Is Hello Kitty even that cute?

My older sister and I were also THE Sanrio consumers back in the days of "Saved by the Bell" and TGIFridays. While the "Cuties in Japan" article references old characters that I've never heard of (Button Nose? Tiny Poem? Duckydoo?--No, I'm not just putting a "cute" word in front of anything), I still vividly remember going into Sanrio for some Badtz Maru and Ahiru no Pekkle "fancy goods" while my