Hello everyone, Kahotan here! (@gsc_kahotan)

Only 5 days left of 2013!!

The end of year cleaning of the offices seems like a never ending task! As soon as I start cleaning something else seems to pique my interest and I never seem to get to cleaning… I end up reading magazines back from Spring, or reading through manga that was once used as planning material for Nendoroids! ^^

There are still a good five days of the year, so be sure to make good use of them… however… this is the final blog for this year! (｀・ω・´；)

Let’s take a look through the blog ranking for 2013!

Blog Article Ranking

Mikatan-sensei’s review of the beautiful Tharja with her wonderful comments had the number one position this year!

“What is this strange warm feeling…?
Tharja must have cast one of her hexes on me!!”

I remember reading through that comment and thinking the exact same thing!! It was wonderful comments like that that really put pressure on me to take over the blog…!

A big thank you to everyone who has supported both Mikatan and my posts throughout the year! As well as all those who provided me with comments on Twitter to keep my spirits up! It really means a lot to me! Also a huge thanks to all the staff always helping out on the blog! (´；ω；｀)

I’ll do my absolute best to match the level that Mikatan brought to the blog, and will continue to improve wherever possible to bring you interesting photos and blogs to enjoy! Although if you truly miss Mikatan’s blogging be sure to check out her new blog – the native blog: http://native.blog.jp/!

Moving on, let’s take a look through the sales ranking for 2013!
ヽ(*・ω・)人(・ω・*)ノ

Total Sales Ranking (Japan)
(Nendo Petites are counted by complete box)

1st Place： Nendoroid Hatsune Miku 2.0

2nd Place: figma Hatsune Miku 2.0
3rd Place: Nendoroid Snow Miku: Strawberry White Kimono Ver.
4th: figma Link (Rerelease)
5th: figma Samus Aran (Rerelease)
6th: figma Asuna
7th: Nendoroid Petite: Hatsune Miku Selection
8th: figma Ultimate Madoka
9th: Nendoroid Ultimate Madoka
10th: Nendoroid Asuna

11th: Nendoroid Hatsune Miku: Yukata Ver. Natsutsumaki

12th: Nendoroid Iron Man Mk.42: Hero’s Edition

13th: Nendoroid Petite x Mini 4WD Racing Miku 2012 ver. drives Astute Special

14th: figma Kirito

15th: figma Nyaruko

16th: figma Egashira 2:50

17th: Nendoroid Nana Mizuki

18th: Nendoroid Mikudayo

19th: Nendoroid Madoka Kaname: Maiko Ver.

20th: Shiki Ryougi Garannodou

21st: figma Aigis: The ULTIMATE ver.

22nd: figma Super Sonico: Tiger Hoodie ver.

23rd: figma Black Gold Saw: TV ANIMATION ver.

24th: figma Kuroyukihime: School Avatar ver.

25th: Character Vocaloid Series: Earphone Jack Accessories

26th: Nendoroid Kirito

27th: figma Cobra

28th: Nendoroid Mikoto Misaka

29th: figma Mami Tomoe: Uniform ver.

30th: figma KAITO

The reborn Miku Nendoroid reached #1! ☆

The figma was just as popular at #2, with her beautiful angel wings! figma Link and Samus’s rereleases were especially popular overseas, reaching new records of sales outside of Japan! The variety in the top 30 was quite nicely varied overall, after the initial Miku boom at the top!

Speaking of variety, ever since we moved to the Skytree Max Factory and Phat! company have been on the same floor working together with us! I wanted to get a comment from each of them about their favorite releases from 2013!

Phat! Company Planning Team: Tarou Takenouchi
Sorry to keep you waiting! The sexy witch is on her way! 

1/7th Scale Bayonetta

A faithful sculpt of the CG illustration from the game. Including all her accessories, four pistols and the ‘witch mark’ on her chest. Looking at the figure version of Bayonetta I can almost assure you’ll discover more amazing details on her design that you never even noticed in the game! Her four ‘Scarborough Fire’ pistols each with their gemstones, straps and even separately sculpted barrels have all been faithfully sculpted with the utmost care.

Even the underside of her feet feature a magic circle pattern! Her long sleeves and hair, and the stand based on the effect that appears whenever she jumped make for a figure that fans will be truly proud to own. You need to see it with your own eyes to truly appreciate the beauty! With the anime film, she is bound to become popular once again too!

