A "Cinderella" in the Making [Mika Jougasaki]

EDIT2: Mika’s final version has been officially revealed and is nearly ready for production(but no concrete release date):

 

 

 

~~~

 

EDIT: yep it's Mika

 

 

She'll be the first of several Cinderella Girls Smart Dolls.

 

~~~

 

So Danny posted this image:

 

A Cinderella in the making. Did you manage to decipher that not so cryptic clue?

 

Because he was meeting with ScamcoBandai Namco recently and hinted at Cinderella Girls(and SideM), it seems like we might be getting im@s Smart Dolls in the future.. Unless there are other 'Cinderella' hot properties out there..

 

What do you all think? Personally I'm kinda iffy on the idea, if only because Volks had already been making so many imas DDs. If Danny would make dolls of other characters that would be cool though. I wonder whose head that could be. Maybe Mika since she's a Cinderella girl and is pretty popular? Those eyes don't look slanty enough though.

 

I'd be all sorts of conflicted if the SideM guys end up being Smart Dolls instead of DDs.. I care about those guys too much and neither the current DD nor SmD guy body works for the main trio there..

Edited June 22, 2018 by Guest

I don't know much about Cinderella IdolMaster but I'm interested to see the end result. I wonder if it's one of the five girls Danny posted a pic of on Twitter :

Honestly I'm not too thrilled at all about this.

 

Given how Danny has made jabs at Volks in the past and that Idolm@ster is very much a favourite series of Volks so this could come be seen as a bit of an up yours to Volks. I mean there's no shortage of other series he could have gone for, right?

 

I'm not sure I want him to make Mika cause if he does make her it's possible that Volks won't and the Smartdoll body wouldn't suit her at all, to say nothing of the head sculpts which have been a bit disappointing. Plus I haven't been too keen on any of his past colab dolls. Maybe he'll get better but I really think Mika would be best suited as a DD Sister, and also if Volks made her they might make her little sister Rika as a DD Pretty, which would be fantastic. Mika and Rika are some of my favourite characters in the idolmaster series so I'd really want them to be done right.

I'm with archeotech I really hope its not her, and even if its Mika, I hope volks stills does her, and her outfits *O*

I agree, if he's going to do licensed properties I'd rather he stick with things Volks hasn't done.

Granted it will give a much better comparison between the two companies...unfortunately I feel he'll come up short, as displaying his im@s girl with Volks' will draw even more attention to the typical flaws in his sculpts. That pic alone looks like a pretty generic smartdoll head. I really don't know what he's doing.

I'll be disappointed if he gets SideM first because I was hoping Volks would for more male dolls. (And yeah, the current smartdoll boy bodies don't suit them at all, but that didn't stop him with Girls und Panzer ) No law that says two companies can't do the same thing (Azone, for example) but he's said he has no interest in competing with Volks in the past. I thought that's also why he stopped saying anything about his apparent plans to make 2B after Volks announced the license officially.

I find this strange, if he really wanted to up Volks, he could have opted for Love Live.

 

I still hope Volks does IM@S Hibiki.

Yeah, it's weird he didn't opt for Love Live instead. Those girls are way more popular than im@s with general anime otaku.. As for Hibiki, I'm still hopeful that she will still be made by Volks. Volks tan is just right for her and the rest of her friends at 765pro are DDs anyway.

I've been convinced that DDS would be the most logical body choice for her, but a recent revelation that she's actually shorter than Iori and her hair just makes her look taller makes me wonder if Volks would make her a DDP instead.

 

Smart Doll's current lack of variety in female bodies(besides boobs. we already have more than enough options there..) is pretty troubling since so many female anime/game characters aren't supermodel height. I hope that some people spoke out to Danny about how the GuP girls didn't look completely right on the regular SmD body(and well, their head sculpts could have also been better too). Off the top of my head the only tall Cinderella Girls that are really popular are Kaede and of course, Kirari(who towers over everyone, including many of the SideM guys). The vast majority of girls would be best suited to DDS height or shorter. If he really does end up making CG Smart Dolls I hope that this will be a case where the license holder requires that he make new bodies/parts.

 

For SideM I REALLY hope that whoever gets that license does those guys right. Like, I think that both Volks and SmD male bodies CAN work for some of the SideM guys, since there's actually a ton of variety between the boys and men in that series(one of my fav things about it ). But since the main trio are adults with varying heights and buff-ness(lol) I'd want them to be properly represented as such. If Danny really wants to make a SideM guy using the bodies he already has, then I think Touma would be a good fit since the slim SmD guy body could work for him and he's one of the most recognizable imas guys to people who watched the 2011 anime and played the older games. He'd practically be the same height as Takane though, which would be.. interesting.

