Interview to commemorate the release of TAMASHII STORE limited product "METAL BUILD GUNDAM EXIA & EXIA REPAIR 2 -STORE LIMITED EDITION-" Planning Manager Atsuhiko Suzaki

-TAMASHII NATIONS STORE TOKYOThis is the staff "Komura".
This time I would like to hear more about this product. Thank you!
Suzaki: I'm Atsuhiko Suzaki, in charge of planning for the Collectors Division. Nice to meet you!

*The "METAL BUILD GUNDAM EXIA & EXIA REPAIR 2 -STORE LIMITED EDITION-" in the article is a product image of a product sample. It may differ from the actual product.

- First of all,METAL BUILDPlease tell us why Gundam Exia was chosen as TAMASHII STORE exclusive item for the " series.
Suzaki: We are thinking of TAMASHII STORE limited items as "METAL BUILD that everyone will get their hands on for the first time", and so far our lineup has included "Strike Gundam", "AILE STRIKER", and "EVANGELION 01 TEST TYPE".METAL BUILD"Mobile Suit Gundam" series00We have always wanted to sell item from the "Gundam Exia" series, and this time we have commercialized Gundam Exia.

-"The quality of CHOGOKIN and the design arrangement according to the work"METALBUILD" It's explained on the brand page, but what kind of design arrangement is in line with Gundam Exia?
Suzaki: "Mobile Suit Gundam00Series "METAL BUILDFrom the beginning, we have had mecha designer Kanetake Ebikawa involved, and we have been discussing a variety of topics, not just reconstructing the form and details, but also how to show the metal used in the product, what amount of information should be included in a product of this volume, and what kind of play value should be built into it. In terms of the distinctive feature of the exterior design arrangement, I feel that it can be said that it is "high resolution by Ebikawa himself."

-What do you think are the distinctive features of Ebikawa's design arrangements?
SuzakiThere are various techniques that can be described as design arrangements, such as changing the silhouette or adding details, but in any case, we think about how to make the customer immersed in the product when looking at it in relation to the size.
Especially in Ebikawa's design work, the detailsupNot only have the aspects been altered, but the surface composition and part configuration have also been changed, and while retaining the impression given by the overall silhouette, I feel that the impressiveness and presence of the three-dimensional object has increased. I believe this is the kind of output that could only come from Ebikawa, who has a deep understanding not only of design work but also of various mass products.
The amazing thing about Ebikawa's arrangements is,TVCompared to the Gundam Exia design drawings in the series, the shape is completely different, including the detailed parts composition, but it does not deviate at all from the original character.METAL BUILDIf you compare the two, I think you'll understand that even though each part is completely different, the core of the character remains unchanged.

-This time, the product was based on the colors in Kanetake Ebikawa's design drawings. What kind of texture were you aiming for specifically?
Suzaki: "Mobile Suit Gundam00While the units in the "Exia series" tend to have designs with relatively exposed metal parts, in recent item, at the suggestion of Hirose from Decomas Lab, who is in charge of the paintwork, we have begun to take an approach that does not limit the color of the die-cast to the typical gunmetal color, and have also adopted slightly bluish metallic colors. This time, Exia has been given a texture that matches this trend.
When it was first released in 2013, the idea was to give the armor a matte finish, but now (※2025​4(Mon) is a past "Mobile Suit Gundam00While it was of course important to ensure that it looked natural when lined up alongside the other figures in the "Series," the paintwork has also been slightly increased in shine to make the surface structure of the armor stand out.

Suzaki:2013​3Gundam Exia (released in May)METAL BUILDGundam Exia & Exia repairIII") was already a completed product, so we decided to leave the shape as it was and offer it to customers as an entry.1I wanted customers to have a fresh impression when they bought it.
The simple blue color that appears in the anime is of course lovely, but the impression I get is that the blue in Ebikawa's drawings, which have a slight reddish tinge and a sense of emotion, are reflected in the image source when color coordinator Hiroyuki Hirose of Decomas Lab translates it into a three-dimensional object.

―The red and yellow parts of the armor seem to change color depending on the angle, so I'd like to hear about the attention paid to the color scheme.
Suzaki: Hirose from Decomas Lab gave us color suggestions, and the whole team checked them and we moved forward.
Hirose-san really cares about the emotions that customers feel when they actually pick up the product.METAL BUILD" Metallic/It may be misunderstood that there is a lot of pearl paint, but in fact the metallic paint is used in key areas to contrast with the non-metallic plastic parts./The pearl coating stands out, and the design is balanced when viewed as a whole. In this case, the red parts are sprayed with pearl, so you can enjoy the difference in color when you pick it up and move it around. It seems that Hirose's attention to detail is evident in these details.

-The white color that takes up the majority of the main body seems to be made up of multiple colors.
Suzaki: Mr. Ebikawa's design first comes as a three-dimensional object, and then the color scheme is based on how it should be presented to the customer. As such, the colors are not extremely different. Rather, to increase the density of information when looking at the surface of the main unit, the texture is enhanced by subtle differences in tone rather than a clear two-tone.

-I would appreciate it if you could tell me a little more about your work as a color coordinator.
Suzaki: It's not just "We'll paint this character's color scheme with this color," but as the name color coordinator suggests, "We have a concept and color scheme, and what direction should we take?" Hirose-san gives us suggestions from the planning stage. Of course, the actual work of painting is very important, finishing with beautiful colors, but the work before that is also very important. After the color arrangement is set, we have to consider the hue, texture such as shine, whether to incorporate metallic or pearl, and how to combine countless options, and it's a process where we don't just look at the beauty of a single color, but balance it all out as a whole, so in that sense, Hirose-san is taking on very special and difficult work, and I'm grateful that he always paints so beautifully.

- I would like to know what points you took into consideration and the attention to detail you put into the product images.
Suzaki"We've adopted "Exia-like" poses when shooting Gundam Exia up until now, and this time we had an idea in mind: we were conscious of Ebikawa's drawings from when the show was broadcast, and we chose poses in consultation with Ebikawa himself.
This time, from Exia,METAL BUILD" I wanted to attract the interest of people who buy the "PKGI created this image.

Suzaki:The package design was also adopted after discussion with Ebikawa-san.
The packaging for TAMASHII STORE limited edition items was based on a black background with a slight shadow on the product image, so it reminded me of the anime Mobile Suit Gundam00』1The conversation turned to the idea that it would match the image of Gundam Exia descending from satellite orbit.
Although it is merely a packaging material, we paid particular attention to the packaging and made it look really cool.

--Finally, we'd like you to actually pick up Gundam Exia and ask the project staff if they have any recommended poses for you!
Suzaki:got it!

-This is the same pose that was shown in the product image!
SuzakiWhen the product images were first revealed, many people were talking about it, so we tried to make the pose based on Ebikawa's drawing from when the show was aired.
As I mentioned in the interview, this product hasMETAL BUILDI hope that many people will be experiencing this series for the first time, so I hope you will all purchase the book!
-thank you very much!

■METAL BUILDGUNDAM EXIA-STORE LIMITED EDITION-

Tamashii Store Exclusive
Sales price: 27,500 yen (including 10% tax) 20Released on Friday, April 18, 2013

Don't miss out on these limited item that are only available at TAMASHII NATIONS Official Shop!

And! At TAMASHII STORE2025​9Mon.8days(Mon.)to"GUNDAM FIGURE EXHIBITION" is now being held!

​METAL BUILDGUNDAM EXIA-STORE LIMITED EDITION-" exhibition,
The products that have been developed so far areMETALBUILD"Gundam Exia" all lined up! Please come and see for yourself.

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