The Making of Yoroi Gear Design

The Making of Yoroi Gear Design (Yoroiden Samurai Troopers, 30th Anniversary Book, Tatsumi Publication. Translation provided by The URWWS.)

## Featuring

* Hideo Okamoto (Armor Design)
* Koichi Inoue (Ex-Sunrise Planning and Development Office)
* Hitoki Makino (ex-Takara Toy Development)

## Interview

In order to look back at the time of Samurai Troopers, the development of the main product, the toy, is inevitable. We asked Hideo Okamoto, who was in charge of the armor design for this work, Koichi Inoue, formerly of Sunrise Planning Office, who was also involved in the work, and Hitoshi Makino, formerly in charge of toy development at Takara (now Takara Tomy), to look back on those days.

**The Glittering Emperor**

We can talk now about the reason why it was "that" toy.

I can tell you now why it was "that" toy.

It was a toy project that went missing in the US for a year.

**Let me review briefly how "Samurai Troopers" came to be. Inoue: "Invincible Superhero Zambot 3" in 1977**

Since then, Bandai, which had taken over from Clover, gave up its broadcasting slot after the completion of "Kiki Senki Dragunar," and Takara took over the slot. We needed a program plan to be aired there. The producer who had been in charge of Takara's programs at Sunrise was working on a plan, but it was difficult to get a response. At that time, "Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru" (Wataru), which was created by our planning and development team, was selected by Takara for a different slot first, and the producer had to decide whether or not to produce it.

I was assigned to be in charge of the site in the city.

It was on January 5, after the New Year's break, three months before the start of the broadcast, that I was asked by the planning office to take care of a project that had not yet been decided. It was an absurd order: "We have a presentation in two weeks, so just make a proposal by then.

**In two weeks, you mean?**

Inoue: That's an unbelievable express order. At the time, I was also helping out on the set of Wataru, but I had no choice but to leave that to the set. Okamoto: Oh, so it was around the same time as "Wataru. I drew "Demon God" too.

Inoue: I asked all the designers to draw the "Demon God" (laughs). The project I took over was for the Samurai Trooper toys.

Makino: Originally, Mr. 0 (a Takara employee) was in charge of this project, and it was intended to be sold in the US.

**Was it completely different from the TV series "Samurai Trooper"?**

Makino: Yes. It was just a toy project. We had been working on it since about 1986. In the U.S., there was "G.1 Joe, the Strongest Expert Team on Earth" and "Fight! Super Robot Life Form Transformers" was a success.

With the success of "G.1 Joe" and "Super Robot Lifeformer" (hereafter "Transformers"), the next step was to develop a business in action figures that could wrestle, we decided to start a business with action figures that could wrestle. The next step was to start a business with action figures that could wrestle. However, due to a takeover battle between American companies, this business remained in limbo for about a year, and the one-of-a-kind prototypes disappeared somewhere.

Inoue: It disappeared?

Makino: That's right. It was a tough, shiny one, like the Hulk Hogan. It was a tough, shiny one like "Hulk Hogan.

So we had to make a new one while reviewing the differences in quality.

I saw it at MA's place. I saw it at MA's place. At that time, MA had just started his own company. He had already established a workshop, but he was also a modeler and was making examples for plastic model magazines.

Makino: It was a time when there were not many prototype shops.

Okamoto: They were very well made, and I thought, "This is good.

Okamoto: They were very good, and I thought, "This is good.

Makino: That's right. Originally, it was a figure that could perform wrestling, so it had springs inside and could perform wrestling techniques such as kumite. We also added elements of the ninja, which is also popular in the US. This is the style of the "undergear" (see page 10 of this book).

**-I see, that's right!**

Inoue: What about the prototype figures now?

Makino: The one I had back then is broken and no longer exists. It's like a putty-filled brass and spring core.

Inoue: Here, our job was to figure out how to combine the MA model with the story. That was my job.

We had been working on it since the summer, but we hadn't received the 0K for the project by December.

Makino: went to see Mr. Kiyomi Numamoto to see if we could do something in Japan, and he recommended Mr. Okamoto on the spot. He said that Okamoto-san was the only one who could understand the difference between 3D and illustration lines.

Okamoto is the reason why my TV animation project and toy project are mixed up in my mind (laughs).

