The next big YouTube star?

This super kawaii anime girl might just be your next health and wellness guru. Meet Nebasei Cocoro, the “official YouTuber” of Rohto Pharmaceutical.

She made her debut last June 10 and caused quite a stir, to say the least.

It was unexpected for one of Japan’s largest cosmetic and medicine manufacturer — what people describe as a “traditional company” — to create an anime character instead of getting celebrities or online influencers.

According to her public profile, Cocoro is a 25-year-old Rohto employee who does research in skincare and a YouTuber on the side.

Rohto’s goal is to reach new audiences as they expand their product line with new food products and regenerative medicine. And it seems to be working.

Cocoro’s YouTube channel now has over 17,600 subscribers, her videos, almost 400,000 views. Her self-introduction video alone gained about 100,000 views.

Aside from introducing Rohto’s new products, Cocoro’s videos give a lot of advice on self-care. Her most popular videos are “Steps against UV rays” and “Exercises for relaxing tired eyes.” She uploads up to five videos per month on her channel.

Cocoro is very active on Twitter too. She has about 7,500 followers.

Rohto plans to do more live streaming events with Cocoro where viewers can chat directly with her. They would also like her to speak in her “native” Osaka dialect so that viewers could feel closer to her. (Rohto’s headquarters is located in Osaka.)

They also plan to add a chat and game feature on their site starring Cocoro and her high school-aged younger brother, Nebasei Oto.

Rohto is now considering creating new characters following the success of Cocoro.

Text: Christine Roque
Original text (Japanese): Jumpei Notomi