A "Cinderella" in the Making [Mika Jougasaki]

Browsing various things wasting time (lol) I found some more pics of Mika again showing some different angles:

Browsing various things wasting time (lol) I found some more pics of Mika again showing some different angles:

Huh, I think she looks better there. The main thing that sticks out - or rather, doesn't - is her nose though.

I still think all the anime smartdolls except Nami look like they're slowly going into a black hole and currently undergoing spaghettification (although thats only because Nami always looks like that in the source material), so that's the main thing that seems off to me, but as a stylized take on her she's not too bad? I mean, proportions aside, I still prefer how the collab smartdolls look to the collab Azone50s.

 

What I am still curious about is whether this is just a one-off or if Danny is planning to go for more Idolm@ster girls (or boys). Would he touch a character Volks has already done? (I'm just curious if he'd do Haruka, whose Volks sculpt is...polarizing)

Browsing various things wasting time (lol) I found some more pics of Mika again showing some different angles:

Huh, I think she looks better there. The main thing that sticks out - or rather, doesn't - is her nose though.

I still think all the anime smartdolls except Nami look like they're slowly going into a black hole and currently undergoing spaghettification (although thats only because Nami always looks like that in the source material), so that's the main thing that seems off to me, but as a stylized take on her she's not too bad? I mean, proportions aside, I still prefer how the collab smartdolls look to the collab Azone50s.

Yeah her nose is barely there. One problem with so many pictures we get is they're taken with smartphones. Phone cameras are great in that everyone has a camera on them all the time so pictures get taken. They're not great in that for whatever reason the lens is a wide-angle one; I've read that in 35mm/full-frame terms they're equivalent to somewhere around 28mm, and that gives quite some perspective distortion taking pictures close up like these doll pictures.

 

I bring that up now because I'm pretty sure that's what is going on in the large picture in that tweet.

 

I agree it's not a bad take on her, and I'm pleased that with her and Nami Danny made dolls that reflect the characters as well as his own design aesthetics. I felt the Girls and Panzer dolls were a little too much like Mirai cosplaying rather than the actual characters.

 

What I am still curious about is whether this is just a one-off or if Danny is planning to go for more Idolm@ster girls (or boys). Would he touch a character Volks has already done? (I'm just curious if he'd do Haruka, whose Volks sculpt is...polarizing)

I'm curious about that too. I'm sure it's up to Bamco as well and how they do their licensing, or if they want duplicates of Idolmaster characters when there are so many more yet to be made.

 

It's hard to ever guess what Danny will do. And as was brought up in the feedback thread, licensed dolls are kind of in opposition to what his original stated goals for the brand were and they still kind of stick out in that way.

 

Haruka! Yeah, I'm in the camp that thinks she's the one Idolmaster doll Volks really screwed up on. Due to the aftermarket pricing, I'll probably never get to have the ones I want most (Takane, Miki Hoshii, Chihaya, Anastasia) but there are a couple I like and may be able to get like Makoto. I don't think I'd accept Haruka even if she was given to me. I may gripe about choices Volks made with various dolls like Luka, but Haruka is just on another level.

 

Well I'm wandering off-topic again. Back to toipic, sorta, I wonder if Danny is still going to rerelease Gourai and Lelouch? I've seen him state this a few times on twitter because he wants to deal with the scalpers, and I think I saw a picture of some pieces for Gourai. But on the Smart Doll website, both dolls are listed in the discontinued section with the "no plans to restock" description. He did also mention though that these would come after that gaggle of dolls he has planned for release this year...I think there are nine of those?

Browsing various things wasting time (lol) I found some more pics of Mika again showing some different angles:

 

I find in general I like her. I think Danny got her expression spot on.

 

Haruka! Yeah, I'm in the camp that thinks she's the one Idolmaster doll Volks really screwed up on. Due to the aftermarket pricing, I'll probably never get to have the ones I want most (Takane, Miki Hoshii, Chihaya, Anastasia) but there are a couple I like and may be able to get like Makoto. I don't think I'd accept Haruka even if she was given to me. I may gripe about choices Volks made with various dolls like Luka, but Haruka is just on another level.