I bought real armor as reference material.

Makino: The original idea was for a battle between martial artists wearing armor on top of ninja suits, set in a different world. As they fought, the armor would come off and the ninja suits would be used for the fighting.

So it was the opposite of the "Samurai Trooper" series, where the armor is "armed" on top of the Wonder Gear?

Makino: I've always loved armor.

Okamoto: I also really like Japanese armor.

Makino: Not only in Japan, but also in China and the West.

I love Western armor and helmet... I love Darth Vader... Water Margin Chain, that's Western armor style. But his head is lonely, so I put a chopstick on it, lol.

The armor of Vajra is said to be Chinese, but it is actually modeled after the armor of Kansuke Yamamoto.

Inoue: A lot of the robots in the robot animations that Sunrise has created have also been modeled after him (laughs).

(laughs) OkamotoKowa is a Gundam, isn't it?

(laughs) Inoue: How many different designs did you make?

Okamoto: No less than a hundred.

Makino: But I couldn't come up with anything cool. As you know, the model for Arago's armor is Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but Mr. Okamoto changed the halo ornament on the back of his head to a sword.

I went to the Okamoto Armor Museum, and ... to the Armor Museum in London.

Inoue: What? To cover it! I've never been to any

I hadn't been to any of the sites (laughs). (laughs) But they told me that the project I had been working on up to that point, about martial artists from other worlds fighting in armor, was "wrong! So they said, "No!

Makino: Mr. Numamoto gave us strict instructions: "Don't make an otherworldly story because children won't understand it," "Change the colors of the five fighters," and "Lower the age range so that children can relate to it.

The content of the previous projects had nothing to do with children (laughs).

Okamoto: Thinking about it now, it was similar to "Sengoku BSARTI. I was not thinking about children at all, and I thought that if you don't have a castle, you are not a samurai.

**What about the name "Samurai Trooper"?**

Makino: It was a tentative name I came up with on the spur of the moment at a sales office in America. For the time being, we just used the word "samurai" so that Americans would understand it, and then we used English that sounded like it. However, it remained as it was for a long time, and thanks to that, people called me "Oompa Looper" (laughs).

I heard that you bought a real chain as a reference material at Takara.

Makino: Yes. Even though it was the real thing, it was a modern fake, so you could buy it for about 200,000 yen, but I carried it around with me to events and such, so it got tattered.

When I was bowling, I was so excited that I threw it and it jumped over the gutter groove and struck the next lane!

Inoue: In the end, you had to replace the entire contents. How was it? Were you conscious of "Saint Seiya" (Seiya)?

I asked Akihiro Kanayama to help me with this one, since Norio Shioyama's designs were rather plain.

Makino: After the decision was made, Numamoto-san left me in charge.

After it was decided, Mr. Numamoto left it to me, and it was easy to work with a small group of like-minded people.

Okamoto: I was never aware of "Seiya" at all. I hadn't even thought about it.

Inoue: Anyway, "Seiya" was a big hit in those days. Numamoto's name was often mentioned.

Okamoto: This one is different from the "Seiya" toys because the idea was to make a toy that can be played with as long as the body is there even if the surrounding parts are gone.

Makino: The idea for Akuma also came from pro-wrestling or kobudo.

Inoue: Mr. Numamoto didn't seem to have any sense about that. Anyway, the sales of "Seiya" were so great that Takara, which had always been a hit when it came to figures with "GI Joe" and "Rika-chan", lost its share to Bandai.

We had a lineup of about 10 characters, but since we couldn't create a story with 10 main characters, we only released 5 characters. We decided to release the others little by little.

Makino: For the toy store side, we were planning to make four or five ninja suits, considering the investment. We didn't think about "Seiya".

Makino: The toy store was planning to invest in four or five ninja suits. We weren't thinking about "Seiya".

Okamoto: "Microman" was also not on our minds at all.

No, I don't. It's all about results. Makino: If the size is different, it's a completely different toy, so we didn't have the idea of "this is why, so and so".

Inoue: If the finishing touches are in the form of armor, that would be the main focus of the show.

In other words, the rumor of "Microman" is also an urban legend (laughs).

Okamoto: If there was any influence, it was Kinnikuman.

