An action figure of popular character Katsuki Bakugo from the anime series My Hero Academia , based on the manga by Kohei Horikoshi serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha), was released on March 29th as "SHFiguarts Katsuki Bakugo " from BANDAI SPIRITS' SHFiguarts series. This is the second release in the My Hero Academia SHFiguarts series, following the release of the SHFiguarts Izuku Izuku Midoriya figure of the main character, Izuku Midoriya , in December last year. The Deku figure has been highly praised on social media, with fans calling it "SHFiguarts' greatest masterpiece," and expectations are high for the Bakugou figure as well. We spoke to Akiba Hiroki of the Collectors Division of BANDAI SPIRITS, who planned the figure, about the behind-the-scenes development.
◇ Aiming to create a figure that can reproduce all the techniques seen in the film
"SHFiguarts Katsuki Bakugo" recreates the costume Bakugo wears when heading to the final battle in the seventh season of the anime. The price is 9,350 yen.
The "SHFiguarts" series is attractive because of its wide range of motion. When you hold a Bakugo figure in your hands, you'll be amazed at how much it can move! The costume is equipped with large weapons on the arms, and although the neck is hidden by the costume, both the arms and neck are very mobile. You can recreate dynamic poses like those in the anime.
"The thing I paid the most attention to was the range of motion. I worked backwards from the famous scenes in the anime and aimed to create a figure that could reproduce the techniques in the show as much as possible. I also paid particular attention to the placement of the articulation axis so that the figure would not look out of place when viewed from the same angle as in the anime!"
He thoroughly analyzed the poses in the movie and "counted backwards" the range of motion to realize this pose. It's not enough to just move. The movable points were set by studying the work and the characters. "In Bakugo's action scenes, there is an impressive scene where he stretches his arms out behind him and flies around facing forward. However, there were difficult points in the character design to realize this action without stress, so we put a lot of effort into it. For example, there was equipment around the shoulders that hindered the movement, but by innovating the shoulder axis structure, it is now possible to pose with the arms stretched out firmly behind. Also, he is equipped with large gauntlets, and if you have large equipment, the range of movement of the arms is greatly limited. By setting a drawer structure inside the gauntlets, it is possible to bend the arms firmly. By boldly dividing the parts around the neck, we have realized a pose where the line of sight is forward even when the waist is bent.
Looking at the joints, you can see that the creases in the suit are well sculpted. Even though it is an action figure, it has the same fine detail as a non-movable figure.
"Even when the figures are in action poses, the movable shafts that are exposed due to the movement do not become visual noise and detract from the sense of realism, so we have taken great care to add wrinkles to the movable shafts as much as possible. On the other hand, for parts that are not visible when playing, we have compromised to allow them to be as movable as possible as a movable figure, and we have removed any shapes that impede movement, making adjustments to suit the way each character is played with."
Please also pay attention to the high level of reproduction of the face. "It was difficult to capture the characteristics of Bakugo's character, but we added a thin outline to the eyes of the mask to express the power of the eyes," he said, showing the attention to detail.
◇Recreate heated battles with optional parts
An optional parts set for the Deku and Bakugo figures, "SHFiguarts Izuku Midoriya& Katsuki Bakugo PLUS ULTRA Optional Parts Set" was also released at the same time. The price is 5,280 yen.
This set includes Deku's wrist parts for recreating the Air Force, a set of OFA (One For All) full cowl effect parts, a set of Bakugo's surface suppression Heavy Mobile Strafe Panzer equipment, and a set of wide-area explosion effect parts, allowing you to recreate hot battle scenes.
"We've packed it with things that hardcore fans who want to play with it even more will want! Originally, Deku and Bakugo were entry-level products, so we were only able to include the bare minimum of optional parts to make it easier for more users to pick up, but we thought there would be people, including myself, who want to play with it more deeply, so we decided to commercialize an optional parts set that will increase the scope of play as much as possible. The arms of the Surface Suppression Heavy Mobile Strafe Panzer can all be moved, and they can be given facial expressions. It's not equipment that gets used often, but we're sure that the various action poses that fans have wanted to see can be recreated with the figures!"
The point of action figures is to move them and play with them. Move them around and recreate famous scenes from the anime. What's more, the range of play you can have with them will be even wider if you add optional parts.