Lovelive is definitely the more obvious choice because its far more popular in the west, which is still his primary demographic. Plus the doll pickings on it are so slim - you've either got Azone's pure neemos, which isn't much to people who want a bigger doll, or you've got those resin ones that cost an arm and a leg and are limited to an incredibly small number only available at Wonderfests. (and I'm still not even 100% sure if those were official)

 

so yeah I'm still baffled.

I agree, if he's going to do licensed properties I'd rather he stick with things Volks hasn't done.

Granted it will give a much better comparison between the two companies...unfortunately I feel he'll come up short, as displaying his im@s girl with Volks' will draw even more attention to the typical flaws in his sculpts. That pic alone looks like a pretty generic smartdoll head. I really don't know what he's doing.

I'll be disappointed if he gets SideM first because I was hoping Volks would for more male dolls. (And yeah, the current smartdoll boy bodies don't suit them at all, but that didn't stop him with Girls und Panzer ) No law that says two companies can't do the same thing (Azone, for example) but he's said he has no interest in competing with Volks in the past. I thought that's also why he stopped saying anything about his apparent plans to make 2B after Volks announced the license officially.

 

Tbh I'd be much happier if he tried to compete with Folks over Nier.

 

Also, it deffo would have been smarter to do Love Live. It's wayyy more popular over here.

Okay, all this talk of LoveLive is making me want a LoveLive Smart Doll, especially if it's from LoveLive Sunshine

Okay, all this talk of LoveLive is making me want a LoveLive Smart Doll, especially if it's from LoveLive Sunshine

Ugh same. I'd love a Dia doll to add to the legions of μ's fangirls in my family!

You never know, if enough people tell Danny they want Love Live Smart Dolls, he may seriously consider it..

Yeah, it's weird he didn't opt for Love Live instead. Those girls are way more popular than im@s with general anime otaku.. As for Hibiki, I'm still hopeful that she will still be made by Volks. Volks tan is just right for her and the rest of her friends at 765pro are DDs anyway.

I've been convinced that DDS would be the most logical body choice for her, but a recent revelation that she's actually shorter than Iori and her hair just makes her look taller makes me wonder if Volks would make her a DDP instead.

 

 

Off topic but, OMG Hibiki is shorter than Iori. Thank god I found out AFTER volks started doing more tanned DDs, or I'd be very sad xD

I agree, if he's going to do licensed properties I'd rather he stick with things Volks hasn't done.

Granted it will give a much better comparison between the two companies...unfortunately I feel he'll come up short, as displaying his im@s girl with Volks' will draw even more attention to the typical flaws in his sculpts. That pic alone looks like a pretty generic smartdoll head. I really don't know what he's doing.

I'll be disappointed if he gets SideM first because I was hoping Volks would for more male dolls. (And yeah, the current smartdoll boy bodies don't suit them at all, but that didn't stop him with Girls und Panzer ) No law that says two companies can't do the same thing (Azone, for example) but he's said he has no interest in competing with Volks in the past. I thought that's also why he stopped saying anything about his apparent plans to make 2B after Volks announced the license officially.

 

Tbh I'd be much happier if he tried to compete with Folks over Nier.

 

Also, it deffo would have been smarter to do Love Live. It's wayyy more popular over here.

I dunno, I think Volks would probably have better luck doing the faces for Nier dolls, given that Danny doesn't have any experience with non-anime headmolds. Also, I doubt he'd make a shorter male body for 9S, so he'd either be taller than 2B when he should be shorter, or he'd just skip him. :/

 

I don't really know anything about Idolmaster... though if he ends up doing Shizuku Oikawa, I know my boyfriend will want her.

In one of my videos I did make a comment that if Danny was going to make a Cinderella Girl that I'd love to see Mika. However, after reading all your comments I've come to the realization that maybe it might not be a good idea after all.

 

I have Rin Shibuya V2 from volks and she is lovely and I have Anastasia on pre-order. already those 2 are different sizes, not to mention different sculpts. I also didn't realize it till it was pointed out in this topic but, yes, volks pretty much has made a ton of idolm@aster girls from the original and Cinderella. Now I kinda want Mika to be released from Volks lol.

 

However, that being said, I'am pretty much a SmartDoll fanboy. I'm curious how an Idolm@ster Smart Doll would look? I think Danny could pull it off. But I do agree that only having 1 size is rather limiting. Personally, I'm not as good as other people at telling whether or not the sculpts are original or copied from other girls but that "seems" to be a hot topic people tend to talk about a lot.

 

Now Love Live, Danny-San. That would be a license to go after. No doll company has that yet right? Maki Nishikino please hahaha

I agree, if he's going to do licensed properties I'd rather he stick with things Volks hasn't done.

