Interview with Mr. Harada, in charge of making "S.H.Figuarts OVERLAYDEKU" prototype movable

PREMIUM BANDAI S.H.Figuarts OVERLAYDEKU" is now available for pre-order at Mr. Harada of Pinpoint, who has sculpted many "Hiroaka" figures in the past, was in charge of making the prototype movable. Mr. Harada, who knows action figures inside and out, talked a lot about the points he focuses on.

*The images in this article are of prototypes in the sculpting process and prototypes under development. They may differ from the actual product.
*Updated 2/27/2026: When this article was published, some of the descriptions and comments for past item were missing, so the content has been updated and updated.

--You have worked on many of the S.H.Figuarts Heroaca series up until now, but when you took charge of the movable mechanisms for the S.H.Figuarts OVERLAYDEKU series, were there any particular points that evolved from the previous series?

Harada:As for "S.H.Figuarts OVERLAYDEKU," it was almost the first time for us to make a prototype from another company movable, so we started by thinking about how to make it movable.
When we create a prototype from scratch, it's common to incorporate movement to a certain extent from the beginning and refine the form and movement in parallel, but this time we first struggled with how to add to the finished form.
As I spent a lot of time creating this figure, I had to think carefully about how to add joints without taking away from the appeal of the prototype that WATANABE×REN had worked so hard to create, and I started by reviewing my method.

Harada:Especially around the shoulders, when it comes to movement on a naked body, there are some fairly orthodox parts configurations, but if you follow those configurations, the shape of the original ends up changing quite a bit. I didn't want the line from the pectoral muscles to the shoulders to be lost due to movement, so I changed the structure of the shoulder joint quite a bit from previous versions. I decided on the axis position of the joint and the configuration of the parts, thinking about how to keep the outline as much as possible, while still allowing the same or even more movement than before.

Harada:I think that area will be the first point of evolution for "S.H.Figuarts OVERLAYDEKU".

Planning staff:Thank you very much. You have very carefully placed the joints along the lines of each muscle, so the body lines are so beautiful that they don't look like they're movable, but I think you've created the best movable figure possible! Even though we had some difficult requests, you packed in plenty of mechanisms that are so fun to play with, and I'm really grateful...

Harada:I think the key point this time was to have it move in a cool way while still maintaining its cool design.

Planning staff:Thank you. I actually played it and it moves really well.

Harada:Another point of evolution is the black whip. We spent a lot of time on the construction of the black whip, and although the joints themselves are a fairly conventional structure, we tried to make sure that when you move the joints, the "joints!" would not be visible in the outline.
When you first got the first report of "S.H.Figuarts OVERLAYDEKU", you were silhouetted with a shot of DecoMas, weren't you?
When I saw it, the black whip didn't look strangely interrupted, so I thought it was a success (laughs).

Planning staff:Thanks to the careful attention to detail you paid to these aspects during the photo shoot, there was no strange noise from the movable axis, and the photos turned out really cool, which I was very grateful for. Normally, you'd think that adding an inorganic ball joint to that rough, edgy design would make it look out of place, but you've taken the time to make the divisions and ball axis blend in so perfectly that they don't stand out when moved, both in normal and quiet action, and both quiet movements and dynamic action look cool, so I think this is a figure you can play with endlessly.

Harada:Yes, I was conscious of making it blend in well, so that even when it's bent neatly it still looks like it's connected smoothly.

Planning staff:At first glance, you wouldn't know it at all (laughs).

Harada:The aim was to make it so that at a glance you wouldn't realize there was a joint there.

Planning staff:Thank you. Harada's sculpts are always packed to the brim so that the movement is not noticeable at all.

Harada:It's something I try to be as conscious of as possible.

--Please tell us if there were any points you paid particular attention to when it came to the movable structure.

