Focus with Touma

Touma was part of the Sonic Team that's why we find in her characters the influence of Sega's small blue hedgehog Can you introduce yourself stp? (Your studies, your career, your current job ...) I studied design in an art school. When I was at school, I was passionate about "Sonic The Hedgehog" Sega's character. I went to do an interview at Sega and they committed me. I went through several departments, the longest passage was in the "Sonic Team", where I worked with the person who drew Sonic, and I learned a lot from him. In Sega, I did a lot of games like Sonic Series, Nights, Burning Ranger, Eternal Arcadia, etc. I worked for Sega for 10 years, and in 2002 I became a Toy Designer in Free Lance. What was the first character you drew? My first character in Sega was "Fang The Sniper", a member of the Sonic Family. My first character as an independent artist was Kaeeru Rider Series. What was your first toy creation? My first Toy was The Knuckle Bear. It's always on the market. I make lots of characters and even if many have not been produced, I descend them all the same as objects of art, so I would say Knuckle Bear as the first toy. What was your first toy product? My first production was the Wild Dog and Black Cat de la Qee Series2. I have just drawn it on the basis of the QEE, so my first original Toy was the Knuckle Bear. Can you give us a list of all the toys you have produced so far? 11/2002 Qee Series 2 and Black Cat and Wild Dog 05/2003 Qee Series 3 and Secret Figure Knuckle Qee 05/2003 Baby Qee Series 1 Devil Baby 06/2003 Knuckle Bear and 1st Hong Kong Version 08/2003 Knuckle Bear and 2nd Waver 10/2003 Knuckle Bear and 3rd Bone 11/2003 Knuckle Bear and 4th Ice 11/2003 Original Soft Vinyl Figure Japler (Aka Fantom) 03/2004 Qee Series 4 Secret Figure Fang Wolf Qee 03/2004 Talons and sold in Japan, USA, Germany, England. 03/2004 Knuckle Bear and 5th King 04/2004 Knuckle Bear and 6th USA Tower Exclusive Records King 04/2004 Knuckle Bear and 7th USA Tower Exclusive Records Guardian One 05/2004 Knuckle Bear and 7th Guardian Ah and a 05/2004 Qee Series 4 UK Secret Version Figure Fang Wolf Qee 05/2004 QEE SERIES 4 UK Version Knuckle Bear Ice Qee 05/2004 8inch Black Cat Qee 05/2004 Knuckle Bear and 10th USA Tower Exclusive Tattoo Records 05/2004 Knuckle Bear and 8th USA Tower Exclusive Records Iron 06/2004 Knuckle Bear and 9th One-Up Exclusive Battle Damage 07/2004 Knuckle Bear And10th Tattoo You have always worked alone or have you already been part of a crew or team? I have always worked alone. I have never been a member of a staff, I have never belonged to any group. What is your main goal as Character Designer? I know it's very difficult, but creating a world-famous character is truly my goal. Where does your inspiration come from? Mr. Michael Lau who was why I became Toy Designer, and my friend Mr Kitai Devil Robots inspires me a lot. I am also inspired by the work of other artists known everywhere in the world. I collect Lego's and Playmobil's, this kind of simple characters inspires me. I would love to have one of these immense playmobil's toy store entries. How could you describe your style? My style is to maintain a certain simplicity in my characters. I try to create characters whose children will remember, and use a combination of lines and curves to create the "Toumaizm". Big eyes and teeth in zigzag are like a trademark, I try to use them on all the characters I draw. Have you already worked on an animation movie? If no, do you like? What would it look like? I never did it, but it would be interested. See my characters move is one of my dreams. I use ball joint to give movement to my characters. I like Nightmare Before Christmas de Tim Burton, I dream of creating a stop motion animation. I would like to see my characters moving on the screen with life. Why do you produce toys with TOY2R and also by yourself? Toyr2r does not leave you enough freedom of creation and you prefer to share your activities? The reason I produced toys myself is that I wanted to see how the system works. It was a very important experience for me to see how the characters in Vynil are made. In addition, the rights of the characters were shared with a Printing Company in Japan, so I had the right to produce myself, but they asked me not to work with other brands than TOYR2R. It was a good opportunity for me to try, and I learned a lot of the business like that. There seems to be two famous Toy Designers above you at Toy2R: Rolito and Jaime Hayon, what do you think of them? I worked with them in Japan and Taiwan. They are nice guys. I do not speak English, they used very simple words and spoke very slowly so that I could understand them. Rolito creates very cute forms, and