 

Poor Haruka She really is a lot better in person.

 

I think the big issue with Haruka is she really is all about a great big smile.

 

So her DD really had to have that feature.

Just a quick response as I don't want to derail a topic (again.. ) but I agree they needed that smile. I just think they could've done it better, and as your picture shows, her face shape is a bit off I think, and her hair is too big/fluffy, and I think that may be the thing that really makes her look off.

 

I look forward to seeing your and other user pics of Mika when you get her. Danny's official pictures are certainly better than Volks', but I think we still get the best feel for what dolls actually look like from owner pictures.

 

Danny really needs to paint Mika's fingernails I think. That seems to be a really important part of her image. I've never seen her without that.

Some more pictures of Mika from Danny's store on this blog: http://blog.livedoor.jp/teaoevo/archives/1896758.html and many more here: http://blog.livedoor.jp/teaoevo/archives/1896233.html

Danny tweeted there will be a second Cinderella Girl Smart Doll:

He's been tweeting images of LiPPS for the last day or so. Maybe the next SmD CG will be one of the others.

He retweeted someone's retweet of his tweet (lol) that he deleted, or something. It's going to be Kanade.

 

If I'm wrong I'll take my 20 lashes with a wet noodle.

 

Edit: It's Shiki Ichinose

 

I'll take my lashes with a damp Smart Doll wig now.

Shiki seems an odd choice compared to Kanade, or Frederica. I believe this will be his first Cortex collaboration model, and it seems like there would be safer bets for an initial offering. Doing someone hugely popular like Rin or Ranko would make more sense to me.

 

Unless he is specifically avoiding doing characters that Volks has already done, or if Volks has some sort of exclusive license for those characters as bjds.

He's probably licensed to do all of LiPPS, in which case Frederika or Kanade still seems like a more likely choice for this one. His instagram post alludes to him having a license for five dolls:

 

Who do you think is the 3rd, 4th and 5th Cinderella Girls Smart Doll?

 

Yes I believe he stated she'll be Cortex as all future licensed dolls will be.

Yeah, I really wish we knew if his license is an exclusive one. The members of LiPPS have been high on my list of characters I wanted Volks to do, and after those tweets last week I'd much rather wait for them to do the characters than get them from Danny.

 

It's hard not to be tempted by Mika in spite of all that, but I think Volks would give a bit of needed roundness to her face too.

 

By saying all his future licensed dolls will be Cortex it does feel like he is competing in a different market than Volks does even if the licensed characters are the same. A lower cost mass-produced product compared to the more luxurious limited vinyl dolls Volks makes; hand made vs. machine made. If they really plan on mass producing them they will have to mass produce the outfits too, and that's going to affect quality. This might work well for international sales, but I am not sure how well it will serve him in Japan.

 

I also think that Volks is doing better by focusing on improving their existing line of dolls as opposed to putting out something completely new. I've been messing around with posing my DDS girls and my DDP girls lately and the F3 body contains a lot of small refinements. Can't wait to see Altria in just a few more weeks.

Yeah, I really wish we knew if his license is an exclusive one. The members of LiPPS have been high on my list of characters I wanted Volks to do, and after those tweets last week I'd much rather wait for them to do the characters than get them from Danny.

Considering the attitude expressed via those tweets, I feel like if he did have an exclusive license he'd be broadcasting that fact. But who knows.

Considering the attitude expressed via those tweets, I feel like if he did have an exclusive license he'd be broadcasting that fact. But who knows.

 

That's not a bad point.

Yeah, I really wish we knew if his license is an exclusive one. The members of LiPPS have been high on my list of characters I wanted Volks to do, and after those tweets last week I'd much rather wait for them to do the characters than get them from Danny.

The need to worry Danny Choo has an exclusive license is close to zero, if not at zero. I'm going to oversimplify with the following example but I think everyone reading this will get the idea.

