[Interview Articles] Interview with Tomohide Enoki, Sculptor of "Figuarts ZERO [STARTune] MONKEY.D.LUFFY- Setting Sail for the New World -"

*The images displayed are of prototypes under development. They may differ from the actual finished product.

-- Mr. Enoki, who has been in charge of creating prototypes for numerous items to date, could you tell us how you came to be in charge of one of the first item in the "STARTune" series?

Enoki: We didn't know each other beforehand; it was a sudden, unexpected approach.

Planning staff: That's right. I was following Enoki-san on X and had been thinking about asking him for something someday, but then I saw his contact information was just there in his profile (laughs). I thought, "This is it!"

Enoki: It's a direct message, huh? (laughs)

Planning staff: Seriously! It's like direct mail using the company email address (laughs).
This is a story about myself, but when I was in elementary school, I loved buying vignette figures that came as candy toys. By chance, there was an event at a department store near my house that was exhibiting the original prototypes and so on. As I reminisced about that time, I wondered who had made them, and while researching in magazines and books, I came across Mr. Enoki's name.

Enoki: That's where they found it for me.

Planning staffYes! And now that I'm in this position myself, I really wanted to ask for your help, so I contacted you.

—Could you tell us about any particular aspects you focused on when creating the prototype?

Enoki: It's not just a snapshot of a single scene; the design is such that it stands on its own as a single object.
Instead of simply placing it within a square like a diorama and cutting off parts that are out of frame, I designed the whole thing with an awareness of the direction and flow of the effects.
But the main attraction is the Luffy figure, right?

Planning staff:I agree.

EnokiWhether it's a diorama or a vignette, as you build it, the whole thing just keeps expanding. But the figures are the main focus, and they shouldn't be the focus. There are things that should be more visible, for example...

Planning staff: I agree, it would be better if the lettering for the Sunny and the area around the mast were visible...

EnokiWe cleverly incorporate those elements, control the overall design, and create a cohesive space.
Since Luffy is the main character, the area where Luffy is standing and the mast and flag behind him are on different levels, or rather, it's like a close-up shot, a wide shot, and then they're combined. It's like a movie poster, a kind of collage. Instead of making everything one-to-one, there are big and small elements, and they're balanced with the main character.

Planning staff: And you connected it so well with the water effect. This water effect is also a design that is typical of Enoki-san's style, isn't it?

EnokiI've previously created sculptures that use droplets or bubbles connected together to give a sense of floating, so this time I'm using the same technique.

--I've heard that a lot of attention to detail went into the main character, Luffy.

Enoki: That's a profile view.

Planning staffBecause they put so much care into making it, the copyright holder's supervision, including the facial sculpting, was completed in almost just one round.

Enoki:This time, Luffy's mouth is more open than usual, so I thought that might be a distinctive feature. Also, recently, since eyes are printed using tampo printing, it seems that the correct approach is to fill in the details like the recess of the eyes instead of creating them, and there's a trend towards not needing to create a profile view either.

Planning staff: Even with the figures you've worked on as a prototype for other projects, you've always meticulously sculpted even the eyelashes in three dimensions, haven't you?

Enoki: My selling point is my profile, you see (laughs).

Planning staff: The figure was designed to look exactly like Luffy from any angle.

Enoki: And a straw hat. I've never made a straw hat in the 27 years I've been doing this job (laughs).

Planning staff: When you're making figures, you certainly come across things you've never made before (laughs).

Enoki: The straw hats in real photographs are completely different from the depictions in the artwork. So I researched how straw hats are made and understood their structure, noting things like, "This part is all spirals," or "This part shouldn't be a spiral," or "Real hats are woven like this, so this part isn't a line."

Planning staffThank you for researching it so thoroughly!

EnokiTo give this straw-like crispness, we intentionally left some crispness instead of making it smooth. We made each line angular, rather than using a tube-like approach. We left some raised areas in the grooves, so I wonder if we managed to capture the straw-like feel?

Planning staff:thank you!

EnokiAlso, I've added a bit of perspective to Luffy's figure as well.

Planning staff: At first glance, you can't tell, but now that you mention it...

Enoki: But this feels good.

Planning staffIndeed, the perspective is just so pleasing. Because of the intricate techniques used in its design, the photographer and I had a hard time deciding which angle to shoot the product images from, as it looked great no matter what angle we took the photos from.

EnokiI think you'll enjoy it no matter what angle you view it from, but considering its meaning as a vignette, I'd like you to look at it from a slightly lower angle, imagining the scene of it sinking.

Planning staffThank you for creating something that can be enjoyed from various angles. I think everyone has feelings about the character's characteristics and overall image, even if they can't put them into words, and I believe you've created something that resonates with everyone's feelings this time.
The intention behind the request was that, since we had the opportunity to ask Mr. Enoki to do it, we wanted to not only produce a high-quality figure, but also create a stunning vignette-like effect.

EnokiCharacter figures are expected to be well-made, right? So I want to go one step further than that.

--Finally, could you give a message not only to figure enthusiasts, but also to fans who don't usually buy figures but are interested because they like "ONE PIECE"?

EnokiThis is the standard for figures, so for those of you who are getting your first figure, please remember this as the benchmark from now on, and we will continue to release even better ones, so please look forward to them!

──Thank you very much.

"Figuarts ZERO [STARTune] MONKEY.D.LUFFY- Setting Sail for the New World -" Scheduled for release in December 2026.

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• View the 'Figuarts ZERO' series page.

*The images displayed are of prototypes under development. They may differ from the actual finished product.