Sento-kun, Nara's official mascot has been ridiculed and reviled ever since being unveiled back in Feburary.

Previously, Nara had no yuru-kyara to represent their city.   A competition was held to select a mascot to represent both the city and the 1,300th anniversary of the Nara-Heijokyo capital (i.e. the anniversary of Japan's ancient capital being relocated to Nara).  Nara became the capital in 710 and will be celebrating the anniversary in 2010.

Sento-kun is a boy who resembles a young Buddha crossed with the antlers of a deer (which Nara is famous for) and was designed by Satoshi Yabuuchi, a sculptor and professor at Tokyo University of the Arts.  It was selected by the local government from 21 entries in a competition where reaction was immediately negative.  Subsequently, 5 million yen was spent on the design to mark the anniversary.   Detractors said it was disrespectful of Buddha and simply not cute.  My personal thought, the cartoon drawing is okay (not necessarily cute nor hideous) but its physical manifestation is downright disturbing (see below).

A citizens group (Creators Forum Yamato) who felt that Sento-kun was not cute enough created an alternative rival called Manto-kun.  Unlike Sento-kun, it dose have all the hallmarks of the cute style yuru-kyara.  It is a roundish orange blob with a smile, a temple as a hat with antlers sticking out from it.

Local merchants are planning to support and use Manto-kun since many feel that Sento-kun souvenir items will not sell well.  Regardless, visitors will have their choice of either of the two since Sento-kun is still being touted as the official mascot of Nara.

Source(s):  Telegraph, Asahi Shimbun