KIKAKUGAI Blog

【Blog】MARVEL INVISIBLE WOMAN ULTIMATE BISHOUJO STATUE

This is ARTFX Yamashita. Long time no see! Today, I’d like to introduce this product: MARVEL INVISIBLE WOMAN ULTIMATE BISHOUJO STATUE Release Month: October 2024 This is a recreation of the June 2011 MARVEL BISHOUJO STATUE INVISIBLE WOMAN. That’s right–not a reproduction, but a new, commemorative product in 1/6 scale to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the BISHOUJO series! Let’s start with a basic character introduction. A member of the Fantastic Four (Marvel’s first ever Super Hero team), Invisible Woman’s real name is Dr. Susan "Sue" Storm Richards, or Sue Richards. Like her other teammates, she gained her powers after being exposed to cosmic rays during an experiment in space. Her ability was initially to make her own body invisible, but later she was also able to generate a force field and use it for defensive attacks. The original product was sculpted by Gotaro Takeuchi. Even today, details like the sculpt of the muscles and metallic shading on the body are still classic features that haven't faded with time. Thirteen years have passed since then, and we once again faced Shunya Yamashita’s illustration and took on the challenge of bringing Invisible Woman to life with our current figure manufacturing technology. However, this was not just a mere resculpt–it was the creation of a completely new product! When bringing her back to life once more, we decided to increase the scale from 1/7th (approx. 23cm in height) to 1/6th (approx. 30cm in height) out of respect for the original product, and also because we wanted a larger canvas to showcase the technology we’ve cultivated up until now. In numbers, this may just be one level up, but when you line them up like this it’s actually a difference of around 7cm, which feels much bigger than anticipated! Let’s take a look at the hair! Each lock of hair can be sculpted out with more detail and expression than ever before thanks to the larger, 1/6 scale. We can also combine both clear materials and pearlescent materials together to create a sense of lightness from her blonde hair fluttering in the wind. You can see the transparency of her hair especially well from this angle. Additionally, the details in the printing of her blue eyes have also been made into 1/6 scale, which provides even more depth and expression to the statue. Before, we experimented with the “gyokugan system,” which is a technique used with Japanese dolls where the eye and face parts are made separately, and the eye parts are inserted at the back of the face part. The eye area of the previous 1/7 scale BISHOUJO statue was comparatively smaller to that of anime figures, since these statues were made to have a more realistic facial balance. We utilized this technique in an attempt to solve the printing issue, as it was difficult to convey the depth and curvature of the eyes and the details in the irises with such limited space when printing directly. With this new 1/6 scale, the size of the eyes has increased from around 4mm to 9mm! Not only can we print the eyelashes, but we can even print the shadow of the eyelids falling on the eyes, and also print large and small highlights to recreate the luster and glow of the irises! Her lips, which have a gentle smile, have a soft pink color with a sense of fullness, and we were even able to recreate the details in her mouth, such as her teeth and tongue. While this kind of detailed expression can inadvertently make the figure look unpleasant, at the hands of the incredibly capable sculptor, jonji, we were able to achieve the perfect balance for this statue. Even the corners of the mouth have been upgraded, so that the sculpt reflects a sense of dimension from multiple angles, making yet another feature that we hope you’ll check up close. The costume on the original product was a dazzling contrast of black and stunning metallic blue, but this time, a close-up view of the new statue clearly shows the updated parts, such as the expression of each muscle, the transparency of the clear parts for her fingers and tips of her hair, and the textured surface treatment on the neck and waist areas. In particular, the “4” mark on her chest has been recreated with more dimension so that it pops out more, which brings the statue closer to the illustration. The base has also been made more transparent to better recreate her force field. While the first product is an homage to Mole Man from the original comic “Fantastic Four #1” that was published in 1961, this new statue has a marble-like pedestal, reminiscent of a historical sculpture that would be displayed in a museum, with a luxurious atmosphere that perfectly matches this piece. Up until now, I’ve focused closely on various aspects of the figure, but when it comes to a statue like this, it’s of course important to look at the full picture! Just like the old quote that they often reference in Japan, "God is in the details," I think one of the best ways to enjoy this statue is to alternate between looking at it up close and farther back. Take a step back and gaze at this statue from afar, then come closer to inspect the details. I hope that you’ll be able to experience this piece as the culmination of the history of the BISHOUJO series, as well as the future it holds going forward. As I mentioned earlier, the BISHOUJO series is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year! Add this commemorative piece of the series history to your collection today! © 2024 MARVEL What is the BISHOUJO Series？ The BISHOUJO series reimagines characters from popular comic books, games, and movies from a Japanese perspective and transforms them into unique “BISHOUJO” style statues. Based on art by illustrator Shunya Yamashita, the series aims to provide figures inspired by Japanese art to fans throughout the world. Since release of the first BISHOUJO statue in 2009, the series has continued for fifteen years and will continue for many more! Keep an eye out for more exciting additions to the ever-expanding BISHOUJO world! ▽OFFICIAL WEB SITE

[THE KING OF FIGHTERS ÁNGEL] An In-depth Look at this Captivating Fighter!

