It's been a while since I last attended Good Smile Fest, and this year's event certainly didn't disappoint.
Spanning three floors, the first floor featured mostly Nendoroid figures, while the second floor featured a variety of Hatsune Miku-related artwork.
However, I was more interested in the third book because it covered all types of furs and had a big surprise.
Good Smile Company's current core product in the robot model segment is their Moderoid kits. They have achieved tremendous success in the model kit market by embracing popular anime series that competitors like Bandai Spirits and Kotobukiya had ignored.
It was a smart move, followed by offering smaller, cheaper versions of existing, very expensive chogokin-type diecast toy sets from other competitors.
However, the two largest mechanical toy brands owned by Good Smile Company are The Gattai and Hagane Works.
Previously, toys were typically large, but they used almost no metal parts, which kept their cost down. This series also aimed to revive designs from various series. «Brave at Heart» , which brings me to Dandivine .
The Gattai Dandivine toy is actually quite big.
Ollie Barder
This new robot anime series, recently announced, appears to be a modern take on the series' formula. «Brave at Heart» . I think it's a very clever film that follows in the footsteps of series like SSSS.Gridman и SSSS.Dynazenon , based on which popular toys from The Gattai were also released.
Seeing new toys by Dandivine , I came to the conclusion that merchandising, which is so important for robot anime, is very successful. Especially considering that Takara Tomy is releasing its own miniature Toyrise figures Dandivine .
We then move on to the Hagane Works releases, and while they are fewer in number, they are notable because they show how willing Good Smile Company is to put its investment resources into larger projects.
This is because die-cast metal toys like chogukin are expensive to develop and produce due to the materials used.
When placing such a bet on a large and expensive die-cast toy, it is necessary to ensure its successful sales, which brings me to Dancouga .
Now that The Gattai Black Wing and The Gattai Dairyuga have been released, the overall impact of this strategy can be seen more clearly. At the center of it all is the massive and expensive card The Gattai Hagane Works Dancouga.
Looking at it all together, besides the fact that it looks incredibly majestic, it gives the feeling that there is something bigger to come in the future that will support the release of these toys.
We are talking about the film Dancouga Liberation , a short excerpt of which was shown at the event. Masami Obari is set to direct.
Although Dancouga Nova and wasn't exactly to the fans' liking, despite being related to the original anime Dancouga , in this case it will not be so.
This new anime is based on the original Dancouga , which is a very smart move as it will energize the extremely large fan base Dancouga in Japan.
The Dankuga section of the event was truly impressive.
Ollie Barder
That's the whole point of Dairyuga and the Black Wing mods, and it was these toys that served as the blueprint for the new series.
Another important point is that the combination of Dairyuga and Dancouga to create Ultimate Dancouga was first shown in Super Robot Wars 30 , so it's obvious that there was a long-term strategy behind the production of this new anime. Dancouga Liberation .
The fact that Black Wing is involved in all of this again harks back to the long history of him teaming up with Dancouga to create Final Dancouga in Super Robot Wars .
I've known about it for some time now liberation of Dankugi , but I'm extremely glad it's finally happening, and the subtle way it's "announced" is just bold enough to fit the tone and characters very well. Dankugi .
Although Dancouga While it may seem like a relatively small anime franchise overseas, it's worth noting the sheer number of toys and now models released based on the original series in Asia.
A lot of people, myself included, obviously buy these toys and sets, so a new anime series that stays true to the original design and with Obari as director will definitely be a huge success.
Anyway, if we put aside all this news related to Dancouga , It was interesting to see how Good Smile Company's production volume has grown since the last such event. Of all the toy and model companies in Japan right now, Good Smile Company is taking some of the most interesting risks, and they seem to be paying off.
Let's hope they put more effort into releasing their Hagane Works models, as the die-cast metal toy market is still very promising both in Japan and especially overseas.
Good Smile Fest 2026 will also be held in Osaka on August 22 and 23.
Kind Smiles Festival 2026
Ollie Barder
Good Smile Fest 2026 Gallery
Venue: Belle Salle Akihabara
Date: June 7 and 8
Entrance: free
Follow me on X , Facebook и YouTube . I am also an organizer. Mecha Damashii and currently write regular columns in Japanese about mecha games and mecha anime for Game*Spark и Automaton .
This article was originally published on Forbes.com.