The first real anime based exhibit was a place where you could take a picture with Totoro and Mei. There were also a number of figures from Totoro in another cabinet as well as a few from Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo. Notably no figures were from their non-fantasy films and very very few figures were actually the human characters. It once again illustrated what I speculated to be the reason Ghibli has been failing in the box office lately and why they are shutting up shop in terms of producing new films (you can see my ideas here: Snshssjwhwhhshs). It showed how proemient fantasy was to the idea of Ghibli and how beloved these fantasy characters are, and that without more of these ideas they would continue to fail. In particular Totoro is such a iconic character because of how childfriendly he is. It is too late now, but the figures showed me that if Ghibli were to make more childfriendly fantasy films they would do every well, rather than failing.
Also whilst looking at the large Totoro figures I almost immediately noticed their quality (or lack thereof). Basically they looked like knock-off statues, not something that was purchased from Studio Ghibli themselves. Maybe I could be wrong in this assumption (and you can make your own judgement from the picture below) but it really seemed to me like these were not officially produced figures. It was this that also reminded me of how Ghibli are shutting their doors. Studio Ghibli will stop future productions but it will focus on strengthening old and working on new issues of copyright of their existing intellectual properties, such as Totoro. Now I am not saying Ghibli will be able to crack down on every small business, but surely where there is money to be made on their ideas, Ghibli will want a slice of the pie and will try to stop unofficial merchandise etc.
Then on the second floor there lots of collections boxed off in their own displays. Now there was a variety of displays from a variety of mediums, like Star Wars, but in terms of anime and actually toys in general, mecha anime figures out numbered everything else. There were cabinets and cabinets just full or countless mecha and robot figures. It wasn't just from one franchise either. There were Gundam and Evangelion among others. Now this could just be due to the owner's or maybe, more generally, Korea's tastes and preferences or it could be due to another reason. I also noticed how the Transformers' display was quite full and I remembered how Transformers, before its comics, live action movies, its animated show and previous anime, before anything else Transformers was just one or two transforming robot toys for kids. Nothing more, nothing less. It then was decided to make an animated show in order to market the toys by giving them a back story. And thus the Transformers we know and love today was born. I just wondered about how other animes nowadays are influenced as a way to sell other products.
I was again confronted by this issue when I saw another notable display, that of Pokemon. Pokemon, as an anime, too was originally made as a way to sell the hugely popular video games by giving the universe a compelling story and character to follow, rather than the speechless protagonist you play in the games. We can tell the anime was conceived of quite early, before the game was actually released, because it includes Ho-oh in the first epsiode, a Pokemon coded into the first generation games but then taken out before the final release, and kept for the second generation. Pokemon sells many toys, as Nintendo actually considers themselves to be a toy manufacturer ahead of a hardcore gaming company (which is how Nintendo consoles got to be sold at toy shops in their early days). I just wonder how much the idea of merchandising comes into Pokemon design. Are early versions made especially cute so they can sell plushies? How much influence does money from figurines have on pokemon and other similar animes? Yu-gi-oh, Beyblades, Duel Masters (etc) raise the same question with merchandise and anime as they sell products using anime. Are any new animes made to sell action figures?
Another second floor display was the most popular anime now, One Piece. One piece, due to its wide and wonderful characters had many many figures on display. In fact it seemed that there were 3 types of toys that One Piece merchandising produced. The first are true toys, toys that meant are meant to be handled and played with, plushies or action figures with moveable pieces. These things are targeted to kids to play and have fun with. Second there are the flashy figures, with a stand underneath, rather than moveable parts. These are meant for display at any good otaku's house on a bookshelf or wherever. Last there are these small collectible figurines. These are meant for anyone, kids or collectors, and are purely made for people to spend lots of money without realising. This is because they usually come in sealed boxes that display the whole collection and you don't know what figure you got until you open the box after purchasing. The only reason I categorise them this way is because I would not buy the playable or plushies toys becuase they are too kiddy, nor would I buy the collectibles because I think I would become obsessed, however, I would be inclined to buy the action figures. Also certain animes specialise in a certain type of figure. For example DBZ specialises in action figures but Pokemon has more plushies and toys for play.
Last I saw many figures that were probably sold out of nostalgia or becuase of the status of the anime. Many recognisable or iconic animes also had displays. Most notable or course is the very iconic Astro Boy, or simply Atom, from the 1960s. There was also a small display on Future Boy Conan. Of course as I said there were displays of DBZ and Pokemon. There was a display of this wrestling anime from the seventies called called Tiger Mask as well. However, left to a very small place was Fullmetal Alchemist and Rock Man. Now Rock Man may not be so great of an anime but Fullmetal Alchemist is. However, if I didn't know about either Tiger Mask or FMA I would be more inclined to search it up as it had its own display and many interesting figures. Now I am not saying that people choose what anime to watch based on what they saw in a toy museum but I wonder how much longevity figures add to an anime's life. Would Atom be as iconic as it is now if it weren't for its merchandising? Will animes with great stories like say Mushishi die out of recognition because they are simply not marketable?
My visit to the toy museum was very fun and enjoyable but it really got me thinking about the relationship between anime and merchandising. Too bad I can't answer many of my questions. I also hope to visit the 3d model Ghibli exhibit in Seoul soon.
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