Transforms and combines without replacement! The ultimate DANCOUGA for the 21st century is born! Interview in commemoration of the release of "Robo-do Dancuga (Kelvin Sau Arranged Version)"! The robot-loving voice actor Yasuyuki Tai explores the appeal of the robot!

DANCOUGA" will be released in June 2022 by "threezero," a collectible toy manufacturer from Hong Kong!

This product is currently available for pre-order as a new product in the "Robo-do" series being developed by Hong Kong-based figure maker "threezero", which sculpts Japanese anime robots. The latest in the series, "RoboDo Dancuga (Kelvin Sau Arranged Version)" is the first in the series to feature a transforming and combining mechanism, making it a gem of a figure.

Moreover, it is a faithful reproduction of the mechanically arranged design by threezero Creative Director Kelvin Sau, and is finished in superb high detail.

As soon as it was announced, "RoboDo Dancuga" caused a stir among figure fans and "Dancuga" fans in Japan and abroad, but there was one person in the Japanese voice acting world who was also very interested in this product.

His name is Yuuki Tai. He is the biggest robot anime fanatic in the world of voice actors, and is also active as a modeler and writer. He also played Johnny Burnett, one of the main characters in "Jyuusou Kikigou Dancouga Nova," the sequel to the anime "Choujyu Kijin Dancouga," and he is more attached to the anime "Dancouga" than anyone else. Kentaro Kakuge, marketing manager of threezero, talked about the appeal of this product.

Yasushi: This time, after all, it is Dancuga, so I was looking forward to today because I had to go into ...... to see it. I'm seeing the prototype for the first time now, but is the actual product going to be like this?

Kakunike: The appearance is almost the same as the finished product. We have added weathering and a metallic look. It's what we call the old-fashioned bald choro paint job.

Tai: What are the materials used?

Kakuke: We mainly use die-cast zinc alloy for the movable parts, so that the actual product has a good weight and you can feel the robustness of the zinc alloy.

One of the selling points of the "RoboDo" series is the use of die-cast parts, so if you touch the "Patlabor" and "Evangelion" models that have already been shipped, or the recently shipped "Shin Getter 1," I think you can feel the weight of the die-cast parts.

Tai And the boldly arranged design is still amazing. Just when we thought that we had seen enough of Dancuga's arranged designs in three-dimensional form, Bashin! I was surprised to see this design. I think you are working to see what would happen if you output the arrangement as a toy to be released in 2021, rather than as a three-dimensional version of the anime of that time.

Kakuniya: Yes, that's right. This time, our creative director, Kelvin Sau, did the design, and he put in quite a lot of crunchy details. From Kelvin's point of view, he was conscious of the three-dimensionality of the muscles. It seems that he was conscious of the muscular ridges that emerge when shadows fall, and he put in a lot of detail.

Yasushi: It certainly looks more human and heroic than robot-like. Each form transforms into each other without replacement, and even combines. Did you find it difficult to balance the product with the added arrangement?

Kadoke: We started with the design of the illustration, which gave us a rough idea of what we wanted, but since it is a three-dimensional object, I heard that it took a lot of time and effort for the development team to make it all fit together in 3D.

Eagle Fighter

Tai: The design you see in the illustration is not the same as the actual 3D output. The deformation gimmick seems to be the most difficult one. ...... all seem to be very difficult (laughs). Now I would like to ask about the areas of concern and difficulties from above. I have the impression that the Eagle Fighter looks quite difficult from the chogokin at the time, but even though it is now possible to design it on a computer, it must have been very difficult this time as well.

Kakuke: Yes, it was. It is the smallest model and transforms into two forms, a humanoid (human) form and a normal (flying) form. If you include the head form, it has three forms. This can be said for Dancuga in general, but the transformation gimmick was already perfected when Bandai released the Chogokin at that time, so there are parts that follow in the footsteps of their great predecessors.

Tai: The beak and other parts are very bird-like in design. The deformation is amazing, but the modeling is also amazing. I had to bring a magnifying glass to see the details (laughs). Of course, you hand-painted each one, right?

Kakuniya: Yes. That is one of the selling points of our company. We do our best.

Big Moss

Tai: And Big Moss, we added a detailed deformation gimmick to the sidearm armor on the waist. In the original setting, the legs and waist armor are integrated into one piece.