Harada:Is it a crouching pose, like crouching? This pose was the first order of Mr. Akiba. I told him that this would be the hardest part. To achieve this pose, we followed the first Deku (S.H.Figuarts IZUKU MIDORIYA) for the main part of the movable lower body, but that was not enough to reproduce this pose. So, I decided to add one more movable part to the shin.
This is quite effective, and it gives the illusion of a deep knee bend. Normally, it's strange for this part of the human body to move, but you still want this image, right?

Planning staff:Yes. This pose is normally achieved with the elasticity of flesh, and I know it would be difficult to achieve with a plastic action figure, but I really wanted this image for OVERLAYDEKU action figure.

Harada:It's the same with other characters. When you want to take a certain pose, you want just one more step, just one more movement, and these joints are just that little bit more.
They are not simply added to add depth to the action, but as a special touch to recreate unique scenes for each character.
I think it's also included in other characters. For example, "S.H.Figuarts KATSUKI BAKUGO" could be a shoulder.

Planning staff:That's right. It was difficult to make it move in a way that looked like it did in the movie, but Harada-san kindly provided some special movement.

Harada:Even if the shoulder position is a little off, when you want to create a more impressive drawing, you still want it. If you want a little more movement, you can achieve that by adding a joint to the shoulder.

Planning staff:Unlike live-action works, anime has a strong perspective in the drawings, so there are many very cool and impressive poses that are impossible to achieve in reality, so I often consult with him about such poses, and Harada-san always makes my crazy dreams come true... (laughs).
Also, even when it is not possible to maintain the body lines and the moving mechanism seems inhuman, they always adjust the divisions to achieve an exquisite balance so that there is no sense of discomfort when playing with the figure, and I am truly grateful for this.

Harada:I think that when customers see the original work or the anime, there are a lot of scenes that they want to recreate. In those cases, I think that when you're just one step away from achieving your goal, it can become stressful to play, so I always try to be careful not to let that happen.

Planning staff:Thank you very much. The first Deku (S.H.Figuarts IZUKU MIDORIYA) had a very nice range of motion, but in order to get the special pose of OVERLAYDEKU, I had to go one step further and make a special motion mechanism for OVERLAYDEKU. I think it was very difficult, but thank you very much...!

Harada:No, no, I think that kind of work is also an interesting part of the mobilization process.

Planning staff:Thank you!

Harada:I've been given the opportunity to create a lot of movement in the past, so it's like a cumulative effort.
Originally, we had been doing something similar for another series of projects.
In "S.H.Figuarts KATSUKI BAKUGO", the forearm trowel is movable, and you have a ball joint in addition to the slide. This moves just a little and bends deeply, avoiding interference with the upper arm.

Planning staff:That's right. Even with Bakugo, he really made my impossible requests come true so many times (laughs).

Harada:This combination of sliding and ball joints was the deciding factor in the movement of Bakugo's arms, and the structure of that ball joint movement is reflected in the structure of OVERLAYDEKU 's shins.

Harada:The things I've created up until now have been piling up like this.

Planning staff:Yes, they are coming up with all sorts of new movements every day.

Harada:It feels like it's constantly being incorporated and evolving. It's exactly like One for All (laughs).

Planning staff:It really is One for All (laughs).
My Hero Academia in particular has a lot of unique poses for the various characters, so we always have to come up with new movements from scratch for each one, which I feel puts a lot of strain on them.

Harada:In My Hero Academia, the costumes of each character don't have much in common, so it's difficult to reuse joints.

Planning staff:I feel like it's not as simple as just using the joints from other characters.

Harada:That's right. There are certain points that you don't want to cut out for each costume.
In the case of OVERLAYDEKU and regular Deku, the calf design is quite distinctive, and I wanted to avoid losing it by cutting it down for the sake of movement.
If you just want to bend the legs deeply, you can always just shave off the interfering parts. That's something you can do with a lot of movable figures. But I had already shaved off some of the thighs, so I didn't want to give up on that. So I decided to solve the problem by adding another movable part to the shins.