Thanks to everyone’s continued support for the SNK BISHOUJO series, we are happy to announce that Ángel is the fifth character joining the lineup! Many fans were pretty hyped over her reveal, but for those who haven’t seen her figure yet in person, we’re happy to present an in-depth look into this newest entry! This figure is based on her first appearance in THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2001 that is illustrated in the familiar style of Shunya Yamashita! Point 1　Bringing Her Iconic Pose to Life △ The original illustration that the pose is based on. The iconic pose of her unique fighting style Perfunctory♥ is brought to life! Her confident and carefree expression and playful pose bring out Ángel’s personality! You can almost hear her voice lines! ♪ Compared to the original posture, her upper body is raised and tilted to her left so that even when looking at the figure from the front, the viewer can easier see her form. Point 2　Recreating Her Signature Jacket and Outfit By using the latest sculpting techniques, we brought the classic design of her outfit to life. We carefully selected the material to bring out the texture of her leather jacket and chap-style pants. The sculpt of the figure is really exciting and shows off her stunning form! Point 3　Creating the Perfect Finish To try and recreate a white, transparent appearance with her hair, we used the technique of painting over clear parts for the first time in the SNK BISHOUJO series! The end of her hair is finished with a gradation to give it more of that transparent feeling. We made sure to properly paint areas that were could not be seen easily. Even the inside of her boots is painted as well! Point 4　Capturing Her Captivating Form We were careful in recreating her charming physique by defining her waist and legs. In addition to the sculpt of the muscles in her abs and thighs, take a look at the details in structure like the collarbone and spine! Point 5　Representing Her Home Turf, the Mexico Stage △The Mexico Stage served as the concept for her base.  The base of the figure is recreated from the area around the museum in her home country, the Mexico stage.  We made sure to recreate the texture of the uneven surface, wear, and chipped off corners of brick tiles. Stay Tuned for the Sixth Character in the Lineup! During Kotobukiya Collection 2024 in February, the newest character in the SNK BISHOUJO series was announced! Some of you already figured out who it is! We are working hard at developing her figure so please look forward to the next update! ♪ 【Special Feature】 Behind-the-scenes Story of Ángel’s Figure Photos The person in-charge for the product photos was our very own ARTFX Yamashita, a familiar name among our blog readers! We have a special behind-the-scenes story about her figure photoshoot from him! Greetings, I am ARTFX Yamashita. When I saw the paint master of her figure, I wanted to take her photos because I thought I could make use of my expertise. Although I say this, a professional photographer did the actual photography, and I just gave out directions from the back. I was impressed how a pro was able to emphasize the proportions of the figure in the photos. For example, this photo that everyone saw when her figure was shown during Kotobukiya Collection. When we were taking this photo, I said “Her stomach is visible when taken from this angle, while we’re at it, can we shine a blue light on her?” There were some pretty vague directions, but the photographer got the perfect angle while I held up a blue cellophane sheet. The shot that left the deepest impression on me was when he mentioned, “I think we can go for a bit more exposure so let’s try getting this part out of focus…” and we ended up with this photo here. As you can see, bringing the area below the face out of focus creates a photo that leaves more to the imagination. It turned out really great, but unfortunately it was deemed too sensitive to be posted on X*. Looking back, I should’ve been more direct with my concerns, and I’m still a little sore over what happened. *Unfortunately, it got tagged as sensitive content when posting it on X, so we ended up not using it… ©SNK CORPORATION ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

[Interview] Geralt turned BISHOUJO!? Introducing the all new The Witcher BISHOUJO series.