Kakuniya: Yes. We made these parts move in detail so that they do not interfere with the movable parts.

Tai: The entire waist block moves! And the knee armor also moves, and the reverse joint can be removed! I didn't expect this part to be movable because it is so integrated.

Kakuke One of the features of Big Moth is its nose, but in its humanoid and dancuga forms, it is a dummy or molded nose, and in its aggressive (animal) form, the nose fits inside the body.

Tai: This is another arrangement. Originally, it would be a straight line.

Kakuke: If it were a straight line, it would not be able to twist at the waist, so we went all out and made it a separate part.

Tai The fangs are also quite sharp.

Kakunoya Since this is a toy for adults, the sharp parts have been made as sharp as possible.

Tai The sculpting of the decapitated cannon on the back is also amazing. In the past, it would have looked like a cannon going off! but this time, the detail is very fine! The metallic feel is amazing. But not all of them are die-cast, are they?

Kakunie: That's right. Die-cast is only used for the joints of the main body. The air cannon has a telescopic arm that can be extended and retracted in two stages. The small cannon is an homage to Bandai's chogokin.

Tai The small muzzle also has a hole in it. The launchers on the sides also move.

Kakuke: You can point all of them forward in a declination cannon formation.

Tai: In addition, what are the other changes between Big Moth's humanoid form and Dancuga?

Kakuke The tips of the legs fold down and the mammoth's feet go inside.

Tai So you are following the traditional Dancuga as a basic transformation pattern.

Land Cougar & Land Liger

Tai I think the most distinctive feature of the new model is the height of the normal (tank) form of the leg assembly. In previous sculptures, the tank form has been rather flat, but this time it seems to be the thickest and heaviest so far. As a result, I think the height of the DANCOUGA form has increased dramatically.

Kakuniya The humanoid form has long limbs, so it is affected to fit them.

Yasushi I see. I see that the mane also moves! I wondered if it was a fixed part for this size. ...... By the way, the face in aggressive beast mode is very powerful. It's a robot, but it looks like an animal.

Kakunike Thank you very much. The face has a three-dimensional feel, with pronounced concavoconvexities and convexities. The limbs of the leg assembly are ball-jointed, so they can be freely posed. The tips of the legs are doweled and can be locked with the claws so that they can be held in place when the humanoid transforms into a tank form.

Tai: I see. And when in the humanoid form, the dowels are hidden under the armor. That's very thoughtful. As you would expect from a product of this price, we made no compromises.

Kakuke: DANCOUGA is the first of our transformable combined robot products. In that sense, we are also very enthusiastic about it. Robo-do" is basically a series based on Japanese anime robots, and I thought that DANCOUGA was the only way to make it the first transformable robot product.

Tai: That certainly gets me fired up! I'm convinced that this finish is just as good.

D-A-N-C-O-U-G-A!

Yasu: Now it's time to combine them with Dancuga! I see that it has a neck cover this time.

Kakuke: As was the case with the first generation Chogokin, the head retracts and the Big Moth's spines unfold. And the hard points for the Eagle Fighter connection are exposed. The neck cover that can hide the tips of the Eagle Fighter's arms and legs comes out. And the standing thorax can also be hidden. So you can reproduce the feeling that the head is contained.

Tai: The modeling of the head is also different. We have kept the main points, but rearranged them.

Kakuniya: The details are there because we were able to create the figure without assuming that it would be moved in an animated series.

Yasushi: The head is surprisingly large and balanced.

Kakunike The head was also rather large in the original anime drawing, so I thought it would be comfortable to have a balance that is not too small.

Yasushi Recently, it seems that model robots with small heads and long legs are in vogue, but we feel comfortable with this sturdy silhouette.

Kakuniya: That's right (laughs). We especially want Dancuga to have this style.

No corners have been cut on the weapons either!

Tai: Now let's take a look at the weapons. First of all, let's look at the die gun.

Kakunoya The tip of the die gun has an adapter, so the Eagle, Liger, and Cougar weapons can be attached and detached.

Tai Small!

Kakunke: Weapons can be carried on each aircraft. Only the Eagle fighter is too small, so the weapons are inserted without replacing the wrists. The other three can be replaced with hands for holding weapons.

