Q.What kind of brand are you participating in this time?

Nozoe

"One Piece Fruit" is a brand that was started three years ago after we talked to Shueisha and Toei Animation about launching a "One Piece" series with Gashapon®. The capsules themselves are devil fruits, and you can put figures inside and display them as a display case, or combine capsules together to display them. One of the features of the brand is that they do not draw illustrations for the figures, but instead create the sculptures directly from the original cuts. For this reason, I think it is a brand that would not be possible without the help of sculptors.

Q. Why did you decide to team up with MIC this time?

Nozoe

We have been working with MIC since the beginning, and they have a good understanding of the unique balance of body proportions in "One Piece". In particular, we told them that we wanted to ask the person with the most experience in the production of "One Piece" this time. They are currently working on a project together in parallel, but we want to ask them to do this even if it means putting that aside! (laughs). We were so excited that we couldn't go without your company.

Q. How excited were you when you found out you would be participating in the ONE PIECE Zoukeiou Summit Battle?

One Co., Ltd. (MIC)

Up until now we'd only done realistic projects, so it was surprising to hear that "One Piece no Mi" would be participating, but seeing Nozoe-san's passion, I felt that there was no choice but to do it.

Q. Why did you choose the characters and scenes you created?

Nozoe

The design is that there are four One Piece fruits inside one big One Piece fruit. I must have come up with about 20 ideas to get to this point, and it was quite difficult. Initially, it was a completely different direction, but after receiving a request from Shueisha and Toei Animation to "get to the bottom of what makes a One Piece fruit," we made repeated improvements. The regular capsule features the Gomu Gomu no Mi, but this time we've added Mera Mera, Ope Ope, and Jiki Jiki, and each character related to each fruit is recreating a scene.

Q. What were your thoughts when the characters and scenes were decided?

One Co., Ltd. (MIC)

I was worried at first that it would be difficult to fit two figures into one fruit. Sometimes it's just a tight squeeze even with one figure. So I decided to check the size more carefully than usual.

Q. What kind of conversations did you have as you went about creating this piece?

Nozoe

I set the dimensions of each part myself, so I was concerned about the consistency of the size with past works, but after I asked them, I basically left it up to MIC. This is the first time I've made a model with effects, so I was personally looking forward to seeing how they would finish it.

One Co., Ltd. (MIC)

It was a new attempt for us to recreate a scene using two figures, instead of a single character as usual. How can we create a figure that allows the viewer to immediately understand that this is a scene, while still maintaining the high density of the design that is characteristic of One Piece? I don't think there are any other figures that attempt to recreate a scene with this size of deformation.

Q. What are the characteristics and artistic qualities of a sculptor?

Nozoe

The ability to instantly recall a scene, and the proportions and shape that are characteristic of "One Piece" - I think he is a sculptor who can achieve both.

Q. What are your honest thoughts on the current state of the finished product?

Nozoe

It's currently about 95% complete, and it's a result never seen before, something you'd only see at the ONE PIECE Zoukeiou Chojo Kessen. Incredible skill has gone into making something this size, including the painting. It may be small, but it's taken just as much effort as a realistic figure, and I'm confident in the finished product.

Q. Please tell us the key points that are unique to this brand and this prototype.

One Co., Ltd. (MIC)

It all comes down to size. How can we recreate the atmosphere of the original artwork while fitting two figures into the already small One Piece fruit and adding effects? Generally, we sculptors complete our work individually, but this time we regularly got together to show each other our progress as we went along.

Q. Is there anyone or rival you particularly don't want to lose to in this final showdown?

Nozoe

That would definitely be the World Collectable Figure (WCF). It has a long history, and when you think of the deformations in One Piece, WCF is synonymous with it. I want to make my mark somehow, so that people think, "WCF is great, but the amount of information in the One Piece fruit is amazing, too."

One Co., Ltd. (MIC)

I don't have any rivals among the other contestants. If I had to say, I guess it would be the people in the same company. At ONE, there is a culture of friendly competition among colleagues.

Q. To be honest, do you think you can win?

Nozoe

Since I'm carrying the name of my department, I'm going in with the mindset of taking the number one spot, so I'm not that worried. I'd be happy if this opportunity would allow people who only knew about the real figures to get to know "One Piece no Mi."

Q: Any final messages?

One Co., Ltd. (MIC)

One Corporation (MIC): Deformation has its merits. The details are comparable to real-scale figures, and there is also the familiarity that only Gashapon® can provide. It would be great if we could win by using the "One Piece-ness" that we have perfected this time as our weapon.

*"Gashapon®" is a registered trademark of Bandai Co., Ltd.