A "Cinderella" in the Making [Mika Jougasaki]

To be fair, it's true that Danny Choo doesn't really have a schedule like VOLKS. His licences or new projects just pop out literally any time of the year, and there is no real deadline, nor a proper release date till a few days prior. There have been times before where he mentions he'll release his doll on a certain week, but might skip that week entirely, or on a random day within that week.

 

Volks works in the way that they usually display what projects they're doing next (unless they wanna surprise people), then go incognito for a couple of weeks or months, and when the doll is going to be released they put out every detail and information a buyer would need, release dates, accessories, etc. They will never mention a release date till they're sure they have everything. So it feels like this release really was planned, that they gathered everything before confirming when the put it out.

 

On the other hand you have Danny Choo, who released Lelouch and Nami just two months from each other. Whilst Lelouch had alot of marketing, Nami was very hush-hush in comparison. His basic Eiji Kai was delayed several months compared to his original release date. And in that aspect, it feels a little bit unplanned. I mean, even the schedule he showed at one of his overseas events is kind of wonky, cause some of the things mentioned in said schedule hasn't even happened yet, and December is almost here. It feels like Smart Dolls are released the moment Danny Choo is finished with them instead of trying to slot them into release dates or time lines.

 

It probably boils down to different marketing techniques? I feel that Danny Choo regards his customers a little closer, but that does mean his releases are sorta all over the place. Not always a bad thing, but it is quite different.

Edited November 19, 2017 by Guest

I'll give Danny some slack. His announcements and releases can be quite unpredictable but for a small boutique less than 5 years old while managing most things himself and competing with the big guys is pretty impressive.

 

As for Mika, I'll reserve my judgement until I see more pictures.

Most of the components for Mika are done which means...

 

...the release date might be sooner than later

Honestly with the quality of SmD's clothing (for the most part) I am so excited for Mika. I hope the faceup can really bring out her personality.

Danny just posted pics of Mika on his social media. She will be on this display at the store this Sunday. No release date yet.

 

I think she looks pretty cool. Like the face sculpt.

Oh I didn't expect it, but I actually like her Too bad his license characters are limited...

I don't know what I expected her to look like, but that's not it.

 

I don't really like her. Her outfit and wig are really nice though.

 

(I feel like I'm just bitching.)

Because of his track record, I am a liiiittle squinty eyed at his timing of posting her NOW, with VOLKS just releasing Kaede's promo images earlier today.

 

But skepticalism aside, her wig is very cute, and I like her confident expression. Her eye and mouth placement reminds me of his Nami release and I REALLY like it. I wish his basic girls would have something similar cause as Shailara said, his license characters are so limited

While I have no clue about these Idolmaster characters, I can say that being on the outside looking in, if I had to choose between Mika and the newest DD girl Kaede...... Mika would win. She has a unique looking face..... her eyes are very nice and the makeup is great. And that smirk is just too cute.

 

But Kaede suffers from sameface in my opinion. She looks like either an 09 that might have been modded just a bit or another stock head. She doesn't stand out at all to me. Now, her outfit is very well done and I like that she has two different colored eyes. But that doesn't make up for her boring looks.

 

Sorry Volks but Danny wins this round.

 

 

 

Billy

I feel like I'm the only numb skull that doesn't really see the DDH-09 resemblance outside of the VOLKS anime aesthetic.

 

I too think that Mika's face alone, is pretty adorable. I love that particular facial proportion, however I am probably the only one that thinks his licence face-ups are a little... incomplete looking. Again that's just me.

 

Regardless of who is statistically more popular, I still think the timing is questionable. I dunno I must be looking into it too much and recent experiences left me a bit bitter over Danny Choo in general, but I just find it odd that he had to release Mika's promo image on the same day as VOLKs' hours later, when there's been virtually little to no word about Mika since his talk about him getting her license.

 

 

Just for the record

Thanks Kumi, I just updated the first post with her image.

