Good Smile Company
Good Smile Company, Inc. is a Japanese manufacturer of figurines. Some of the figurine series they manage are Nendoroid and figma product lines. Its products are generally based on anime, manga, and games that are popular in Japan but have become popular for releasing products with Vocaloids.
History
Good Smile Company (hereafter abbreviated as GSC) was established by Aki Takanori in 2001 in Matsudo, Chiba. It originally began as an event management and talent agency but in January 2002, GSC began working with figurine manufacturer Max Factory on hobby-related products before becoming involved primarily with the production and manufacture of figurines in 2004.
On top of production, GSC also distributes figurines for a number of companies including Max Factory and FREEing.
The company releases new information via their blog in both English and Japanese.
In 2010, GSC began working with illustrator huke and musician ryo to develop the Black Rock Shooter anime series and line of figurines.
In August, the company opened up its first Good Smile Cafe in Akihabara, Tokyo. The cafe has monthly collaborations with popular anime series and features the anime series-specific foods and beverages in addition to various goods (T-shirts, figurines, plush dolls) for sale in their adjoining shop.
In July 2012, the company moved its main office to Tokyo Sky Tree, East Tower.
GSC is popular worldwide for its Nendoroid series, a line of figurines that are child-like forms of the anime characters they represent. The series began in February 2007 and has released over 1000 figurines, including various versions of Hatsune Miku and other Vocaloids.
In 2008, GSC became the primary sponsor of racing team Studie GLAD Racing which participated in the Super GT racing series in a car that featured large Hatsune Miku stickers on it. In 2010, Good Smile Racing (hereafter abbreviated as GSR) was established and became the new owner.
In addition to becoming the owners of the Studie GLAD Racing team, GSR handles car-related hobby products located in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo from April 2009. The company is responsible for the planning process, production, manufacturing, and sales of toys and merchandise such as American minicars, decals on existing scale models, radio-controlled cars and its specifications, tools for making plastic models, pasting decals, and cycle wear, etc.
Main Products
GSR Cars American Legend Series
GSR Character Customization Series
GSR Gear Cycle Apparel Series
Racing Team
Under the name of the Hatsune Miku GT Project, in cooperation with Crypton Future Media, the company participated in racing competitions with the virtual idol, Hatsune Miku featured on the company's SUPER GT/GT300 race car model. Until 2009, the racing team which operated under Studie GLAD Racing, made a sudden announcement to forfeit participation and ownership rights were transferred to its main sponsor, Good Smile Racing. The team name was changed to Cox, and the entrant name became "GOODSMILE RACING with COX" After this event, Studie representative Yasuaki Suzuki remained as sporting director, and Ishio Ohashi was appointed as general director. In addition, the race car was changed from the previous BMW Z4 to the Porsche 996GT3RSR, and from the fifth round of the competition, the 997GT3R was introduced.
Concepts and Implementations
The basic concept of the previous company has been inherited: Hatsune Miku is featured on race cars and the personal sponsor system remains. Since then, illustrators have designed and introduced new concepts of "Racing Miku" and later introducing "Racing Rin/Len" and "Racing Luka" as Petite Nendoroids, as well as "Racing Meiko" in the "Hatsune Miku Project DIVA Extend"
Good Smile Racing's Race Queen is nicknamed "Racing Miku Supporter" and wears the costume of Racing Miku from the same year. The company inherits the concept of "Miku Miku Gals" from the Studie GLAD Racing era, and members from the Miku Miku Gals era continue to participate or become staff later on.