Anime Industry Watching No. 9: The Real Joy of "Girls und Panzer" Commercialization as Felt by Model Makers Interview with Hiroki Takahisa (Max Factory), who switched careers from magazine editing to the model industry!

Girls und Panzer," a new animated feature film, is scheduled to be released this fall. Hiroki Takahisa, who was the deputy editor of a model magazine and made a big hit with a special issue on this work, is currently in charge of products at Max Factory, a model manufacturer. What is the appeal and value of "Girls und Panzer" from the manufacturer's point of view?　In front of the "figma Vehicles IV Tank D Type D Main Battle Specification," which allows five "figma" movable figures to be placed on board, Mr. Takahisa and MAX Watanabe, the president of Max Factory, talked about the appeal and value of "Girls und Panzer" from the manufacturer's point of view. Mr. Takaku and MAX Watanabe, the president of the company, talked with us.

--Mr. Takahisa, you first became aware of "Girls und Panzer" ("Galpan") when you were the deputy editor-in-chief of the model magazine "Model Graphix," right?

Takahisa: That's right. Before the program began, producer Kiyoshi Sugiyama told me that he wanted to use the media of models to promote the work. In the past, most anime had a pattern of deciding on the mecha that would appear in the show and then asking the manufacturers to commercialize them on ......, but with "Galpan," we could use the resources that were already available. We can use existing plastic model products of tanks and put up different examples, so ModelGraphics responded, "Let us give you our full support.

Takahisa: I knew that the people who created the anime were doing it because they "love it," rather than because of who the voice actors or character designers were (see ......), so I put my trust in them. Another thing is that I don't think there has ever been an animated work where model magazines have an advantage. We modelers know best how interesting tank models are. So, I thought, the first one to get in wins. Even if we were to fall behind, there was a sense of stagnation in the tank modeling genre at the time, so my goal was to open up a new avenue for it. I can say now that whether the anime became popular or not, I felt that I would not gain or lose anything by saying, "I didn't know there was such an anime," or "Now there is another way to enjoy model tanks. ......

--I was just thinking that it was the best motif to revitalize the tank modeling industry.

Takahisa: In "Galpan," Tank No. IV is the main character, and the supporting tanks are all familiar to modelers, such as the 38 (t) and the III ram. In addition, these standard tanks can be painted in strange colors, with interesting markings, and can be created with a fresh mindset. This is what made it such an interesting project for the magazine, and whether or not it would be interesting as an anime was initially a secondary concern. was secondary in the beginning. At the time, I didn't even anticipate that I would end up crying at the final episode (laughs). (Laughs) When Model Graphix magazine did its first feature on "Galpan," we had only seen the fourth and fifth episodes of the anime.

--The "Gal Pan" feature in Model Graphix sold so well that they had to reprint it.

Takahisa: It was unusual to use a copyrighted illustration for the cover, and we used all the tanks that had appeared up to that episode as examples, so I think we were able to drop it at a time when the topic was gaining popularity among modelers. However, I did not expect it to run out of stock within a week. We had to reprint the magazine twice, even though it was a monthly publication.

--At that time, there was not a single anime magazine with "Galpan" on the cover.

Takahisa: There had not yet been a single book featuring "Galpan" in print media. Among the anime programs of the time, the characters were not particularly naughty or showy. As an anime work, the tank battle scenes were a highlight, but they did not cover all the trendy moe points. In other words, "Galpan" is a modest anime.

Watanabe: We model makers are also charged with the mission of "hitting the right target with the right work so that it will be a hit. Regardless of such adult circumstances, I decided to release the five main characters of "Galpan" in figma form first. After watching the first episode, I had a gut feeling that "This is something new they're trying to do! I had a gut feeling.

--Watanabe: Is it easier to develop a movable figma than a figure with a fixed pose (statue)?

Watanabe: figma is a fixed size and is produced by a team dedicated to figma, so we are helped by the systematic nature of figma. It takes at least three months to produce a prototype of a statue, but with figma it takes about two months. First, we put out the five main characters of "Galpan" at intervals, and in the meantime, we started thinking, "What about the tanks they ride?" I was beginning to think about it. So, even before Takahisa joined our company, we had already made a prototype of Tank IV for figma.

Takahisa: It was displayed at an event in 2013, and I believe we wrote about it in Model Graphics. I was still an editor at the time.

Watanabe: It would have been fine if it had ended up as a display item at the event, but when I actually saw the large Tank IV in front of me, I knew I wanted to commercialize it. I took advantage of the fact that Takahisa had just joined the company and suggested, "Why don't you set a price and try to commercialize it? He agreed. However, the price should not be high. If we made the price too high, it would become a product for enthusiasts, so Takaku and I decided to make it as inexpensive as possible.