  Appearing as a pleasant surprise, it was announced that The Witcher would be the newest addition to the BISHOUJO series. After opening pre-orders for the first character, Geralt, the highly requested Ciri was announced at Anime Expo 2023 and is now open for pre-orders. Today we are here for an interview with the product planner about the series’ features and highlights, as well as new information on The Witcher BISHOUJO series!   Q1. The Witcher is joining the BISHOUJO series! The BISHOUJO series is a product line from Kotobukiya that launched in 2009, with illustrator Shunya Yamashita in charge of all the concept illustrations. This series was launched with the concept of reimagining popular characters from around the world from a Japanese perspective and transforming them into unique “BISHOUJO” style statues. At that time, it wasn’t as popular as it is now to enjoy international works just as they are, so I’ve heard that fans both in Japan and overseas were surprised by the stylization into a Japanese design. So far we have introduced more than 200 different BISHOUJO statues to the world, and are approaching our 15 th anniversary next year! ▽ For details, check out the official page of the BISHOUJO series.   Q2. Why did you choose characters from The Witcher to reimagine into BISHOUJO? The BISHOUJO series lays focus on the international market, but to my surprise, it had never featured a series from the highly popular, classic fantasy genre. I simply started to think how cool it would be to create the details and textures such as the thick, heavy leather and armor with our latest technology. This is not limited to The Witcher, but fan art with creative reimagination and redesigns of characters is very popular among fans overseas, including countless beautiful female versions of Geralt! The words “bishoujo transformation” may seem like something “Japanese,” but this time we wanted to turn the spotlight onto the international scene and would love for people to get to know it more!   Q3. Geralt is originally a male character. Is there anything you do differently in the “bishoujo transformation” with a character that is originally female? Geralt is a legendary witcher that is, as you said, originally a male character, so we wanted to make sure her physique was well built. We also considered the character’s age and made the statue to have a calm atmosphere.   Q4. From a product planner point of view, was there anything you asked for when commissioning Shunya Yamashita for the illustration? We definitely wanted to include the “fantasy world with swords and magic” motif, and asked for a pose where she can be seen casting Igni. On top of that, we also wanted a pose that would look good when displayed together with Ciri.   Q5. Is the design from Shunya Yamashita just one illustration? We usually ask for illustrations of the back as well when the design is created from scratch. We were provided with thorough information on the designs of armor and weapons for these characters, so this time we only needed an illustration from one angle. The pose turned out really well and even looks good from angles that are different from that of the illustration. Q6. Geralt is created with super fine details, such as the textures of the outfit and the designs of her swords. What parts of the statue did you focus on most and/or would like users to see up close? Each of the leather parts are textured differently. There are many kinds of leather, so we checked the official designs very closely and adjusted the statue accordingly. The sword on her back is very large. Posing the character as if she were going to pull out the sword was great to show a cool scene, but made it difficult to adjust it to the features of the sword.   Q7. Do you have any stories from the sculpting phase? Yoshiki Fujimoto was in charge of the sculpts of both Geralt and Ciri. Both statues have many various kinds of equipment. Each item is arranged carefully and proportionately into the sculpt while considering aspects such as their materials and thicknesses, how they would fit to the body, or alternatively how they may float or hang away from the body or other parts. I can’t imagine the time and effort that was put into this process. We also made sure that Geralt’s face wouldn’t come out too cute. I was surprised at how such small changes of detail make a huge difference, bringing out that dignified look. I'd really like people to look closely at parts like her brow and cheekbones! They have a very different feel compared to previous BISHOUJO statues. I'd like to thank Fujimoto-san here again for his hard work and millimeter-level adjustments.   Q8.  Pre-orders are currently open for the second character, Ciri. What can we look forward to? You may be surprised, but the illustrations and sculpts of Geralt and Ciri both started at the same time! Ciri has just as many items as Geralt, and we made careful adjustments to ensure we retain the feel and atmosphere of her in-game. The statue is currently being painted with continuous focus on expressions of textures as we did with Geralt, so please look forward to it!   