it creates many characters that I would never have had the idea. He continues to create new characters. They are both very talented. What is your point of view on the recent opening of the toy designers market in Europe? As I do not speak English, I have a hard time keeping myself aware of what is happening in foreign markets, even if it would be interested. I receives from time to time emails from Toy Stores of Europe asking me to produce clean production of vinyl characters. If I had a lot of money, I'd like to come to Europe and see the market closer. What is the situation of the movement of designer toys in Japan? It is important ? In Japan, the designer Toy has chances to become important. Many manufacturers of designer toys are needed and bringing designer toys from abroad to keep the movement alive. Otherwise he could die easily. Do you think the Asian designer toy market is saturated? Last year I went to Honk Kong and this year I went to Taiwan for autograph sceces. And indeed I think the market the low is saturated. HK has a lot of designers like Michael Lau, and they produce lots of Toys because the market is very active. The Taiwanese market is not so developed, but it is also very active. Are you a big collector of Toys? I love toys. As I said earlier, I collect Lego, Playmobil. I also collect designer toys and American toys. I like what is Kawai and simple, when I find toys like that, I take them. Which Toy has impressed you most in recent months? I have not really been impressed in recent months. I did not really find an impressive Toy for a while. What is your favorite Toy? The old series of the Lego Chateaux is my favorite. As soon as I find it on an auction site, I brought. With which Toy Designer would you like to work? There are many artists I would like to work: Michael Lau, Devil Robots, Dick Bruna, Tim Biskup, Jamie Hayon, Shag, Rolito, Gary Baseman, etc. The list is endless. With which artist / Toy designer are you linked to Japan? I am friends with the Devilrobots and the Mad Barbarianans. Who is your favorite Toy Designer? Michael Lau, Devil Robots, Tim Biskup.When I will have money I will try to buy the Gardener Series from Michael Lau. Who are your favorite handlers / mangakas? Osamu Tezuka (Astral Boy), Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball), Mike Mignola. It seems that the middle of graffiti is more restricted in Asia than in the rest of the world, what is your point of view on it? I do not know too much for other countries, but in Japan is sure that graffiti is not very developed. The Japanese are only interested in art when there are big names. If there is not much money in play, they do not see any interests. I have heard that in Europe, patrons support artists, but in Japan you have to create a business that reports money, otherwise you do not get support. I have the chance to work with a company: Wonder Wall, but companies trying to help artists grow are rather rare. In the US and Europe, graffiti is recognized as Art, but in Japan graffiti is seen as scribble. Lately, a few people started to see him as an art. In Japan, my Knuckle Bear is just a Toy, but abroad people see him as an object of art. I hope the Japanese will learn Americans and Europeans what art is. Which artist would you dream to see a Toy? To see the movement of designer toys grow, I would like to see young artists, and artists who are not used to working on characters. What are your favorite movies? My favorite movie is Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas". I really loved it, and I have a lot of toys from the movie. What is your favorite website? None in particular, but I still visit the creators sites that I appreciate. What are your favorite animation movies? Giant Animated Robot. Batman Animated. I also look at Disney movies, and American cartoons. What are your favorite mangas and comics? Marvel Comics and Cartoon Network Comics. But I do not really read it in fact. What are your favorite brands (clothes, sneakers, food ...)? I do not have preferred brands or foods, but I really like Nike sneakers. For some time, I buy Adidas too. What is your favorite shop? I really like toys shops. I often made Licks showcase from Toy Shops on weekends. What are your favorite discs? Japanese musicians: The Southern All Stars. When they come out a new album, I buys it right away and go into loop. When I work, I do not listen to music except for them. Last question: what do you think of Panda-Z? Panda-Z is very impressive. They have the rights of the original Mazinger-Z. It was a problem if they did not have them, but it was very impressive to get the rights of Dynamic Production. Their design is very cute and simple. "Is it big in France?"