Molang

Molang is an animated children's television series created by the animation studio Millimages. The titular character, Molang, was designed by the Korean illustrator Hye-Ji Yoon on the platform KakaoTalk. The designer had said that the name originated from the word mallangmallang (말랑말랑) which means soft, squishy, and fluffy.

Plot
The series chronicles the relationship between roommates and best friends, Molang, an enthusiastic happy and optimistic rabbit, and Piu Piu, a timid but outgoing chick. They pit their wits against numerous occurrences, ranging from everyday problems and sitcom-style situations, to extraordinary adventures that often turn dangerous and/or risky.

The show's animation and art style are heavily inspired by Japanese anime, with sweat drops on the characters' faces and particular expressions on their eyes, usually whenever they're extremely jovial, perplexed, frightened, or panicked.

Molang is defined by its empathy, softness, tenderness, and joy. Molang has no nationality, is ageless, and gender-neutral. The characters of Molang speak Molanguese.

Characters

 * Molang (voiced by Bruno Guéraçague) is a white rabbit that makes every moment of the duo's daily life a unique and wonderful moment, taking special care of each detail, and giving little things an unexpected fresh taste. Molang puts its heart into everything it does, even when it gets it and its friend, Piu Piu, into trouble.
 * Piu Piu (voiced by Nathalie Stas) is a little yellow chick. Shy, reserved, and someone who dislikes being the center of attention, it takes great care to keep things under control. When something unexpected arises, Piu Piu can be quickly destabilized.
 * The Pincos: Molang and Piu Piu's friends are a group of miscellaneous rabbits that look identical in shape to their counterpart, Molang. They vary greatly in personality: some are friendly and well-meaning (like Molang), while others are soft-spoken and timid (like Piu Piu), while others are easily irritated and short-tempered (the beachgoers from The Coconut, the director from The Extras, etc.).

Franchise
The series first aired on Canal+ France on November 2, 2015. Since then, 5 seasons, 321 episodes, and a music album have been produced and are widely broadcast. The first season has been available since July 1, 2019 on Netflix. In February 2020, Millimages announced the development of Season 5 which consists of 52 episodes with each being 5 minutes long. , Molang's TV exposure extends to more than 190 countries and has become a cross-media franchise, including merchandising, publishing, music albums, GIFs, digital series, stickers, and others. Season 5 started broadcasting on Canal+ on September 9, 2021.

Social media
The show has accounts on social media platforms such as YouTube and X (formerly Twitter), most of the content (along with some of the merchandise) posted on social media is for all ages compared to the show's preschool age range, and promotes South Korean lifestyle and K-pop such as Blackpink and BTS.

Broadcast
The show also airs in different countries, such as Tiny Pop in the United Kingdom and Treehouse TV in Canada.

EPs
On April 1, 2020, the first "music album" called Molang was released on every streaming platform, including Spotify, iTunes, Deezer, Amazon, and more. As of late April 2020, this album has been streamed more than 40,000 times on Spotify and 20,000 times on iTunes. On November 18, 2020, the EP A Merry Molang Christmas was released. There had been speculation regarding the release of the second music album, though this had yet to be confirmed. On December 10, 2020, the official social media account of Molang uploaded the first post introducing A Merry Molang Christmas. On November 27, 2023. Molang posted a video of them making a K-pop song and teasing the title. The song got released on December 8, 2023 on all music platforms as the band M4P, a band with 5 members: Molang, the leader, Sweetie Pinco, Piu Piu, Shiny Pinco and Moody Pinco.

Merchandising
As a merchandising brand, Molang uses "My Best Friend" as a universal signature for all worldwide licensees, on all packagings. It now represents two master toy licensees (Tomy & Jazwares), over 100 licensees worldwide, and more than 700 different products, including kids and adults apparels, children's books and magazines, stationery, magnets, stickers underwear, sleepwear, etc.

Books
In November 2016, the French publisher Flammarion launched a collection of four little square books based on the series episodes and one big album. On Easter 2017, seven new books were released. They were specially promoted by the broadcaster. Among them, four little square books and one album, and also two flap books in which children have to search for hidden characters and animals.

Scholastic Inc., the world's largest publisher of children's books, have published four 8x8 books and one album. All the books include stickers and the album contains a sticker storybook with more than 25 stickers and 4 pages to decorate. They are available to all national retailers, independents, special market channels and through Scholastic Reading Club and Scholastic Book Fairs. In October 2018, the Italian publisher Gribaudo has launched six activity books with games, colouring pages, stickers and different activities.

The publisher Nelson Verlag will launch a range of their mini books dedicated to Molang early 2020 in Germany.