That is not, however, all there is out there. Figures come in a variety of formats, and at different sizes. But the best, in my humble opinion, are the nendoroids I mentioned in my last post. These are figures with exaggerated, “chibi” proportions - huge heads with small bodies. They have interchangeable parts, allowing you to do more with them. They’re smaller than a lot of figures, which means they'll be easier to pack up to your next port of call. Of course, some people think they’re expensive, but those people probably collect Funko Pops (which there’s nothing wrong with, even if the quality of the two can’t even be compared). Plus you can pose them and change their expressions, and even (if you’re tech-savvy and don’t have other things to do with your time) create stop-motion animation using them, as seen in the video below by Dan Von Carr.
But Akiba being what it is, there's always temptation to be found, especially since I got sucked into a new blackhole: nendoroid customizing. See, here’s the thing. Although GoodSmile often releases a bunch of characters from the same show, this is not always the case. Sometimes they’re so busy making new versions of Hatsune Miku that they forget to make the other characters in your favorite show, which is why I’m still waiting for a Sugimoto nendoroid. Although I guess I should be grateful they at least made Asirpa...they’ve never made any of Noragami's characters. Over the course of my second year in Japan, I've been thinking about this more and more. Seeing the expansion pieces - Nendoroid More, as they're called - which allow you to dress up your characters differently, or give them different expressions, got me wondering if it might be possible to frankenstein some characters (cobble together a new creation from spare parts - get it?). It didn't really click, though, until I remembered how cheap I've found some nendoroids in my rambles about town. I realized that if you could find them for a decent price, it might not be so terrible to take a figure apart, make some color changes, and reconstruct it to create a new character.
Well, as it turns out, that's totally a thing. When I started trying to figure out whose hair would work for a Shinra nendoroid I stumbled across the community of nendoroid customizers online. One enterprising couple even created an online shop - the aptly named ChibiChopShop - where they buy and sell parts from nendoroids that have been split up. I'm looking for such specific things that I've only used them once, but when I discovered them, they had the only things I wanted - the hair and faceplates from nendoroid 151, Moritaka Mashiro. With the Nendoroid More doctor body I'd already found on eBay, all I needed was a pair of glasses and probably a little paint to make my first nendoroid, Celty, her own Shinra. He needs a lot of work - the hair’s the wrong color, and the face isn’t right - but once I’m reunited with my supplies in Mongolia, we’ll get there.
And that, of course, opened the floodgates. I had so many ideas that it was tough to decide which to pursue first...but since the pieces basically fell into my lap I started working on my first anime love, Yato.
I found Takagi Akito from Bakuman (#152, from Lashinbang in Kamata) for his body, and Kuroko no Basuke’s Kise Ryota (#1032, again at Lashinbang, this time the big one in Akiba Culture Zone) for his hair, and was able to sell the rest right away through the facebook group for splits. Then I hit up the Volks near Yokohama station on my way home from work one night and spent a good half hour deliberating over paints (ie, the ones that are waiting for me in Mongolia now - this post is kind of back and forth all over the place). Since I really had zero clue what the heck I was doing, I based my educated guess on the name of the paint. Very scientific, I know. Then I got to work, in a painstakingly (or paints-takingly) slow manner. Only to quickly realize the paint was much glossier than I wanted. Back I went for cleaner and advice. There’s still work to do on it, but for now, I’m pretty happy with how he’s looking.
So that’s how I found myself another expensive hobby. Wotakoi’s Nifuji Hirotaka was my third project, and although I still want to repaint his hair, I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve accomplished thus far. I haven’t been forced to do any drastic modifications, but maybe I never will. This past weekend was summer Wonder Festival and GoodSmile announced even more upcoming products - Kaguya-sama, for example, and a painted prototype of both Tanjiro and Nezuko from Kimetsu no Yaiba. What I was really excited about, though, was that they announced a nendoroid of Natsume from Natsume Yuujinchou. I’m not sure that I’ll actually order him - one of the rules I had to impose on myself to get out of Japan was that I was only allowed one figure of any character, and I’ve already got a figure of Natsume.* No, the real value of that announcement to me was, in fact, that there was still hope. That anime from several seasons back might still have nendos coming...sometimes there are copyright issues, after all. Sometimes they have to wait and see if it’ll be lucrative enough to justify making those figures (although I would think the fujoshi fan base of Golden Kamuy would make that a yes). Although it’s nice to rise to an artistic challenge, I’d much rather hold out hope for an official Sugimoto nendoroid, especially with a new season coming up.
If not, I’d settle for a scale figure. I left Japan with more of them than I was expecting, and when I get my apartment put back together, don’t be surprised when the inevitable nesting post highlights my carefully curated collection. I get an extra room this go-round and I know just what to do with it.
*As I mentioned before, nendoroids are small enough that it’s relatively easy to pack them up, especially if you’re willing - as I was, in the end - to get rid of the boxes. So - on the other hand - I might.
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