Q9. Finally, can you give a comment to fans of The Witcher? “Geralt reimagined into a beautiful woman!?” I know many of you were very surprised to see this happening. Although in a female statue, we are working on developing the statue with great respect to The Witcher series. We hope it will be there by your side as you enjoy the games!   The first in the lineup, THE WITCHER BISHOUJO GERALT, and the second, THE WITCHER BISHOUJO CIRI, are currently open for pre-orders! Statues of Geralt and Ciri introduced in the interview are currently available for pre-order! The pre-order deadline for Geralt is Sept. 19 (Fri)! The deadline for Ciri is Oct. 3 (Tues)! *This deadline is for retailers in Japan, and for those residing outside of Japan, some retailers may open their pre-orders past this deadline. There is no guarantee she will be available after we’re sold out of initial production, so if you want to make sure you get yours, don’t forget to pre-order before the deadline! GERALT and CIRI statues are available for order and purchase at the Kotobukiya online shop and your local retailer! Please check our shop list for a full list of local retailers. https://www.kotobukiya.co.jp/en/international-retailers/ ■THE WITCHER BISHOUJO GERALT http://bit.ly/GeraltBishoujo ■THE WITCHER BISHOUJO CIRI http://bit.ly/CiriBishoujo   Final Thoughts We asked quite a number of questions to the product planner of The Witcher BISHOUJO series. What did you think? Thoughts behind the first steps into the fantasy genre, the amount of focus and work put into each and every detail side by side with the sculptor, are all things that you can only read here! The Witcher BISHOUJO and the BISHOUJO series as a whole will always be working hard to bring you all kinds of products and content. Please look forward to future updates!   © 2023 CD PROJEKT S.A. All rights reserved. CD PROJEKT, the CD PROJEKT logo, The Witcher, and The Witcher Logo, Geralt, and Geralt of Rivia are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of CD PROJEKT S.A. in the US and/or other countries. The Witcher game is set in the universe created by Andrzej Sapkowski in his series of books.

[Interview] From robots to BISHOUJO! Discovering the unique charms of the TRANSFORMERS BISHOUJO series.

Discovering the unique charms of the TRANSFORMERS BISHOUJO series! An Interview with the Product Planner   The first in the new TRANSFORMERS BISHOUJO series, OPTIMUS PRIME , was released in January 2023. Now that pre-orders have started for BUMBLEBEE , the third addition to the series, we decided to sit down with the product planner and talk about what makes the series so special, and where it is expected to go in the future.   Q1. Can you start by telling TRANSFORMERS fans what the BISHOUJO series is all about? The BISHOUJO series is a product line from Kotobukiya that launched in 2009, with illustrator Shunya Yamashita in charge of all the concept illustrations. So far we have introduced more than 100 different BISHOUJO statues to the world! This series was launched with the concept of reimagining popular characters from around the world from a Japanese perspective and transforming them into unique “BISHOUJO” style statues. At that time, it wasn’t as popular in Japan as it is now to enjoy international works as they were released; I’ve heard that fans both in Japan and overseas were surprised by the stylization into a Japanese design. ▽For details, check out the official page of the BISHOUJO series.   Q2. So what inspired you to turn THE TRANSFORMERS robots into BISHOUJO characters? The fact that I, the product planner, like THE TRANSFORMERS is a big influence, but we’ve had a connection with Hasbro since we did the MY LITTLE PONY BISHOUJO series, and Hasbro themselves also suggested it. △ The MY LITTLE PONY BISHOUJO series  that served as part of the inspiration for the TRANSFORMERS BISHOUJO seris.   Q3. In the process of turning a robot into a human character, are there any points that you pay special attention to? 　 The posing and the clothing are the key points we focus on when trying to capture the original character’s essence. We take care to make sure we get this right, because if the original and unique qualities of the character are removed by the BISHOUJO style, then it becomes pointless. On top of that, we try to design the outfit so that it wouldn’t feel out of place if it really existed. We try not to make things too fantasy-like. When planning, the foundation for the design is the silhouette and color scheme—traits that allow the characters to be identified even when squinting. (I encourage everyone to try squinting when looking at TRANSFORMERS BISHOUJO characters.)   Q4. It can be very difficult to express a character’s personality and details as a BISHOUJO character; what sorts of techniques do you use to bring that out? This is a feature of THE TRANSFORMERS itself, but I think it’s cool how AUTOBOTS transform into working vehicles and DECEPTICONS transform into weapons (of course, there are exceptions…). We’ve tried to preserve this concept in the BISHOUJO series. OPTIMUS PRIME and BUMBLEBEE are dressed in a way that practically announces that they are defenders of justice, heroes, and friendly. They come to the rescue almost in a casual way.   