Can we bring back the happy anime dolls?

9 hours ago, mizya said:

Like my favourite mangaka Yazawa Ai's style

I looked her up, her characters are gorgeous.  
 

9 hours ago, mizya said:

And that style's been popularised by generic moe girl, idol, isekai etc anime in the early 2000's.

80s for me, and thinking about it now Voltron had a different style than the modern stuff. 

Just wanted to pop in and add that, while I'm not an anime expert by any means, I have taken a wide variety of anime and Japanese culture-oriented art classes over the years by people who worked, lived in, and immigrated from Japan. One thing that continuously gets hammered home by these people is that "anime" is really just the catch-all term for "animation," much like "cartoon" is just the catch-all term for any animation made in the west. Like any other art form, anime goes through stylistic phases and bandwagon-hopping, but that doesn't mean that (x) isn't anime because it doesn't look like (y). That would be like saying Bob's Burgers isn't a cartoon because it doesn't look like Bluey or vice-versa.

To me, semi-real SmDs look like they take a lot of inspiration from western shows that take stylistic inspiration from anime, such as Avatar: The Last Airbender and Castlevania. As cross-cultural experiences of media grow, we're going to see more of this melting pot of inspiration and interpretation take form and gain popularity, both mainstream and in niche circles. Whether that's for better or worse is absolutely up to personal preference (I will personally go feral if I see another Netflix "live action" adaptation that strips the identity and cultural context from the original work), but at this point, it's less a matter of "if" and more a matter of "when."

In relation to SmD, I always thought some of the names, among other things, were nods to different doll lines - Mirai (Volks), Haruka (Obitsu), Ruby (Super Dollfie). Because DC loved dolls, right? I really don’t know much about SmD, except Mirai was also the mascot. Pardon the ignorance, genuinely curious. 
 

Oh! Speaking of shows we grew up with and differing styles, what about Speed Racer? Any doll sculpt with a proportionately longer chin would make shells for them!!

On 7/19/2023 at 3:24 PM, StartPlanting said:

In relation to SmD, I always thought some of the names, among other things, were nods to different doll lines - Mirai (Volks), Haruka (Obitsu), Ruby (Super Dollfie). Because DC loved dolls, right? I really don’t know much about SmD, except Mirai was also the mascot. Pardon the ignorance, genuinely curious. 
 

Oh! Speaking of shows we grew up with and differing styles, what about Speed Racer? Any doll sculpt with a proportionately longer chin would make shells for them!!

Actually Danny Choo has some "issues" with Volks and makes subtle jabs at them when he can. There's a reddit thread about this. Which gives the history and all the major drama that has happened over the years. I already bought the smart doll I wanted so I'm not scared about being blocked from his website. There's also another thread on here where it really highlights Danny Choo's temper and a toxic community he's developed. What is this temper you may ask? He has a tendency of banning people from ordering from his website when there's criticism or being called out online. 

Another thing about Smart dolls is that the community really frowns upon customization on the doll from other companies. Danny has also "allegedly" banned people from trying to purchase optional parts for their dollfie dreams and what not. His website is so strict you have to show proof that you've bought a Smart doll from him or the official retailers (not sure how he feels about second hand.) Although looking at buying the optional parts it doesn't seem to say that anywhere, so perhaps that policy has changed.

A little off topic, but a lot of the drama isn't overly talked about as people are scared. So I like to bring it up when I can. 

 

Wow this thread took a turn. 
 

Anyway, some of the happy dolls are back on the site!! Yay! It looks like he’s going to have both types now. 

Okay, sorry to go back to this but I think the fact that those "happy dolls" mentioned by the last post are gone now just confirms something that I said earlier. The more realistic sculpts and to be frank, most of the sculpts that were on the site when this thread began, were just unpopular, and that's why they were the majority of the stock. This makes sense to be to be honest. SmDs are still reasonably popular with the vinyl doll crowd, so click wars are inevitable. The more cutesy dolls weren't being phased out, it's just that they are popular and sell out quick in comparison to the more unpopular sculpts, hehe.

