakkuma is a San-X character, a bear who moved into someone's apartment and declined to leave, and he has been a fixture of Japanese stationery aisles for two decades. The TV anime is the newer part. It airs Saturdays at 9:25 a.m. on Japanese network TBS, and its introduction promises Rilakkuma stepping out of everyday life and into a gently expanding animated world. It is the kind of show designed to make your shoulders drop an inch.
Production I.G animates it. Production I.G also animates Haikyu!!. That overlap is the entire mechanism behind Rilakkuma x Haikyu!!, which the studio announced on the press release service PR TIMES on September 24. The release frames Production I.G as the studio that can connect the two worlds, because it built both of them.
Twelve Visuals, Five Schools, Four Mascots
Production I.G drew all 12 collaboration illustrations in-house, and the pairings are the draw. Karasuno takes four slots: Shoyo Hinata with Rilakkuma, Tobio Kageyama with Korilakkuma, Kei Tsukishima with Kiiroitori and Tadashi Yamaguchi with Chairoikoguma.
Aoba Johsai adds Toru Oikawa with Rilakkuma and Hajime Iwaizumi with Kiiroitori. Nekoma contributes Tetsuro Kuroo with Rilakkuma and Kenma Kozume with Korilakkuma. Fukurodani sends Kotaro Bokuto with Kiiroitori and Keiji Akaashi with Chairoikoguma. Inarizaki closes the set with the Miya twins, Atsumu paired with Korilakkuma and Osamu with Chairoikoguma.
The studio describes the artwork as the characters nestled up alongside Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma and their friends, a tonal register Haikyu!! almost never operates in. A dedicated site for the campaign is now live, and Production I.G says further reveals will land there.
The range on display is normal for this studio. Production I.G's catalogue runs from Ghost in the Shell and Psycho-Pass through Kuroko's Basketball, xxxHOLiC and Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These, so a volleyball shonen sharing a portfolio with a nap-focused bear is not much of a stretch.
Five Cities, a Lottery and a Cookie Line
The pop-up store tour runs through baseyard tokyo, a Japanese character-goods store chain, across five cities in two waves.
The first wave covers November 20 to December 6, 2026, at baseyard tokyo Harajuku in Tokyo and baseyard tokyo Abeno Q's Mall in Osaka. The second runs December 18, 2026 to January 17, 2027, at Sapporo Stellar Place, Kyoto's Kawaramachi OPA and Minamoa Hiroshima.
Production I.G has revealed the first wave of merchandise: trading can badges and acrylic stands, the two items every anime pop-up is legally obligated to carry, plus pouches and socks that fit the Rilakkuma side of the brief more than the volleyball side. The full lineup is listed on the campaign site.
A collaboration lottery goes on sale January 23, 2027, with details still to come. Separately, a line of card soft cookies using the collaboration artwork arrives in January 2027, and pre-orders opened at 1 p.m. JST on September 24 through Bandai's official online store Premium Bandai and other online retailers.
Looking Ahead
Entry rules for the pop-up stores have not been announced, which for a Haikyu!! property usually means some form of timed-entry reservation. Production I.G says details are coming.
Nothing in the release mentions overseas shipping or an international storefront for any part of the campaign, so for now this is a Japan-only run. Premium Bandai handling the card soft cookies is the most promising thread for anyone outside Japan, but no international listing has been confirmed.
The timing sits between Haikyu!! productions. The 2024 film Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle cleared 20 billion yen (approx. $130 million) at the worldwide box office and won Excellent Animation of the Year at the Japan Academy Film Prize. The follow-up film Haikyu!! VS The Little Giant and the special Haikyu!! Where the Monsters Go, covering the Fukurodani versus Mujinazaka quarterfinal, are both lined up for 2027. On the other side, the Rilakkuma anime has a third season on the way, subtitled Kimamani Manpuku Biyori.
The Haikyu!! TV series streams on Crunchyroll and Netflix, and Haruichi Furudate's manga is published in English by Viz Media. No English-language version of the collaboration site has gone up.
(c) SAN-X / Team Rilakkuma (c) Haruichi Furudate / Shueisha, Haikyu!! Production Committee