In order to give MEGATRON a tough, military look, we put in several design details characteristic of military uniforms, such as a garrison cap, tie, and epaulets.   Compared to the other two, BUMBLEBEE is younger and smaller, so we made her outfit more youthful. I like the new/retro fashion combination we did–a distinctive and modern hoodie coupled with the loose socks on her cute, rounded feet!   Q5. So now that you’ve completed reimagining OPTIMUS PRIME, MEGATRON, and BUMBLEBEE into BISHOUJO characters, was there any character or points in the process that really stood out for you? Definitely OPTIMUS PRIME…! MEGATRON has the image of a soldier and gives off militaristic vibes—a speciality of Yamashita—so the concept came out pretty quickly. But I had a lot of trouble with OPTIMUS PRIME. I think we were able to finalize it thanks to Yamashita providing us with many ideas, plus we incorporated the opinions of TRANSFORMERS fans within the company. Personally, the most troubling part was trying to recreate the antenna’s feel with the “loose buns and slightly messy hair” concept. But as a result of that effort, this arrangement is one of my personal favorites! I think it’s a great hairstyle for OPTIMUS PRIME, who has a bit of a careless streak. Everyone on THE TRANSFORMERS development team also advised me to include a container of some kind in the design, and I think that it makes the character even more like OPTIMUS PRIME.   Q6. What characters from THE TRANSFORMERS series would you like to see as a BISHOUJO statue in the future? Any ideas? Well, if we’re talking about the first generation, it would be SOUNDWAVE and SHOCKWAVE! If it was from a live-action film, BARRICADE and BLACKOUT are very appealing. I especially like the animated series, so it would be interesting to create a BISHOUJO with the stylized feeling of that animated series. I’d like to give it a try.   Q7. Finally, could you offer a message to all the fans of THE TRANSFORMERS series? I expect that many of you may have learned about Kotobukiya’s BISHOUJO series from TRANSFORMERS BISHOUJO. The BISHOUJO series has enjoyed a long run, and will be celebrating its 15th anniversary next year. Up until now, we’ve put together many collaborations, involving wonderful or what we thought were overlooked properties that aimed to draw renewed attention to them by using BISHOUJO. I am thrilled and honored that we’ve been able to add THE TRANSFORMERS to this lineup. We will definitely be announcing new TRANSFORMERS BISHOUJO going forward, so we would be very grateful for your support!     Pre-orders are open for TRANSFORMERS BUMBLEBEE BISHOUJO STATUE! Pre-orders are now open for BUMBLEBEE, which was mentioned in the interview above! The order deadline is March 28 (Tue) for retailers in Japan! For those residing outside of Japan, some retailers may open their pre-orders past this deadline. There is no guarantee she will be available after we’re sold out of initial production, so if you want to make sure you get yours, don’t forget to pre-order before the deadline! ▽ Click here for pre-orders! TRANSFORMERS BUMBLEBEE BISHOUJO STATUE https://www.baitme.com/preorder-kotobukiya-transformers-bumblebee-bishoujo-statue-yellow-ktsv344   And we have great news for fans who want to display OPTIMUS PRIME and MEGATRON together!   OPTIMUS PRIME and MEGATRON statues are available for order and purchase at the Kotobukiya online shop and your local retailer! Please check our shop list for a full list of local retailers. https://en.kotobukiya.co.jp/shoplist/ TRANSFORMERS OPTIMUS PRIME BISHOUJO STATUE https://www.baitme.com/preorder-kotobukiya-transformers-optimus-prime-bishoujo-statue-red-ktsv330 TRANSFORMERS MEGATRON BISHOUJO STATUE https://www.baitme.com/preorder-kotobukiya-transformers-megatron-bishoujo-figure-purple-ktsv332 Both products will be unavailable as soon as pre-orders and sales stock run out. If you’re looking to display the entire series, order now before it’s too late! ▽ Interested in learning more about our BUMBLEBEE statue? Check our blog post with all the details! (Available in Japanese Only) https://www.kotobukiya.co.jp/kikakugai/kikakugai-303609/   Final Thoughts Were you able to pick up on the charm of and the attention to detail to the TRANSFORMERS BISHOUJO series? The TRANSFORMERS BISHOUJO series was born from a unique collaboration of the product planner and Kotobukiya’s in-house TRANSFORMERS fans. Shunya Yamashita’s brilliant illustrations have really brought the characters to life! We plan on continuing to bring you more of the BISHOUJO series, including, of course, TRANSFORMERS BISHOUJO. Be sure to stay tuned for future developments! TRANSFORMERS and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro and are used with permission. © 2023 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved. Licensed by Hasbro.