Four fictional employees of Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC), the K.R.T. Girls, have helped the company achieve revenue of NT$2 million (US$61,041) in the first seven months of the year and drawn interest from a local game firm and a Japanese publisher, the company said.
The four fictional female employees are station attendant Hsiao Chung (小穹), customer service employee Nai Nai (耐耐), train driver Emilia and maintenance engineer Chieh Er (婕兒).
They were created via a joint initiative by KRTC and a team of animation artists in November last year and are used to promote the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system.
Photo: CNA
Products such as shopping bags, backpacks, fans, postcards, bookmarks and badges displaying images of the K.R.T. Girls were designed and produced through cooperation between KRTC and the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.
KRTC said sales of the products could reach NT$4 million this year.
A Kaohsiung MRT carriage decorated with the fictional characters is operating on the MRT’s Orange Line until Nov. 1 and has attracted the attention of many cosplay fans, including visitors from Japan.
The K.R.T. Girls have also drawn the interest of a local game company and Japanese publisher GA Bunko, which want to use the characters to promote new products, KRTC Department of Public Affairs head Shih Yao-cheng (石耀誠) said.
A Japanese light novel series centered on the K.R.T. Girls is to be published online by GA Bunko beginning next month, with the paperback version to be published by the end of the year, Japanese media reported earlier this month.
The Kaohsiung MRT system has two lines, the Orange Line and the Red Line, and 37 stations, spanning 42.7km.
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