Planning staff:Thank you very much. I'm grateful that Harada-san, who loves action figures, truly understands the feelings of our users.

Harada:When I was making the first Deku, I played around with a lot of different figures, and I just incorporated the ones that were easy to play with and that I liked.
I asked an outside sculptor, Maoji, to sculpt Deku and Todoroki, and I didn't do much of it myself; I mainly just provided direction. The joint structure was optimized to suit Deku, and that's how it ended up in its current form.

Planning staff:Thank you. It feels like One For All is connecting and Deku is evolving even further.

--S.H.Figuarts Please let us know if there are any particular points in the Heroaka series that you focused on in terms of the movable structure of the arms, shoulder area, and legs.

Harada:For the first Deku, one thing I was particular about was the mobility of the forearms. The sleeves rotate thanks to ball joints. This was something I asked Maoji to add, but if the direction in which the sleeves and elbow joints move is always fixed, it can make the figure look stiff when posed. I wanted to be able to express the twist of the forearms linked to the fists with the movement of the sleeves. It makes it more aggressive, or rather, it allows for more dynamic poses, so this was something I was particular about adding.

Planning staff:Whether or not that part moves really defines how human it is.

Harada:I think this little detail will be the deciding factor when posing. The relative positions of these parts change depending on the situation in the movie. Although it's not related to the movement of the arms, shoulders, or legs, the pouches around the waist can also move. I try to be conscious of the idea that it's more fun to move parts that aren't related to the limbs as much as possible. Again, when posing, if the character is Jump, the position of this pouch will change.

Planning staff:I agree.

Harada:The same goes for the waist parts of "S.H.Figuarts SHOTO TODOROKI" and the grenades of "S.H.Figuarts KATSUKI BAKUGO". This is a conscious effort to make them movable.
S.H.Figuarts You also made the "toga himiko" uniform scarf move.

Planning staff:Yes, that's right.

Harada:I added a ball joint to the base of the scarf, but I thought it would be strange if it just hung down the whole time when Jump. It's a small detail, but I thought it would be fun to add a little movement and create a richer look when posing him.
Although it is a different part from the movable part, "S.H.Figuarts ARMORED ALL MIGHT" has a higher density of detail around the joints. The mechanical details that can be glimpsed when moving the figure give it a sense of fullness that is different from other characters. Apart from the interesting posing, I think this figure is fun to move.

Planning staff:Thank you. It's so much fun fiddling around with these little details that move.
I am truly grateful that you always include such small details. It is true that I ask you to make every part that can be moved movable, which is a bit of an unreasonable request.

Harada:We've also been consistently particular about recreating scenes from the movie. By making even the smallest details movable, we hope to be able to capture as much of the imagination as possible, allowing users to hold in their hands the moments they love. We think that's something that can only be achieved with an action figure.

Planning staff:Thank you. Whenever we start product planning, I always send a huge amount of material saying that I absolutely want to recreate this scene, which always causes trouble... (laughs).

Harada:No, no (laughs).

Planning staff:Sorry (laughs), but really, you can make all of my wishes come true.

Harada:I thought it was an incredibly passionate proposal. It was amazing (laughs).

Planning staff:There are a few poses that look almost the same...

Harada:But the nuance is a little different. When it comes to recreating that, it's not as simple as just making large movements of the shoulders, elbows, and arms.
I want to create a figure that can recreate that aspect, because I think that's what our users are looking for.

Planning staff:Harada-san always understands the subtle nuances, so thank you very much.

Harada:I think it's these things that add up to a high level of perfection as an action figure.

- Were there any aspects of Deku's overlay state that you struggled to recreate?

Harada:Although it's not a direct moving part, the black whip is reproduced all over the body. Since the lines of the black whip all over the body need to be cut for movement, I was conscious of making sure they didn't break in any strange way.

