Devilrobots: Chara Design

On the occasion of the exhibition Devilrobots which takes place from April 4, 2005 at Colette, we interviewed the team of the Devilrobots represented here by Shin to whom we asked some questions in order to know more behind these little critters Bizarre and innumerable and these pieces of to-fu who have emotions ... Hello, could you present: I am Shinichiro Kitai de Devilrobots. I am da, Character Designer and Graphic Designer. I had a visual communication degree at the university where I started doing animation from drawings made with friends, I also worked on theater decorations. Currently I take care of creating new characters, making pockets for musicians, designer games for mobile phones, making illustrations for magazines and I am currently working on a brand of clothes. From April, we will participate in many exhibitions and events. When was Devilrobots created? We started in 3 in 1997, we really been structured in 2000 and we are currently 6 people working at Devilrobots. Can you explain how you met every 3? At the base I am friends with Kenbow, then he went to Tokyo where he met Kato-chan in the box where he worked. I went to Tokyo and it turned out that I boss in a box right next to theirs. So we spent a lot of time together and we thought we should be doing something together in our own premises. We saved by making additional jobs in addition to our respective jobs and we brought our computers and that's how Devilbotos was created. Ikegamu and Yoshizo are from Osaka and we met Izumi in New Zealand who joined us when she came back to Japan. What is Devilrobots' main activity? Illustration, Character Design, Website Creation, Animation, Music and Performance. How to describe the Devilrobots style? Cute and a little dark WHAT TOYS HAVE YOU PRODUCT TO THE? To-Fu Oyako Evobic Maffy Cracle and Craze Hellkatz REX-KUN GOLD BOYS Brief PUDDING AND JELLY Kaizoku Chan BE @ RBRICK Where do you pay your inspiration? In the BDS, the music, the magazines, the TV, the things I see, that I hear, the people I meet. I draw my inspiration in my daily life. What is your purpose or goal in the creation of Toys? I try not to think about it. The early days I thought to put my own characters on the market was a goal and a goal but as soon as people started wanting series, or bigger characters I had a new goal every time. It never stopped. What is the first character you created? To-Fu Oyako It seems to be your best-known character, how do you explain that? Yes it's true, because we spent a lot of time and energy to promote it. Could you tell us more about the famous to-fu characters? Ten years ago we won with to-fu oyako a grand prize during a character contest chaired by Suzy Amakane (Japanese Mangaka Underground). Since then, so we have structured Devilrobots and we have chosen for Côme To-Fu Oyako that we broadcast for several media (magazines, animation, badges, stickers). After that we made an Expo in Newyork at Zakka and for this event we declined ten characters to form a family of to-fu with Medicomtoy. After this exhibition we launched the to-fu oyako machine (NDR: the famous Pachinko dear to Japanese) and we produced a series of Kubrick to-Fu Oyako. In addition to the various books we have dedicated to it, we are working on the final series of to-fu characters that will come out very soon. The family will therefore have a total of 102 different characters. The story is: there is a planet of to-fu where a mother to-fu and his son to-fu are looking for father to-fu and they will cross the universe aboard a vessel in to-fu shape and they will meet on their way a multitude of to-fu. In addition we work on a lively series for the web that will stage a class of Oto-Fu in the kindergarten. Have you ever worked on a series of animation? We made mini promo movies that last between 5 seconds and 1 minute and we produced a series of 13 episodes of To-Fu Oyako for Japanese TV. On the DVD "Kaizokuchan" we have created an episode of 20 mn which is a musical comedy What is the concept behind Evobob? Disseminate strange things in your daily life. Could you tell us what can be found in Evirook? It's a comic-book with the characters of Evobob with a Kubrick offered. How is the collaboration with Medicomtoy? We are in very good terms and we inspire each other. Why work with other companies such as AdFunture (for a version of Fill The Monkey)? Does Medicom are not enough to channel your creativity? Nothing can channel creativity and imagination. If I think it's interesting I participate in the project. To disseminate its creativity it is better to have the most media possible. With which toydesigners are you connected to Japan? Furifuri Company, Nakano Shiro, Mad Barbarian, Touma etc ... You came to France a year ago, what was the reason for this trip? We were invited for a conference. We went down to a hotel near the Marais, it was nice. It's very fun of walking trying to avoid dog grooves (laughs). When will you come back to France for an Expo Devilrobots? We make an exhibition at Colette in April 2005. What do you think of European ToyDesigners? There are lots of very creative people What is the craziest object you created until? To-Fu Furniture and To-Fu Fundoshi (Male Underwear Old School) What object would you dream of creating? OUR CLEAR BUILDING What is the situation of the designer Toy in Japan? The phenomenon is not excessive but it is becoming more and more popular Do you think that the Asian market of the designer Toy is saturated? Yes Are you a big collector of toys yourself? Yes What is the rarest devilrobots toy? "Brief" and "Pudding and Jelly" What is the toy that impressed you most in recent months? Kubrick Smurf of Medicom What is your favorite toy of all time? To-Fu Oyako Kubrick With which toydesigners would you like to work? Jaime Hayon, Rolito, David Horvath, Noriya Takeyama, Nakano Shiro, Touma, Furifuri Company, Tado, Eric So, Michel Lau, Mad Barbarianists etc ... There are many people I would like to collaborate. What are your favorite handlers / mangakas? Dick brown The graffiti scene in Asia is very small compared to the West, what do you think? Which artists of this movement enjoy? The stuff I see in Japan are pitiful. Personally I really like WK Interact. Which artist would you like to see one day designer a Toy? Dick brown What are your favorite movies? 2001, Mr. Jack's Strand Christmas, Taxi Driver, Hunter's night, repulsion, possession, Eraserhead, the work is Brad Anderson and Jan Svankmajer. What is your favorite site? Yahoo What are your favorite animation movies? Disney What are your favorite comics and mangas? Dragon Ball, One Piece, Kiniro No Gash, Blackjack, DoreMay etc ... What are your favorite video games? The first generation of NES games What are your favorite brands? Nike, Adidas, like Garcons, Rag and Bone, Maccheronian, A, Fraiver, Logan, Ishimura Mansido. What are your favorite shops? Tokyo: Robot Robot, FEWMANY NYC: Kidrobot, Zakka London: Playlounge Paris: Colette What music do you listen to? Hiphop, Breakbeats, The Pop Group, The Sits, This Heat, Robert Wyatt, Can, James Chance, Scion, Theo Parrish, Barden Powell, Mutant Os, Derek Bailey, Headset, Diplo, The Smith, The Flying Lizards, Four Tet, Marcos Valle, Catano Velozo, Candeias, Sigur Ros, Gastre del Sol, Bastro, Parliament, Funkadelic, Yes, Nocola Tale, Brigitte Fountain, 23 Skidoo, James Blood Umler, Durutti Column, Art Lindsay, Joni Mitchell, Jackie Mittoo, Jaga Jazzist , Dizzies Gillespie, Max Roach, Miles Davis, Upsetters, King Tubby, Feist, Talk Talk, Marvin Gaye, Roberta Flack, LCD Soundsystem, Zero7, Moonstarr ... Last question: what do you think of Panda-Z? It's a good design that mixes a panda with Goldorak. Many people will love because it's a good design. I love personally.