Kotobukiya Previews Bishoujo Beetlejuice, Others, at SDCC

The Kotobukiya Summer Update panel at San Diego Comic Con International 2019 was primarily a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Bishoujo line of figures based on illustrations by Shunya Yamashita. Featuring Bishoujo line series planner Yuriko Morikawa, the panel was much more focused on the figure maker’s products based on western comics and cartoons than the Japanese IPs they promoted at Anime Expo two weeks ago.

Kotobukiya SDCC 2019 Bishoujo Booth — Shunya Yamashita’s hand-drawn illustration for the Kotobukiya booth at SDCC 2019.

After covering other Bishoujo figures like Poison Ivy Returns, Mary from Shazam!, My Little Pony’s Rarity and Fluttershy, and Dark Phoenix Rebirth, Yuriko Morikawa went into detail about the new Bishoujo Horror figure announced for Comic Con: Beetlejuice, from the 1989 film Beetlejuice.

Kotobukiya Bishoujo Beetlejuice Illustration — Big fan of gyaru Bettlejuice over here.

Still in early stages without a prototype to show, Morikawa went over the illustration by Yamashita-sensei with a fine-toothed comb. She explained the gyaru style inspiration for Bishoujo Beetlejuice as a kind of troublemaker bad girl who loves makeup and a smug, slightly threatening attitude.

Kotobukiya Mary From Shazam Figure — Shazam! Mary’s figure is finished.

Personally, I’ve always enjoyed Kotobukiya’s Bishoujo Horror sub-line. Their interpretations of Freddy Kreuger, Chucky, and Michael Myers are exactly the right combination of sexy and scary I look for in my bishoujos. Gyaru Beetlejuice is a big hit with me and I can’t wait to see the prototype.

Kotobukiya My Little Pony Bishoujo Series — These ponies don’t really fit in this part of the article but I wanted to show these ponies because they make me laugh.

Of less interest to me but still technically impressive is the new ARTFX Premier series, 1/10^th figures focused on detail, realism, and beauty (in their own words), and particularly taking advantage of new manufacturing techniques that allow extremely high-fidelity painting.

Kotobukiya ARTFX Premier Cosmic Ghost Rider — Cosmic Ghost Rider is cool. But wouldn’t he make a better bishoujo?

The ARTFX Premier series is so far focused on Marvel characters, with The Avengers forming the existing lineup, and Kotobukiya sneak previewing several X-Men characters at the panel: Colossus, Cyclops, and Wolverine.

But getting back to anime tropes, the panel also showed the newest addition to the Ikemen line of western characters reimagined as anime hotboys: The Joker.

Kotobukiya Ikemen Joker Sculpt — The prototype sculpt for Ikemen Joker.

The Ikemen line is a compliment to the Bishoujo line, with the words being Japanese terms for “handsome man” and “beautiful girl” respectively.

Kotobukiya Ikemen Joker Illustration — And the illustration for Ikemen Joker.

I own quite a few Kotobukiya figures, but my struggle this year is to keep myself from buying the entire Bishoujo Horror line. I’ve managed to avoid collecting any so far, but gyaru Beetlejuice is looking way too fine.