By Stephanie H., staff writer, Inside AX- Anime Expo

On Day 4 of Anime Expo, attendees gathered in Petree Hall to hear what Takanori Aki, president of figure manufacture company Good Smile, and Takaki Digitarou Kosaka, game studio Nitroplus, had to say during their focus panel. Guest of Honor Danny Choo was present to moderate the panel and had plenty of questions ready for the two, read on to see a compiled report detailing all of the news and discussions!

Is this your first time at Anime Expo?

Aki: This is my third time at Anime Expo. I was invited to Japan Expo (in France), but I decided to come to Los Angeles instead. There are lots of cosplayers here, and I notice that you guys are more up to date on the latest franchises.

Kosaka: I first came to Anime Expo around 7 years ago at Long Beach. I notice that there are lots of Madoka cosplayers out there. I am very happy to see that!

How did you get into your current line of work?

Aki: Do you all like figures? [Crowd roars: YES!] Yay! Believe it or not, Good Smile was actually a seiyuu talent agency at first. But we pretty much failed… I was able to get into the figure industry thanks to my connections with Max Factory. After that, Good Smile transformed into the company that it is today.

Kosaka: I started creating some Macross doujinshi 30 years ago, which caused me to get invited to work with Macross designer Kazutaka Miyataka. I eventually got a job later as an editor of Newtype magazine. Then, I switched over to working in the game industry. I’ve worked at Namco, Bandai and Banpresto. Since I had so much industry experience, I thought it was time to create my own game studio. That game studio was Nitroplus. I love all types of media. My first project was a PC game since it didn’t cost that much to produce it. My ultimate goal was to create an anime series, which I’ve achieved with Steins;Gate and Madoka Magica.

Takanori-san, you have produced a lot of products right?

Aki: Yes. Last year we released the Black Rock Shooter OVA, and then there’s Black Rock Shooter the RPG that will be released on the PlayStation Portable. Of course there are tons of figures from the franchise in both figma and nendoroid editions.

[Proceeds to show two PVs of Black Rock Shooter the RPG with animations by Ufotable.  At the end of the PVs it shows that the game will be released in special editions with either a figma or nendoroid]

Ufotable took around half a year to make the animation, which lasted about 90 seconds…

Takanori-san, do you play a lot of videogames?

Aki: Yes I do. Actually one of my first jobs was at Konami. I was in the sales department. At the time I was responsible for selling Tokimeki Memorial, but I wasn’t too sure if it’d be popular. The one thing I learned though was that you always need to keep the customers in mind. Don’t just think about yourself, think about what the fans and users want. Also, always try to say you are selling the best product available.

Kosaka-san, what was the first project that you worked on?

Kosaka: Phantom of Inferno was my first project. The game was originally developed on the PC platform due to lower production costs, but then it couldn’t be ported to Playstation because of the content. There were other issues too like not being familiar with the business and sales.  But despite all of that we still sold 15,000 copies of the game. However,  Nitroplus has grown and we have gained the support of US distributors such as JAST USA, who has localized our games like Demonbane for example.

Could you tell me a bit about Madoka Magica?

Madoka Magica was produced over the course of 2 years by Aniplex. As the story supervisor, I really wanted to create a magical girl series. I am really surprised that the series has become so popular! As some of you may already know, Madoka Magica will be released in the US by Aniplex of America. I’d also like to mention a few things about Steins;Gate. It was a joint project between 5pb and Nitroplus. The first project we did together was actually Chaos;Head, Steins;Gate is the second. I’m sure you are all familiar with the artist huke, who did the designs for Black Rock Shooter… He also did the character designs for Steins;Gate. In regards to actual plot, in Steins;Gate it just keeps getting better and better. The game was originally released on XBOX 360, then to PC, recently to Playstation Portable, and hopefully to the iPhone. Please play the game if you get the chance.

Product Spotlight

• Nendoroid Playstation Portable Game - It’s a game featuring deformed characters from many different series such as Nanoha, Black Rock Shooter, and Haruhi. The game is being developed by Bandai Namco. It’ll be Super Robot Wars styled.
• Charity Nendoroids – They have raised a lot of money from the special “Support Miku” nendoroid as proceeds will go to Japan earthquake relief. 1,000 yen of the 3,000 retail sale price will go towards the charity fund. Currently 75 million yen (around US $930,000 !) has already been raised. A cheerleading-themed Black Rock Shooter charity figure and other merchandise is currently in the works. Good Smile Company mascot, Gumako, is even getting her own charity figure and goods.
• Super Sonico – Nitroplus’ mascot was introduced to the attendees at the panel. Aki commented that she has “a very nice body.” Some products featuring Sonico include a figures and a summer PC game. In the game you take the role of Sonico’s cameraman. It was revealed that Danny Choo and Mirai (Choo’s own character creation) makes cameo appearances in the game as well. There is no English translation of the game yet.

Product Announcements/News

• More Madoka Magica and Hatsune Miku Figures – Rejoice! Your wallets will soon be depleted of more money (not that it’s a bad thing)!
• Black Rock Shooter the RPG in English – After seeing the amount of YouTube comments on the BRS the RPG PV, Good Smile is planning an English version of the game.
• Saya no Uta Comic in English – The widely acclaimed  horror-themed Visual Novel by Nitroplus will be getting a comic translated into English.
• Demonbane Localized by JAST USA – Cthulhu and mecha-themed Visual Novel is now available to play in English. Yay.
• Steins;Gate Anime Liscenced by Funimation – The anime adapatation of the time-traveled themed Visual Novel collaboration project by 5pb and Nitroplus will be picked up by Funimation.
• Fate/Zero Anime - Nitroplus and Aniplex will be producing the anime version of Fate/Zero (a light novel series based on TypeMoon’s Fate franchise) with animation to be done by Ufotable. The anime is set to be ready by October.

------

Tags: Anime Expo 2011, Good Smile, nitroplus