Makino: Yes, I think "Kinnikuman" had an influence on me.

**-As I mentioned earlier, the design of the armor mimics Gundam. The design of the armor looked like a robot to the boys at the time. Were you conscious of that?**

Okamoto: That was something I was conscious of.

Makino: The real helmet would have been too old-fashioned.

Okamoto: The design is based on the idea of "one point, four directions," and it is designed to curl outward from the center.

Inoue: That's the basis for designing giant robots, isn't it?

**-How do you differentiate between toy and animation planning?**

Makino: I think it's a matter of what to sell and how much to sell, how much to sell at the end of the year sales season, and whether to release a new character from time to time.

We are using character contents as toys, but we are not trying to sell them as "transformers.

As in the case of "Transformers," there is a toy at the beginning, and then the animation is made to match the toy. Samurai Trooper" was the first of these. Wataru" was the opposite: the story came first, and then the toys were made based on it. Toy companies are not good at creating stories.

That's why "Samurite Looper" was such a surprise for Takara. It was a surprise to Takara. Thanks to this, it became a hot topic, and I even appeared on TV wearing the armor, but the toy did not sell. I had never imagined that.

It was as if I had thrown a ball in a bowling alley, and instead of guttering, I crossed the ditch and got a strike in the next lane (laughs).

(laughs) OkamotoI feel that the people who make anime have a kind of willpower that says, "I'm not making an ad for a toy store, I'm not going to listen to what a toy store has to say.

I myself think it's fine as long as it's cool.

I've heard that there are people who work in the live-action field, but I don't think that's the case with Samurai Troopers. Everyone, including the director, worked very hard to figure out how to meet the sponsors' orders. While responding to the sponsors, it is the job of the animators to cook up a story that will appeal to the children because they will not be able to relate to the story if it is simply based on the functions of a toy.

Sunrise's field staff has been working on this for a long time.

As in the case of "Ma," there is a toy at the beginning, and the animation is made to match it. Samurai Trooper" was the first of these. Wataru" was the opposite: the story came first, and then the toys were made based on it. Toy companies are not good at creating stories.

That's why "Samurite Looper" was such a surprise for Takara. It was a surprise to Takara. Thanks to this, it became a hot topic, and I even appeared on TV wearing the armor, but the toy did not sell. I had never imagined that.

It was as if I had thrown a ball in a bowling alley, and instead of guttering, I crossed the ditch and got a strike in the next lane (laughs).

(laughs) OkamotoI feel that the people who make anime have a kind of willpower that says, "I'm not making an ad for a toy store, I'm not going to listen to what a toy store has to say.

I myself think it's fine as long as it's cool.

I've heard that there are people who work in the live-action field, but I don't think that's the case with Samurai Troopers. Everyone, including the director, worked very hard to figure out how to meet the sponsors' orders. While responding to the sponsors, it is the job of the animators to cook up a story that will appeal to the children because they will not be able to relate to the story if it is simply based on the functions of a toy.

I think this has always been the case for most of Sunrise's field staff.

Makino: Here, it was very difficult to get trademarks for names like Rekihi, Kouryaku, and Suikoden. All of them were already taken by fishing tackle shops and Buddhist altar shops.

**-Oh! I bet they do!**

Inoue: So you pay a royalty?

Makino: That's right. But I didn't change it and used it as is by paying the fee.

**-That's amazing.**

Makino: That's a feat of strength (laughs).

Inoue: I kept the names that had been decided in the previous planning stage, and created the rest of the characters in the planning stage, using the character designs of Mr. Shioyama, who can also draw sword fighting. The armor also had to be different from the Western armor, and it had to have a gap between the body and the armor.

Then we started to work on it, and made two scenarios in a week... ...writers worked hard, and we made six scenarios a month in the beginning.

Thanks to them, I was able to improve my schedule from the day before delivery in the beginning, to the week before in June, to having one stock in the summer.

Most of the fans were boys in the fifth grade!

When you say "Samurai Troopers", you might think that the fan base at that time was all female.

In contrast to Yuan, Kikoutei, there is a perception that this is not the case.

Inoue: That's an "urban legend" with a big misconception.

**--Oh, really?**

Okamoto: There was a huge pile of postcards from Kodansha, wasn't there?

