Interview: Kenji Washida, SVP Bandai Namco, on the Movie Monster Series and ‘Godzilla’

Godzilla Minus One is in theatres now, and to celebrate the franchise Bandai Namco has begun bringing the iconic Movie Monster Series of vinyl figures from Japan over to North America for kaiju fans to enjoy. For longtime Godzilla fans, this move of Bandai’s is huge as they’ve never been able to easily access this popular Japanese line. No longer will importing be necessary, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Godzilla is celebrating 70 years of nearly ongoing entries worldwide and Minus One is shaping up to be a huge hit for Toho, so being able to pair that with authentic vinyl is a fan’s dream come true.

We had the opportunity to speak with Kenji Washida, SVP at Bandai Namco, to discuss the design of the line and what makes it so special for fans. We also discussed Godzilla as a franchise and its lasting impact both in Japan and abroad.

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Is bringing the Movie Monster Series outside of Japan now for the first time a unique celebration of Godzilla, or just a release to go alongside Godzilla Minus One?

Kenji Washida, SVP Bandai Namco: I shouldn’t say never been launched, we’ve kind of launched before but this hand tagged, straight from Japan, you are correct. It is the first time bringing it to the United States. Because, the last five or six years, we have had a little bit of modification of the packaging and that kind of stuff, but now it is sort of the authenticity of Japan. People [now] travel back and forth and they have already seen a variety of Gojira and kaiju in the Japan market, and this again brings that same kind of authenticity to the United States. So this is the first time. 

Your question, is this a one shot? No, it is not. This is more the sort of an ongoing process. And also, [Godzilla] Minus One is of course a celebration of Gojira because – I haven’t seen it, because I will see it in the next three weeks – it’s got a very good tempo to the marketing beat. But we have a variety of a lineup of these monsters; from 1954 Gojira, the classic one, and you name it, it’s all kaiju vinyl figures in the line and we have been slightly breaking into the preorder monthly basis. We’re not going to launch it at the same time, and we already kind of have a, Nabe correct me if I’m wrong, we already have a couple of waves already announced to the North American market and we are getting a pre-order, correct? 

Yu Watanabe, Senior Manager, Brand Toy Department: Yes. 

KW: And then we have just started, as kind of mentioned, Godzilla Minus One in Japan is absolutely doing phenomenal growth in terms of movie box office and they have launched a few items in the theater, I think exclusively to those stores in the theater, they are being sold out. So they have already spearheaded the launch of the Godzilla Minus One version, but again, because December 1st is the movie release here in the United States, so we kind of have a timeline difference here for the schedule, but for now, with the preorders starting already on Amazon, I think you’ll see people are pretty excited about it. 

YW: Yes, it’s on Amazon and also at some specialty stores. 

When I was researching the waves announced in the press release, and I noticed – especially as these are the more true to Japan versions – that there seem to be kaiju selected from various waves that had been previously released in Japan. 

KW: Correct. 

Was there a specific process that went into selecting which kaiju to lead with? Were you trying to get a broad spread of the various eras of Godzilla and the various kaiju associated or was it about going for recognizability?  

KW: I think we have identified what’s kind of the favorite among the popularity of Gojira in North America. And we selected, not only around the popularity of the kaiju but then spread it out to a couple of waves down the road. 

Also, we have already incorporated a sort of a newness of kaiju, because I think of three characters coming out in one wave, two are more “classic” in terms of popularity and one kaiju is more sort of a newness. So [we] kind of mix and match it to spread it out because I think the totality of these characters in Japan are probably pretty close to 20 or 30 SKUs or characters already out there. And because you mentioned this is the first time for us to officially launch in the United States, we don’t want to exhaust it just all in one go. And also we don’t want it to be random when it comes up. We are sort of more strategic, really thinking of, as I said, the classic and the newness combined and how to try to make it more a great road map to releasing the entirety of the characters out there in Japan. Does that make sense?    

That leads me to a follow up question: How many waves would you expect to see in the coming year? We have kind of a soft launch here now with a couple of waves on pre-order, but could we see something like two to three waves a year for the coming future? 

YW: We should have several waves coming up. We haven’t decided specifically yet, but for sure it’s not like, only one wave. We should be launching maybe quarterly or something. 

So maybe the same amount as this year? 

YW: Yeah, this year. But you know, still TBD. 

Of course, of course. I do know a lot of completionists who, you know, they don’t just have one favorite, they have all the favorites. 

KW: Yeah, and at the same time, we are monitoring what’s coming out of the pipeline in Japan’s market too. So we might have to change it based on the strategy of what they are doing. We might have to change the characters, you know, swapping. For example, like “Minus One is doing great, okay, let’s bring it to [the US] a little earlier. So as you said, we have a couple of waves down the pipeline every year, but inside of the waves, the characters, we might have to change it. Strategy as we go. 