 

That Mika/Kaede reveal timing certainly does make me wonder. I actually quite like how Mika looks, more so than Kaede tbh. She has way more attitude than Volk’s take on Kaede from their first images, and at least is more easily recognizable as her character imo. I hope Mika’s head sculpt is polished and looks fine from different angles too. Several smartdoll sculpts look pretty great from the front but somewhat fall short when viewed from other angles. I also wish Mika was on a DDS-height body instead since she isn’t that tall..

 

I like how Volks releases their Cinderella Girls dolls with an idol outfit, but also release their casual clothes separately. It would be nice if Danny had one of her stage outfits made too. Mika’s outfits are amazing...

Well tbf, Danny posted yesterday (i believe) a picture of his store with a "oops i forgot to remove something you shouldn't see" comment and that was Mika, so I don't think her reveal today was as much to rival Volks, as probably just when the license holder wanted the info released? Of course I might be wrong, but yeah...

Oh I didn't realize that he teased her yesterday! In that case, it could be a case of the Bandai Namco wanting them both revealed at the same time. It's not like Volks had been given any word at all about Kaede until now anyway. xD

Please excuse off topic.

 

...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)

 

Based on CP's previous releases I am pretty sure you can say those are official. They've actually made several dolls from different series and I know that at least one of them was advertised by the licencee. (Sebastian Michaelis -- I only checked for him cause I wanted him XD) I don't think they could legally do it otherwise?

 

~~~

 

Her head looks interesting from the front. I always like a girl with attitude. Only problem is I don't trust SmartDoll anymore. They never meet my expectations.

Is that the same sculpt as the Lana Torabishi one? I was looking at them side by side and I'm like 80% sure it's the same.

Well tbf, Danny posted yesterday (i believe) a picture of his store with a "oops i forgot to remove something you shouldn't see" comment and that was Mika, so I don't think her reveal today was as much to rival Volks, as probably just when the license holder wanted the info released? Of course I might be wrong, but yeah...

 

I think you might be right. Danny did tease her yesterday and shortly before Dokomi. So it's possible that Bandai Namco didn't allow either company to reveal their doll 'til today.

 

I gotta say that I really like her. Her sculpt is similar to Kurenai/Twilight and Lana Torabishi. I look forward to seeing photos of her in the store on Sunday.

She was teased awhile back, and according to this she is a pre-order. Guess I am getting a smartdoll...

 

http://www.dannychoo.com/en/post/28363/Mika+Jougasaki+Smart+Doll.html

As I understand it, they're always preorder. Still doesn't keep them from selling out within minutes, as Gourai I believe did.

So my bad for failing to notice I was posting on page 7.

 

So basically it’s a click war, but with a time delay on shipment...

Yeah that seems to be what it amounts to. Danny has added on twitter that he has worldwide rights so you don't have to rely on scalpers. He's been saying for a while that he is planning to rerelease Gourai and Lelouch because of the aftermarket prices. So maybe, just maybe, he'll make more of these so it won't be so hard to get one.

 

Still if you really want her, take the advice I see you always give others and try to order as soon as orders open. There's never any disadvantage in doing that, aside from possible frustration at how the internet works.

 

As far as I recall, you so far have a complete Volks Idolmaster set, so you need Mika.

Well Mika is a must have for me under any cirbleepstances. I wanted her in DD form the second I saw the character in the anime. I was hoping Volks would be the one making her though. Still having a smartdoll isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

 

And believe me I will be there the minute orders open for this one.

Is that the same sculpt as the Lana Torabishi one? I was looking at them side by side and I'm like 80% sure it's the same.

 

Yes, it does look like that.

I think usually he won't or isn't allowed (?) to re-use a licensed doll's sculpt for other productions, but Lana was a one off for a friend.

So which twitter account does he usually announce his pre-orders out of? I notice he has two.

The Smart Doll one is your safest bet.