SDCC 2016: On The Floor With Kotobukiya

Check out the first, ever MALE Bishoujo-style concept from Kotobukiya.

Kotobukiya had quite a few new offerings in their 2016 San Diego Comic-Con display, such as Captain Cold and Gorilla Grodd as part of their villain-themed Art FX+ DC series,and Art FX statues revolving around the most iconic face-offs on the silver screen this year, Batman v Superman, and Captain America vs Iron-Man from Civil War.

The most intriguing piece of Kotobukiya’s display, though, was the Bishoujo style Nightwing statue, the first male release in the series.  The ‘Ikemen’ Nightwing will be the first release in a series that shifts the gender of the popular Bishoujo collection, presenting ‘good-looking men’ pulled from various super hero, sci-fi and horror genres.

As a long-time proponent of the aesthetic power captured in the Bishoujo Collection by Yamashita-san, this new male-centric format is quite interesting.  One of the shortfalls of the Bishoujo Collection was always its adherence to only one gender, and that makes the addition of the Ikemen Collection truly exciting and remarkable.

Will it catch on?  Only time (and strategic use of properties) will tell… but regardless, this seems like a truly  fascinating development in the future of Kotobukiya’s releases… and I can’t wait to see what else they have planned for the future!