On 7/8/2023 at 1:02 PM, That_Dollfie_Dude said:

At this point the whole Smart Doll project has nothing to do with Japan, and might as well be located in the UK or the United States.  The doll line up looks like something mandated by the diversity, equity and inclusion department at some monied ivy league school.  What has that to do with Japanese culture?  Nothing.  Just look at these three companies.  I could find any non-BJD collect, and tell them that these three new product images are of dolls made in Japan, but one of them is run by a westerner, and they'd have absolutely no trouble pinpointing it.  One of these things is not like the others....

I'm interested in anime, Japanese culture, kawaii culture, all of that.  Danny's focus is on western liberal notions of cultural diversity, and, for some unexplained reason, military-esque ugly clothing.  I'm not saying that his dolls shouldn't exist, or that there isn't a market for them!  They absolutely should exist, but my interest in Japan and Japanese things, and Smart Doll's current incarnation is the furthest thing from that.

 

 

There are several anime with the style on the bottom. Just because you prefer the top doesn't mean the bottom can't be anime. A lot of 80s anime (or even some more current anime, it's just not popular as your typical moe style) is full of stylized more "realistic" and less "anime" looks but I don't think I should school you on that, Google is here if you want to learn more about it. Also militaristic styles are very much in vogue with current anime trends. It's okay to not like things, you can just not buy them. 

<snip>

Edited July 24, 2023 by BeyondTime
No politics rule

On 7/24/2023 at 5:04 AM, RozenGermain said:

Okay, sorry to go back to this but I think the fact that those "happy dolls" mentioned by the last post are gone now just confirms something that I said earlier. The more realistic sculpts and to be frank, most of the sculpts that were on the site when this thread began, were just unpopular, and that's why they were the majority of the stock. This makes sense to be to be honest. SmDs are still reasonably popular with the vinyl doll crowd, so click wars are inevitable. The more cutesy dolls weren't being phased out, it's just that they are popular and sell out quick in comparison to the more unpopular sculpts, hehe.

I think I totally agree, I saw Melody and Challenge on there for a few days and then bam- gone. I guess you have to order quick there! 

But I will say, Danny didn’t have this issue a few years ago. The popular dolls rarely went out of stock. I also think there was a lot less girls in general, so the supply wasn’t as split between a bunch of different dolls. 
 

Tangentially related but I’m not on Twitter to see his stock updates, has he mentioned putting them on a different platform yet? 

I'm so glad to see other people had the same feelings  I had with the shift from only anime to semi real tbh I kinda think all the semi real are ugly but that's just me. I'm so glad I got Gaia right  b4 she was discontinued. She is gorgeous. 

some late night reading for me on this thread & wanted to chime in a bit, I’ve been familiar with SmD for some time prior to owning them and what caught my attention when I first found the doll company was the casual styling, like a young city girl, or tokyo girl. Basically the vibe was what sold it to me. That to say the style we put our girls in is our choice and basically any girl can be a cool city girl, but the SmD look combined the 2000’s look with a minimal touch & anime which is very tasteful imo.

Newer girls still look great to me, pivoting to a more dystopian and video-game vibe which is still pretty cool. I think Liberty & Genesis are very gorgeous designs. If I were to say my preference I’m not a fan of thick brows on the recent semi-reals (thick brows are on trend across several western doll brands & makeup) which are pretty but not my aesthetic choice on dolls. Sometimes I find eye/eyebrow combo on the newer designs a bit too modern for my taste.

Love a girl with realism, AP dolls have a realistic nose & the eyes are Gyaru or similar to a shuojo style and I really love that about them, I think they make a perfect balance design-wise. Someone mentioned Kujikawa Rise Dollfie and she is also an incredible design and somewhat uncanny which is exactly why I love her!

ps I also love Ai Yazawa’s mangas & animes very much, highly recommend