Recap of the Kotobukiya Panel at Anime Expo 2022 – Panel Attendees Voted for the Next Transformers Bishoujo?!

TrashBotJones

If they don’t do musclegirl Ironhide then what is the point of this line

I could see that, like Ganguru (?) Tanned one-arming a crazy barbell or something. Could have a red bob cut reminiscent of the helmet

T-Hybrid

There's enough people doing cheesecake versions of those characters that someone inevitably had to corner the market on the male ones.

Fair. Now I’m really curious how they’d do Shockwave… would it be a “step on me” vibe with an eyepatch?

TM2 Dinobot

I mean look, guys. I think it is not a controversial statement to say that per capita, no franchise has been lewded more than My Little Pony. Some have been around longer, some might have more fans. But the sheer volume and power of the MLP fandom to want to "F*** you and the horse you rode in on" is staggering.

Yet Kotobukiya, who is incredibly capable of doing lewd, ecchi, castoffable figures, gave us these.

That Celestia is freakin gorgeous!!! Not a single one of those ladies, human or equine, is lewd in any way. Neither Optimus Prime nor Megatron are lewd. Marvel is not lewd. DC is not lewd. Video Games are not really lewd. You really have to get down to the Horror series before you start going "Okay, do I really want this on my shelf?"

Bishoujo does not mean "I want to stick my you know what you know where." Bishoujo is Japanese for "Pretty Lady". It isn't Ecchi, it isn't Hentai. It's beautiful women. Some of them push the line a bit, but there IS a line. And Kotobukiya is very very good about staying on this side of it. They've been doing this for literal decades. I trust them. They handle properties and licenses with respect. Especially Western ones. See Marvel and DC. See Star Wars. See the aforementioned MLP. Heck, look at Optimus and Megatron. If you need a bonk bat after looking at them, the issue lies with you and not the designs.

I am a person who has been known to buy the lewd figure from time to time. I own one or two castoffables. I like boobies. I have Nicee and the FT Rouge addon on display. Most of my Windblade figures have ended up in suggestive poses once or twice. This isn't that. Y'all don't have to worry about that happening here. I swear, this fandom has no chill.

That said, yeah, we need the full workup on Starscream. Shortstack, twintails, choco, fang, pouty face, lolita dress. The whole 9 yards.

Anyways, that's just me ¢.02 worth.

Agreed with all the above here… also…. The after-market prices on the MLP ones are…. Bonkers….. I’m surprised they haven’t announced a 2nd (3rd?) run yet. What surprised me the most about the MLP run (I got to live vicariously through my roommate) is just how much energy some of them have.

I will say the Street Fighter and Darkstalkers ones get a bit…. Uncomfortable to want to have on a shelf. I keep debating about Morrigan, but that’s also kind of “her thing” missed opportunity for her and Lilith’s base to connect.

The Dinobots would be interesting. What would be hilarious, would be a t-rex onesie lol.

Spikeytigertron

TBH… I'm surprised they didn't go with the easier Windblade and Slipstream…

There's enough people doing cheesecake versions of those characters that someone inevitably had to corner the market on the male ones.

Starscream, NOT Soundwave? I demand a recount.    

I have no interest in this line, so far. For me, an anime fan, it's a matter of… Why?

TFs are not pretty or sexy in that bishoujo way! Yes, u can layer that on like syrup on ur hot dog… but it doesn't really compliment, imo.

I mean look, guys. I think it is not a controversial statement to say that per capita, no franchise has been lewded more than My Little Pony. Some have been around longer, some might have more fans. But the sheer volume and power of the MLP fandom to want to "F*** you and the horse you rode in on" is staggering.

Yet Kotobukiya, who is incredibly capable of doing lewd, ecchi, castoffable figures, gave us these.

That Celestia is freakin gorgeous!!! Not a single one of those ladies, human or equine, is lewd in any way. Neither Optimus Prime nor Megatron are lewd. Marvel is not lewd. DC is not lewd. Video Games are not really lewd. You really have to get down to the Horror series before you start going "Okay, do I really want this on my shelf?"

Bishoujo does not mean "I want to stick my you know what you know where." Bishoujo is Japanese for "Pretty Lady". It isn't Ecchi, it isn't Hentai. It's beautiful women. Some of them push the line a bit, but there IS a line. And Kotobukiya is very very good about staying on this side of it. They've been doing this for literal decades. I trust them. They handle properties and licenses with respect. Especially Western ones. See Marvel and DC. See Star Wars. See the aforementioned MLP. Heck, look at Optimus and Megatron. If you need a bonk bat after looking at them, the issue lies with you and not the designs.

I am a person who has been known to buy the lewd figure from time to time. I own one or two castoffables. I like boobies. I have Nicee and the FT Rouge addon on display. Most of my Windblade figures have ended up in suggestive poses once or twice. This isn't that. Y'all don't have to worry about that happening here. I swear, this fandom has no chill.

That said, yeah, we need the full workup on Starscream. Shortstack, twintails, choco, fang, pouty face, lolita dress. The whole 9 yards.

Anyways, that's just me ¢.02 worth.

Purple Heart

I’m an Azur Lane player. It’s all I know. Besides some naval history.

I prefer Kancolle

View attachment 29558249

Exastiken

Kotobukiya was at Anime Expo and did a panel on July 3rd.

Footage from the panel is available from the post in r/Kotobukiya:

https://www.reddit.com/r/kotobukiya/comments/vs3h8w/partial_footage_from_the_kotobukiya_panel_at/

They held a fan vote for the next Transformers Bishoujo statue, and Starscream won.

View attachment 29556910

TT and TC are a given but how would the coneheads look like? I hope not like Dan Ackroyd's "Consume Mass Quantities?"

TBH… I'm surprised they didn't go with the easier Windblade and Slipstream…

While my vote would have been for Soundwave first… I'd also be afraid (s)he'd come out rather… bookish… kind of like the Twilight Sparkle from MLP… which… nah…
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Starscream might get me to bite on this… Prime was close… but not quite there. I think 'less is more' (not clothing!) with the accent pieces would have worked better. maybe no forehead crest on the glasses for example. I kind of home they channel some Prime Starscream sass though. Although they likely wouldn't do remolds (just recolors) they could have some real fun with the Seeker Trio…. with Skywarp looking super smug or mid-warp… and Thundercracker being a troll like he always is.

The narrator in the video sounded more like Tessho Genda than Morikawa. Also, the latter only voiced OP in the Japanese dub of Prime and Transformers: Go.

Bishoujo Optimus wll have the facemask?
Good.