Planning staff:Since it is stretched all over the body, I imagine it must have been very difficult to make, as any gaps in it to allow for movement would have ruined the design.

Harada:The rest would have to be the face and hair. It's actually quite difficult to maintain the original shape while allowing the neck to move, so that's something we paid a lot of attention to.

Planning staff:Thank you so much. You made it so that it points all the way up.

Harada:That's right. To maintain that range of motion, I wanted to separate the nape of the neck, but I checked many times to see where to cut it to maintain the range of motion and appearance. It's an inconspicuous part, but this is an area I always struggle with in other projects as well.

Planning staff:Thank you. I imagine it was difficult to move it around with the cape.

Harada:That's right. The cape, the waist, and the black whip. These are all competing with each other, so arranging them was quite difficult. The only major change from the original sculpt was the position of the base of the black whip. If you want to make it not only movable but also removable, the number of positions you can place it in becomes limited. We made many prototypes to see whether the back or the waist was best. In the end, we decided that the waist was easier to play with, and that's why we ended up with the current position.

Planning staff:Thank you so much for always looking at the various structures and imagining what it will be like when you play with them. Harada's prototypes are really fun to play with.

Harada:You gave the back option when you did "S.H.Figuarts KATSUKI BAKUGO". I think that having a heavy weight on the back tends to make the figure unstable, whether it is standing or posed. OVERLAYDEKU The "K" is also a part of the original design, but we decided to lower its center of gravity to give it more stability and make it easier to play with.

Planning staff:So that's why OVERLAYDEKU is so easy to stand on.
In the case of "S.H.Figuarts KATSUKI BAKUGO", there are parts that are narrower than they are in the design, but you rearranged them to make them easier to play with.

Harada:That's right. As I mentioned earlier, the sculpting of OVERLAYDEKU was already complete, so I tried to be as restrained as possible, but when it comes to sculpting action figures, I want to find a shape that's optimized for movement, and I think it's necessary to make arrangements that don't reveal anything. I feel like that's where the skill of the sculptor in charge of movement really comes into play.

Planning staff:We really study things thoroughly, and then we're constantly working together to find the line that will please our users and not annoy them.

Harada:I guess it's about finding a balance that doesn't create noise, or creating a design that allows for movement.

What was the most difficult aspect to recreate?

Harada:The thing that bothered me the most was my shoulders (laughs).

Planning staff:It's my shoulder (laughs).

Harada:I couldn't decide on this for ages. I was constantly wavering. Everything else went pretty smoothly though (laughs).

Planning staff:Harada-san is working on S.H.Figuarts It's the first flesh-and-blood body for the Heroaca series, isn't it?

原田：まず元原型の造形を大切にする事を前提にしつつ、見た目や動作感はシリーズの横並びも大事かなと考えていまして。作り始めてた時に、「S.H.Figuarts 死柄木弔」を長汐さんが作られていると伺いまして、死柄木はどんな構造になるか、長汐さんが手掛けられたフィギュアで遊びながら想像しまして、現在の形になっています。きっと同じユーザー様が触れられると思うので、動作感が近い方が良いかと思ったんです。S.H.Figuarts『僕のヒーローアカデミア』シリーズとして、横の並びを考えると、こんな感じなのかなって。
...I haven't seen the real thing so I don't know yet if it's actually close to Shigaraki (laughs).

Planning staff:Thank you.

--Finally, please give a message to "S.H.Figuarts OVERLAYDEKU" and S.H.Figuarts fans of the Hiroaka series.

Harada:I think it is definitely an even more powerful version of the first Deku, S.H.Figuarts IZUKU MIDORIYA, so I would like to encourage those who have been playing with the series to pick it up. S.H.Figuarts I think that the series has definitely evolved over the years, and I hope that people who have been playing the series will be able to experience it for themselves.

--Thank you for today.

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*The images in this article are of prototypes in the sculpting process and prototypes under development. They may differ from the actual product.