The prototype’s unique balance was such an outstanding thing to see in person! I remember carrying it around at an event and I was so worried something was going to happen to it!

She’s also a rather impressive size, and has loads of features to enjoy! (*´Д`) Looking at her from each and every angle makes for an amazing experience!

Max Factory CEO: MAX Watanabe
A special sculpt for a 10th anniversary!

1/10th Scale Belldandy with Holybell
 

When this was released as a resin kit many years back, I remember talking with Aki and saying we had to make a painted product of it one day. It’s a masterpiece, filled with precious memories for me. Honestly, there were many hurdles we had to get over to convert this into a mass-producible product – the hair in particular caused quite a headache. But we finally got it to work out, and they came out looking great! To this day I still think this is the masterpiece of it’s sculptor, Chieri.

It may have taken a good few years to get a pre-painted product released – but she’s finally available! I don’t think I need to mention the amazing sculpting and details on the figure itself, but I do want to add that along with that there are many feelings and hours of time put into that make it all the more special. It’s a figure that commemorates MAX FACTORY’s 25th anniversary year perfectly!

Sculpting worthy of a goddess!!

Another figure that had to be kept very safe at events! A 1 meter radius around it needed to be reserved to ensure nothing happened to the prototype! I’m so happy to have the product version now, so I can look and touch as much as I like without worrying! The twists and twirls of their outfits and hair, and Holybell’s wings are all such a treat for the eyes! Each also includes a unique serial number giving it a rather special feeling too!

Finally, let’s see what the most recommended product was this year from GSC’s CEO – Takanori Aki! (｀・ω・´)

Good Smile Company CEO: Takanori Aki
This year’s GSC Prize Goes to…!!

1/8th Scale Insane Black Rock Shooter

There are two things about this figure that simply blow me away. The first is the powerful composition of the pose, and the second is the amazing sculptwork that brings out that composition so perfectly! No matter what angle you look at this figure from, it’s a masterpiece of a figure in my eyes. Of course a big part of the figure are the amazing character designs by huke-sensei, which have allowed for a number of amazing BRS figures to be created. Your work is amazing, huke-san! The sculptor behind the figure was kiking-kun from our Shanghai team – he worked closely with the sculptors here in Japan and ended up creating a truly magnificent figure! 

The ‘threeA-like’ damaged paintwork is something that really stands out to me on the sculpt – particularly on the base and the two weapons. I’ve always been a fan of the realistic damaged look on threeA figures, and when I saw GSC was able to reach a similar look, I knew it was a wonderful thing. I also want to thank the manufacturing team and everyone in the factories – they kept the unique colors and sculpt in tact all through the mass-production phase, allowing the figure to be released at its finest. I really think this product was the product of a collection of GSC’s spirit this year – a truly unique and beautiful figure!

A product that includes all the atmosphere of the Black Rock Shooter world!

Now that you mention it… the paintwork is rather threeA-like!!
It was also a very well received figure overseas! ε=(｡・д・｡)

I also have a few questions for you Aki-san!
What kind of a year do you see for 2014?

(・∀・) “There are all sorts of things I’m interested in trying out next year! We’ve been preparing for the last few years for these too…so they’ll be quite big!”

All sorts of things…?
Such as? φ(｡_｡)

(・∀・) “Things related to manufacturing for a start, but also some interesting ideas that might change the meaning of figures to some people.”

Change the meaning of figures?! (ﾟＡﾟ;)

(・∀・) “GSC is planning a ‘new move’ that will make them the pride of the figure industry!”

Looks like that’s all we’ll be getting for this year!
We’ll have to just look forward to next year! (((゜д゜;)))

Once again a big thank you to everyone that has worked with, or been a part of Good Smile Company 2013 as well as everyone who has supported us this year! This brings Kahotan’s Blog to an end for 2013… but I’ll be back next year with much more! This is also my 100th blog update, which makes it rather special in a whole different way! What a bizarre coincidence!

The next blog update will be on the 6th January 2014! (σ・∀・)σ

It’s started to get rather cold this Winter, so keep warm and stay safe over the New Year! I hope to see you all again in 2014!!

ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟ ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟ ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟ

／Kahotan’s Inner Voice＼


∧＿∧
（o・ω・o） .。0 （I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!!)
（ つ旦と）
と＿）＿）

I hope to see you all again next year!

Planning Team / Kahotan
Twitter ID: gsc_kahotan