Konami, a Japanese company best known for its videogames, has been producing toys in recent years as well and has now managed to bring those two worlds together with its latest toyline, Busou Shinki. Given the overlap between fans of toys and videogames, it’s remarkable no toyco has thought of this before.
At first glance, Busou Shinki seems to be another blatant attempt to take money from the otaku crowd who gush over all things kawaii. Don’t make the mistake of dismissing it so casually, though, because the line has a lot of clever things going for it.
The line revolves around a 15cm-tall action figure designed by Asai Masaki, a 15-year veteran of the figure industry. It’s very posable and apparently sturdy despite its slender build. Figure customisers will be happy to learn the base figures will be sold separately as MMS Naked for 1800 yen each beginning next year.
Action figure fans, on the other hand, will be drawn to the MMS sets costing 3500 yen which include the base figure as well as a generous amount of weapons and accessories. The weapons and accessories are interchangeable and fans have naturally been going wild coming up with crazy-cool combos.
One of the many interesting things about the line is it uses different character designers for each wave. The first two waves weren’t to my liking since I don’t like the moe or kawaii look. Fortunately, the third wave features characters designs done in a more realistic style. I’m especially keen on the Xiphos and Benou sets done by mangaka Shinofusa Rokuro.
Since having more parts means having more interchangeability options, Konami has also released 1700 yen EX weapons sets which each include a head, weapons and accessories. Mix and match to create your own character design.
On top of that, there will be an online game released next year which allows you to input code from the toy packages to take participate in online battles using the toy characters as avatars.
Believe it or not, that’s not the most exciting aspect of the toyline.
Strike a pose
The thing about the line that dropped my jaw is Diorama Studio, a PC program which Konami has made available as a free download on its site. The program features 3D models of the toys which can be posed and suited up with virtual weapons and accessories. You can then place the figure(s) in a 3D set and take a screenshot which can be shared with other users.
Let that sink in.
Now imagine a Transformers version of that.
Buy a Transformer and you get a passcode to download a program which includes a CGI model almost indistinguishable from the figure you bought.
Click on a joint, move a limb and pose the 3D model the way you want it on your PC. Click on a button and your desktop Transformer auto-transforms. Click on a button and you change its colour scheme. Move your mouse and the “camera” moves around the figure. Click on a button to take a screenshot. String several screenshots together to create simple animation of the model in action.
Allow users to buy additional software to expand the experience. For example, additional 3D sets to use as backdrops for screenshots. One buck buys a set of the Ark’s interior complete with Teletraan-1, another buck buys an Iacon set. Beef up the virtual Transformers with weapons and accessories. One buck buys a Matrix of Leadership, another buck buys a laser sword.
I can definitely envision other toycos getting into the act. It’s too cool an idea to ignore.
