Hobby Industry Inside Vol. 9: What is truly fun modeling that I learned by holding figure classes?　Interview with Koji Onishi, figure prototype maker!

Mr. Koji Onishi is a professional prototype sculptor who uses his solid drawing skills to create figure prototypes of popular characters distributed nationwide, such as "Ichiban Kuji Lottery Evangelion - 20th Anniversary Ayanami Rei" and "Happy Kuji Lottery METAL GEAR SOLID V Snake Bust & Ocelot Bust".

It has been about a year since Mr. Onishi started a figure workshop for a small group of students at his small studio in Tokyo. We asked him about "teaching figure making" and "the joy of modeling.

Running away from home and joining a garage kit maker

───Please tell us how you got into the industry.

Onishi: When I was 18 years old, a modeling magazine published a garage kit of a robot for which a famous professional modeler was in charge of the prototype. The manufacturer that sold the robot placed a "staff wanted" ad in the magazine. I mistakenly thought that the professional modeler I admired was working for that company, and sent in my resume. At the time, I had failed the university entrance exam and had no intention of going to a preparatory school, so I said something appropriate like, "I have my parents' permission," and was accepted by the manufacturer as if I had run away from home.

After joining the company, I found out that the modeler I wanted to meet was not an employee of the company, but was just a subcontractor making prototypes. In the midst of this disappointment, I met a figure prototype maker at that company who specialized in male characters. The moment I saw his figure, I was shocked and thought, "This is the path I want to take! and I decided to follow the path of male character modeling.

─ Your parents did not understand your decision to join a manufacturer, did they?

Onishi I tried showing them model magazines and saying to my parents, "I want to join this maker," but they said, "Are you stupid? And that was the end. I gave up and left home without telling them that they didn't understand me. Until I had enough money to rent an apartment, I lived in the company building of the manufacturer.

I was hired as a general worker, not as a prototype maker, so my job was to sort, bag, and box the garage kit parts at the production plant. However, even though I was a general employee, the company culture encouraged "making things," and I was allowed to use the "fund" (stone clay) as I pleased. After work, I sculpted figures until late at night.

Eventually, a figure modeler of the same age joined the company. He was the same type of person as me, "I like anime and manga, but I'm not an otaku who likes to watch all of them. Until then, I had really been shrugging my shoulders. After working for the manufacturer for about two years, I became independent and later formed a company (Heavy Gage, Ltd.) with the people I had met.

─ ─ Heavy Gage is a mail-order company that sells garage kits under copyright, isn't it?

Onishi That's right, but I was a naive fool, so no matter what kind of big publisher, animation company, or game company I worked for, as long as the figures were good, they would say, "You're good. As long as the figures were good enough, any big publisher, animation company, or video game company would give me the copyrights and say, "You're good. So, I just kept improving my skills and sense of style, and kept knocking on their doors and saying, "Let's ask them! I went to the door again and again to ask them. Even though I had a lineup of figures lined up on my desk, they would not give me the copyright. I wondered if our technical skills were not good enough. I was wondering, "Is it because we are not good enough?" When I was worried, a publisher told me, "Let me tell you the real reason why we cannot grant you copyrights. He said, "You know what? You are individuals, not corporations. It is not possible for a corporation to enter into a copyright contract with an individual, according to common sense. I was surprised when I worked hard, literally without eating or drinking, to accumulate capital and form a company. Once we became a corporation, we were able to get the copyrights.

After that, I was able to make a living as a prototype artist.