Inoue: I received an amazing number of questionnaire postcards from Comic Bonbon, a magazine for elementary school boys that was running a manga series at the time. It was the second most popular manga in the magazine, and 95% of the respondents were elementary school boys.

Okamoto: A mook book was published to commemorate the event. Also, the "Shu" was popular among boys.

Inoue: Even in Mr. Shioyama's original design proposal, the main character's image was Shu.

**-I thought that Shu was a "curry character"** **(laughs). His energetic and strong personality is popular among boys.**

Inoue's main product did not sell well, but the licensed set of Rekihi's mask and sword sold very well. I found out the other day that there is a scene in the movie "Black Rain" where the toy is shown.

Okamoto: Wow, really?

Inoue: You can see the package containing the set on the back of the foreign actor's bag. It became a hot topic on the Internet.

It became a hot topic on the Internet (lol).

**-That's amazing!**

When I passed by the elementary school near where I was standing, I heard a voice saying, "Soen-zahn! I thought, "Yes! I thought, "Yes! In other words, the project I was working on at Sunrise had older characters, and they were all beautiful, which was very popular at the time. However, we decided that this was not good enough, so we lowered the age of the characters to an age that could be published in Bonbon.

That's why it was well accepted by the original audience.

So it was well accepted by the original audience.

**--But I feel that "Samurai Trooper" has a strong image of "female fans".**

Inoue: Since the girls made a lot of noise, even if the number was small, it certainly stood out. One day, I was summoned by a salesperson from Takara, who showed me a letter from a female fan and asked me what I was going to do. He said, "This is why you can't sell toys. So I asked him, "How many of these letters have you received? So I asked him, "How many of these letters have you received?

So, I showed them a list of listening rates by age that I received from the agency, and they stopped saying anything after that. I proved that it was not the fault of the product that it was not selling well.

The Makino toys were very disappointing because, unlike the original setting, the "safety standards and quality standards" for the target age group were given top priority.

This was a very disappointing result.

**--It is quite different from the image that was instilled in later years.**

There was a fainting spree of a girl at the "NGFIVE" concert, and it was the first time in the history of 1V that two episodes were broadcast in the same week.

In addition, at the beginning of 1989, one of the broadcasts was cancelled due to the Emperor Showa's death (smiles).

-(laughs) So, "Sam Light Looper" had a very checkered history at the time of its broadcast (laughs).

Makino: The popularity of the show was even featured on TBS's "News 23".

Okamoto: We also held stuffed animal shows in various places.

Inouye: Action shows on the rooftops of department stores and at amusement parks. I heard that they were very popular and very busy. Also, King Records was smiling (laughs).

**(laughs) -There is definitely a big difference between the idea of a toy and the result.**

In recent years, Bandai (now BANDAISPIRITS) has released figures of Samurai Troopers, and fans from those days have been buying them.

Kikoutei

The contrast between the white Kikouetei and the black Kikoutei

Since the white Kikouetei and the black Kikouetei have the same appearance, the setting line drawing is drawn as the white Kikouetei. The white Kikouetei and the black Kikouetei have the same appearance.

(A total of seven different types were released, including Ryou the Fiery, the white Kikouetei and the black Kikoutei armors.

I'm not sure if it's because of the spring in the middle of the body.)

Makino: There are no springs in the body, so the body is thin, right?

Inoue: That's right. In order to attach a protector, the body has to be thin to look good, but it was impossible to do so in the past because of the springs. But this time, I didn't have to do that, so I was able to create a good style, and more importantly, I had Mr. Shioyama's face drawing in mind. I was able to supervise this very well.

I wanted to do something original and new.

Inoue: What did the two of you think when you saw that it had become an anime in a completely different form from the original?

What did you two think when you saw that the animation was completely different from the original?

I was shown it at the Makino Rush and I loved it.

I was impressed the moment I saw it. I've always liked armor more than toys. Besides, I wanted to do something novel and new.

Okamoto: I thought it was really good too. I thought it was very good. It was so natural, or rather, I thought it should have been done better. I also drew the original pictures. (laughs)

You drew the Inoue armor, didn't you?

The emperor, Teru Okamoto, was the only one who insisted on not drawing a face inside the helmet.

