thumb|right|Kogepan, described by [[T: The New York Times Style Magazine as a character who "reads self-help books like How to Become a Delicious Bread to stave off despair" Kogepan was created by in the year 2000. A number of Kogepan books by Takahashi have been published in Japan.
There are a number of other bread characters in the panya with Kogepan, including Ichigopan (strawberry bread), Kireipan (beautifully baked red bean bread), Creampan (a burnt cream bread), and Sumipan, a bread even more burnt than Kogepan.
In contrast to earlier animal based characters like Miffy and Hello Kitty, Kogepan is not anthropomorphized to the point of being depicted as human in-universe, but retains bread-like qualities, like wanting to be delicious looking and appealing to buyers.
T: The New York Times Style Magazine described Kogepan as an "antihero" and an example of a character who's "most winning feature comes from a wound".
Creation
thumb|An [[anpan, the type of red bean bun Kogepan was based on]]
Kogepan was created by in 2000, when she was in her first year at San-X. Takahashi started from the concept of a character that seems scary at first, but is hard not to care for. She began the design with a simple draft of an oval face, and because it was an oval shape she pictured it as a bread, and because it had a blank expression she imagined that it failed to sell, because it was burnt. It was directed by with the voice of Kogepan provided by Ako Mayama.
Episodes:
- Kogepan is introduced.
- Kogepan meets the similarly burnt bread Creampan and they go on a trip.
- Kogepan scares the beautiful Kireipan with tales of what will happen when they are bought, but also helps them out.
- Other burnt breads who live in the bakery with Kogepan are introduced, and they drink coffee milk with the very burned Sumipan.
- Tells the story of how Kogepan got burnt, and shows dreams of how life would have been if it had not been burnt.
- Kogepan tries to become a beautiful Kireipan.
- Kogepan's friend Creampan is introduced, along with its calming influence on Kogepan.
- Kogepan meets the beautiful pink Ichigopan and they drink milk together.
- Told from the point of view of a Kireipan who looks up to Kogepan.
- Shows Kogepan and friends through the four seasons.
Other media and reception
A game for the PlayStation called was released in Japan in 2002 by AIA. Mini games include Reversi, racing and volleyball.
A number of Kogepan manga and picture books written and drawn by Miki Takahashi were published in Japan between 2000 and 2008, including the series , , and . The series was revived in 2020, when a new manga serialization began in magazine. A Kogepan book was published in Japan in 2021 with a mix of new and old reworked material.
The first Kogepan product was a memo pad released in 1999.