 

If a licensee wants to secure exclusive licensing rights, then the licensor will demand an extremely high minimum guarantee ("MG") up front plus royalties based on sales. This is to prevent the licensee from canceling or delaying the release of an item while the contract is active. If the licensee cancels the release of a licensed item due to manufacturing problems or simply running out of money, then the licensor will not get any payment without an up front MG. The licensor is giving up the right to license a property to other companies for the duration of the contract, so the licensor will demand high fees to give up that right.

 

A licensee trying to acquire an exclusive license wants to monopolize the entire market for a product category. Such a company is willing to pay through the nose and a high MG up front to prevent competitors from releasing competing products. Such a company feels the additional expense is well worth doing so. The expensive up front payment must be made long before any licensed products go into production so most companies cannot afford to do this.

 

Due to the potential failure of the licensee not being able to sell as many units as planned, licensors are extremely hesitant toward granting exclusive licenses and put up high barriers for granting one.

 

That was a long winded way of saying Danny Choo is extremely unlikely to have an exclusive license.

 

Considering the attitude expressed via those tweets, I feel like if he did have an exclusive license he'd be broadcasting that fact. But who knows.

If he had an exclusive license, he would have complained it cost him the equivalent of *SIX* office buildings in Ginza.

I'm going to oversimplify with the following example but I think everyone reading this will get the idea.

 

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

 

If he had an exclusive license, he would have complained it cost him the equivalent of *SIX* office buildings in Ginza.

 

And now all I can think of is President Kuroi taking Danny for six office buildings.

I guess LIPPS is even more possible now. If the rest of the planned CG smartdolls are indeed the rest of this unit, I hope Danny makes these outfits for them all:

 

I still wish they would be on a shorter body, but oh well.

Mika will be available in May starting on the 20th. If anyone wants to split I'd be interested in her wig and outfit.

https://idolmaster.jp/blog/?p=60089

Unless I am missing something about SmartDoll the leg seams in that photo would seem to indicate she's cortex.

Edited April 17, 2019 by BeyondTime

43 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

Mika will be available in May starting on the 20th. If anyone wants to split I'd be interested in her wig and outfit.

https://idolmaster.jp/blog/?p=60089

Unless I am missing something about SmartDoll the leg seams in that photo would seem to indicate she's cortex.

Yep, character Smartdolls are gonna be on cortex bodies from here on out. I think in an effort to offer more of them, so more people have a chance to get one.

Not sure about the male dolls though, since I haven't seen anything about male bodies in cortex yet.

Maybe Danny switched her to Cortex after taking this long; he had previously said she'd be vinyl but that future licensed dolls would be Cortex.

Did he tweak her face a bit? Seems like she's smiling a little more, or maybe it's just a different angle or lighting than the old pics.

 

Edit: Price listed there as 67K. Cortex was supposed to be cheaper but that doesn't seem to be the case after all. Of course, people who were expecting dolls for half the price or less were always going to be disappointed. Cortex only makes for a less expensive body; it doesn't suddenly make the wigs or clothing cost less.

Edited April 17, 2019 by cfx

Not buying at that price brbrbr

39 minutes ago, cfx said:

Maybe Danny switched her to Cortex after taking this long; he had previously said she'd be vinyl but that future licensed dolls would be Cortex.

Did he tweak her face a bit? Seems like she's smiling a little more, or maybe it's just a different angle or lighting than the old pics.

 

Edit: Price listed there as 67K. Cortex was supposed to be cheaper but that doesn't seem to be the case after all. Of course, people who were expecting dolls for half the price or less were always going to be disappointed. Cortex only makes for a less expensive body; it doesn't suddenly make the wigs or clothing cost less.

Well that price is a bummer. After all that hype about Cortex being cheaper (wasn't expecting half price) she's going to cost the same as any of the other licensed dolls did in the past. Those seams on her legs make her a big no for me, especially at same price point as a licensed vinyl doll.

aww she's cute, I like her face and I feel like I want her in my crew but the seams would bother me so much 😕

2 hours ago, cfx said:

Edit: Price listed there as 67K.

💀

I like her face less now that I see the final product, but the wig and outfit will make my custom Volks DDS-S Mika a reality.