Granted it will give a much better comparison between the two companies...unfortunately I feel he'll come up short, as displaying his im@s girl with Volks' will draw even more attention to the typical flaws in his sculpts. That pic alone looks like a pretty generic smartdoll head. I really don't know what he's doing.

I'll be disappointed if he gets SideM first because I was hoping Volks would for more male dolls. (And yeah, the current smartdoll boy bodies don't suit them at all, but that didn't stop him with Girls und Panzer ) No law that says two companies can't do the same thing (Azone, for example) but he's said he has no interest in competing with Volks in the past. I thought that's also why he stopped saying anything about his apparent plans to make 2B after Volks announced the license officially.

 

Tbh I'd be much happier if he tried to compete with Folks over Nier.

 

Also, it deffo would have been smarter to do Love Live. It's wayyy more popular over here.

I dunno, I think Volks would probably have better luck doing the faces for Nier dolls, given that Danny doesn't have any experience with non-anime headmolds. Also, I doubt he'd make a shorter male body for 9S, so he'd either be taller than 2B when he should be shorter, or he'd just skip him. :/

 

I don't really know anything about Idolmaster... though if he ends up doing Shizuku Oikawa, I know my boyfriend will want her.

 

Lol, true. He might've been gutsy enough to try A2 tho!! who knows. The gourai girl came out ok.

Now Love Live, Danny-San. That would be a license to go after. No doll company has that yet right? Maki Nishikino please hahaha

I know the 1/6 Pure Neemos exist but I don't think there've been 1/3 scale LL dolls... I could be wrong, though.

 

If this picture means anything it's Mika Jougasaki

 

If this picture means anything it's Mika Jougasaki

 

None of those colours match Mika's uniform though. I'd say that they're just for normal uniforms he's going to make.

Yeah, even if it was the right color this would be jumping the gun something fierce.

 

If this picture means anything it's Mika Jougasaki

 

None of those colours match Mika's uniform though. I'd say that they're just for normal uniforms he's going to make.

 

You seem to be missing the dolls in the background.

CC from Code Geass is back there too

We see them... The doll next to C.C. is wearing a blue skirt though. It's a pretty common school uniform look and we can't see any defining details that aren't a probable coincidental combination of clothes that isn't quite accurate. There just isn't enough to go off of so hold your horses.

Huh! I would've thought that there were some kind of exclusivity contract in place and Volks would have the rights to make the Cinderella girls exclusively (or at least first dibs).

 

Man though if Danny made Love Live girls... I would die. My bank account would die. But he'd have to make a shorter body for like, Nico to work... but I would be so happy if he made any of them from either series ;-;

 

It could even be a good tie in with the Love Live All Stars thing that's happening!

Huh! I would've thought that there were some kind of exclusivity contract in place and Volks would have the rights to make the Cinderella girls exclusively (or at least first dibs).

Anime licensing contracts are nowhere near as lucrative as say, cellphone/service provider contracts. Anime producers will keep their options open and license their properties to as many other companies as possible, even if companies are in the same field. The anime producer can never really know how long any given property will remain "hot" and will want to maximize their return for as long as possible.

Also there aren't a lot of companies producing licensed anime BJDs. A BJD company having exclusivity over a given property can be a bit of an illusion.

In the past there have been anime producers that have licensed their properties to multiple BJD companies. Yamato Toy Company introduced their VMF50 doll version of Kanu from Ikki Tousen: Dragon Destiny months before Volks did their version of Kanu. Azone produced their own version of Saber along side the first Volks Saber.

So being the "second company in" isn't anything new or unexpected.

Huh! I would've thought that there were some kind of exclusivity contract in place and Volks would have the rights to make the Cinderella girls exclusively (or at least first dibs).

Anime licensing contracts are nowhere near as lucrative as say, cellphone/service provider contracts. Anime producers will keep their options open and license their properties to as many other companies as possible, even if companies are in the same field. The anime producer can never really know how long any given property will remain "hot" and will want to maximize their return for as long as possible.

Also there aren't a lot of companies producing licensed anime BJDs. A BJD company having exclusivity over a given property can be a bit of an illusion.

In the past there have been anime producers that have licensed their properties to multiple BJD companies. Yamato Toy Company introduced their VMF50 doll version of Kanu from Ikki Tousen: Dragon Destiny months before Volks did their version of Kanu. Azone produced their own version of Saber along side the first Volks Saber.

So being the "second company in" isn't anything new or unexpected.

I know about the Azone dolls, but I don't really think of them the same way as Volks or Smartdoll licensed dolls I guess? That all makes sense though :Tc