Tai Not only the weapons, but this product in general has an amazing paint job. This metal expression is something I would like to imitate in my own plastic models.

Kakuniya: We also did the dry brush treatment. The factory workers are doing their best.

Tai: There's also a gimmick for replacing the cartridges. Ah! The barrel just moved back and forth.

Kakuke: It's like the barrel is being pulled out. It is precisely because of this size that we were able to include the gimmick.

Yasushi: Wow, it has a great sense of massiveness. And the Fumetsu Sword from the OVA. It is sharp like a paper knife.

Kakunike It is sharp because it is for adults. It certainly looks like it could be used as a paper knife, as you said (laughs).

In the OVA, he was fighting almost by himself with this sword. So it must be dirty to some extent.

Kakuke: Yes, that's right. So I would say that weathering that is not too dirty is the key point of the Fusekuken.

Tai: And finally, there is the flying booster Garuda. I see that the booster can be reproduced in its stand-alone form. The Garuda had an impressive appearance, but it was not a toy at the time. Where the main wings could have been a simple trailing edge, complex lines are used, and I like the threading on this one! And I like the stability of the Dancuga, which can stand on its own even with this on its back.

Kakuke: That's because of the die-cast joints. The clicks are built into the joints, so the angle can be fixed firmly.

Tai: Wow, it's amazing. It doesn't run away! You have faced all the challenges and completed it well.

Kakuniya: The development staff did their best to read Kelvin's illustration and summoned him into this world. They worked hard on the design.

Tai: Still, it is surprising that this is coming from a Hong Kong manufacturer. Dancuga is popular overseas as well, isn't it?

Kakuke: It is very popular in the Asian region. I heard that Bandai's first Chogokin was popular overseas as well. They were toys that could transform and combine, and had very high play value. They were very popular as toys. I guess that's why it was such a fun item to play with. I haven't seen the cartoon, but I think it is famous as a toy.

Tai "Dunkhugger" (pronounced like "modeler," "screwdriver," or "Amrah") is an item that cannot be missed as a toy. ), I would like to display it in a case securely, as it is an item that cannot be removed as a "DANCOUGAR" (laugh). And speaking of Dancuga, many people may say, "What about the Black Wing? but as for me, I am also interested in Dancuga Nova. ......

Kakuniya: Ha-ha-ha (laughs).

Tai I was wondering if we could put the old and new Dancouga together: .......

Kakunoya I will take that back home and consider it (laughs).

Tai Thank you very much! (Laughs)

Product information

RoboDo Dancuga (Kelvin Sau Arranged Version)

Manufacturer: threezero

Price: 38,500 yen (tax included)

Release Date: 2022/06

Specifications: Painted non-scale ABS&PVC/POM/zinc alloy/other metal posable figure - approximately 335mm in height (including cannon in back)

Movable figure body: Eagle Fighter, Land Cougar, Land Liger, Big Moth

Accessories: Flying Booster, Beam Gun for Eagle Fighter, Blaster Gun for Land Cougar, Blaster Gun for Land Liger, Beam Launcher for Big Moth, Adapter Parts for combining 4 guns to recreate a giant weapon "Die Gun", Interchangeable wrist parts for Dancouga / Big Moth. 6 pairs of interchangeable wrist parts for Moss (1 pair of fists, 1 pair of hands in a relaxed state, 1 pair of posed hands, 1 pair of hands for holding the sky sword, 1 pair of hands for holding the beam launcher, 1 pair of hands for holding the die gun), 3 interchangeable wrist parts for Land Cougar (1 pair of fists, right hand for holding the blaster gun), for Land Liger 3 interchangeable wrist parts (1 pair of fists, right hand for holding blaster gun) for Land Liger

Sculptor: threezero

Released by: threezero

Distributor: Good Smile Company

＜Appearance information of Yuhki Tai

Netflix foreign drama "Locke&Key" Season 1 and 2 (as Tyler)

Anime "World Trigger" (playing the role of Atsushi Hokari)

Tachibana Neko Kogyo "Hundred Edge" PV narration

YouTube "Gundam Base Live ch Kuchi Meijin no Suipura" every Wednesday at 18:00 (assistant)

©DANCOUGA Partner