He was the only one who insisted on not drawing a face inside the helmet. Normally, in the case of Rekihi, you would draw Ryo's face inside.

But the Emperor is a very special person. I thought it would be better if we couldn't see the human face. That's why I insisted on not showing his face.

**-What did you think of the colors?**

Okamoto: I had a rough idea of the colors I wanted to use, but I didn't worry about it at all because I was going to make an animation for it.

Inoue Speaking of which, you also drew the armor for "Shin Yoriden Samurai Trooper", didn't you?

Okamoto: Yes, I did. I wish I could have continued with that.

Inoue: I couldn't continue for various reasons.

It was a waste of time.

Okamoto: Looking at the current quality of images, I think I could make something good now. In addition, if we had kept the original toy project, we could have made a completely different story. --Thank you very much for your time today.

## Sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Fight! Super Robot Life Form Transformers

The transforming robots that appeared in the Mikroman "Micro Change" and "Diaclone" series, which were sold in Japan by Takara Corporation (now Tomy Co., Ltd.) since the 1970s, became a hit when Hasbro Inc. of the U.S., with whom they had a business alliance, released them under the name of "TUKIASFORME HINO.

Since then, a number of animations and movies have been produced, and it is a popular content that continues to this day. It should be noted that "Fight! 〜is the title of the Japanese broadcast.
2. ↑ An American professional wrestler who was active from the late 1940s to the 2000s. From 1980 to 1991, he was very popular in New Japan Pro Wrestling, fighting Antonio Inoki. His trademark was a costume of black shorts with the word "Ichiban" written in white letters and a pose with his index finger raised.
3. ↑ MA ME Watanabe

A professional modeler who has made a name for himself by creating examples of plastic models such as Gunpla, and who has gained attention for his painting method commonly known as "2A-me-nuri. He is also the founder and president of Max Factory, a hobby company that produces garage kits, figures, and injection kits.
4. ↑ Kiyomi Numamoto was the head of the drawing section at the former Mushi Productions and one of the founders of Sunrise. After founding the company, he moved to the toy company Takara. After the founding of Sunrise, he moved to the toy company Takara, where he was involved in many Sunrise productions from the standpoint of product development, and also supported Sunrise productions from the shadows as an advisor.
5. ↑ Kansuke Yamamoto

A warlord who served Shingen Takeda. He is counted as one of Takeda's 24 generals and one of Takeda's five great retainers.
6. ↑ Microman

A series of movable figures, approximately 10 centimeters tall, released by Takara Corporation (now Takara Tomy) in 1934.
7. ↑ Delivered the day before the broadcast, which is usually a week to a week before the broadcast. Due to deteriorating schedules and delays, films for animation and programs, which would normally be delivered to the station a week to a week before broadcast, finally reach the station the day before the broadcast date.
8. ↑ Curry character

Of the five main characters in "Himitsu Sentai Goranger" (2005), the comedic character "Kiranger" was a curry lover, with a fat and gluttonous appearance. For this reason, when we classify characters, we refer to those in charge of comedy in the work.
9. ↑ License: A license granted by a company that is not the main sponsor of a program to sell products such as related goods.
10. ↑ Black Rain

An American movie released in 989. It is a story of Japanese and American detectives fighting against the yakuza, set in Osaka, Japan. Directed by Ridley Scott, known for "Alien" and "Blade Runner". It is also Yusaku Matsuda's last film.
11. ↑ Incident of broadcasting the same number of episodes for two weeks

On September 3, 1988, due to a mistake on the part of the station, episode 7, which had already been broadcast the previous week, was broadcast again, an unprecedented broadcasting accident.
12. ↑ Rush: A preview of a video (in this case, animation) that is conducted only at the production site for confirmation, in which the completed screens are edited together according to the planned format, without any sound, such as dialogue or background music (sound effects).
13. ↑ New Armor Den: Samurai Trooper

A manga that was serialized in Kodansha's "Deluxe Bonbon" after the broadcast of the T series. Due to various reasons, the serialization ended when the new protagonists, Takeda Ryoga (Rekihi), Hyodo Saeki (Kourin), and Iwami Kai (Kongo), met, and the story is unfinished.

Original story by Izumi Nikaido, manga by Yuji Hosoi. The comic is a one-volume deluxe edition.