That makes sense, especially for bringing so many more forward – this has been a line in Japan in different incarcerations and gone for quite some time. 

KW: Right. 

What do you think makes this particular line such a strong piece of the puzzle for your product offerings? 

KW: Because of the vinyl figure. Bandai is very very well known for creating the vinyl figure at a very affordable price point. So there’s not another company really doing such a wide variety using this material and technique to create this. We kind of own this stuff. 

Of course, in the toy and action figure [space], you probably have seen there’s a material called PVC. It might be more sort of a great tool to create more mass production kind of stuff. However, because the kaiju – this is kind of a sales talk too – skin tone is more sort of a great reptile in that kind of, ah, you know, I shouldn’t say “grossness.” It’s more sort of a wavy, wonky type of reptile skin, the PVC cannot be presented the way you see Gojira as a kaiju, it’s that skin, that reptile feeling is a key. 

That’s kind of what we’re looking to bring down to the pipeline, if you get more small scale, vinyl figure is the one capturing that quality of that skin. 

That’s a good point, I have a couple of these right here in front of me and I’ve been holding them and interacting with them for the past few days but I’m noticing now with this Millennium Godzilla one – I feel that, it’s very tactile!

KW: (laughs) It is! So, I shouldn’t compare, but of course I’ll probably compare for you to understand it a bit – because we own the classic rights for Gojira right now, but we kind of took a break for a while and then the rights went to Playmates, the company, and they actually making some classic Gojira too but because they don’t have any technology to make the affordable price point of the vinyl figures – they went to PVC. So they’re kind of the same scale – the figure – but because of the skin tone, because of PVC, it was not really representing Gojira like the actual classic fan base wanted it to.

So, maybe including you, there are lots of debates going on. “Why can’t Bandai take this? What Bandai is bringing to vinyl figures is more capturing that kind of skin of a kaiju.” That’s why we decided to come back to connect to the fan base again because all the fans are speaking up to Bandai – the toys need to be here in the United States. So the licensor right now, Toho, is actually hearing them and they’re reaching out back to me saying “Okay Kenji, let’s walk together to make sure the North American market is actually satisfied by the Bandai toys.”    

So would you say then that consistency is really one of those goals that you’re going for with this Movie Monster Series line and other lines that you’re working on with Toho? 

KW: Yes. To have some background, of course you might know the industry enough, but still: Playmates still owns the movie classic rights and I think until one more movie comes up. Still, there’s a little bit of a different target marketing right now. That’s why we kind of hold on to the classic rights because the classic rights is the one that people actually grow up with. They really love to see the old classic Gojira movie and the Hollywood movie [product] is more sort of a really kiddy kid stuff so we can probably co-exist to align for a while. But hopefully, you know, Gojira is one of the biggest franchise out of live action to come from Japan and we try to own it. But right now we’re into more of a stepping stone, Bandai is reaching out to core fans that love more sort of Gojira classic line, to see that black and white Gojira come up. And that relates to our vinyl figures because that is the one that they used to collect a long time ago too. 

So we are not going to jump off the cliff. We just really are kind of stepping into, again, coming back to listen to our old core fans here in the United States. And then we are going to market as “Bandai’s back!” Then, Gojira will be a great strong line, with the vinyl figures.

That’s a lot of great context, and a great segue because I do have some questions as well about the larger brand and what it’s like working with that. First, with the Godzilla brand and the larger kaiju space that surrounds it, what would you say from a product team perspective has led to this kind of longevity for this particular franchise? 

KW: I mean, that’s a very, very good question and I kind of have to think through why Gojira is a big franchise.

I mean, part of it is because Gojira is a very classic, legendary movie from a long time ago and Gojira is part of those first live action giant monsters. People keep remembering those monsters from the very, very iconic firsts. Of course, this is the world wide basis. In Japan – I’ve grown up with the Gojira franchise too – it is just nothing to be compared as giant monsters. 

And actually, he’s not evil. You know, he’s kind of a very mysterious monster, is he with us or against us; helping human beings fight with the other monsters? It’s sort of a very kind of “create the story around them” because he’s so iconic. So, it is not simple – is the Gojira going to grow up and die, or save a life and then move on. It is more sort of varied storytelling, because, well mysterious monsters come from nuclear power, that’s core fundamental stuff. 

Then, the author or creator is creating the story around that to make sure that still Gojira is still very powerful – enough to save a live at some point but at the same time is destroying the town. So we’re really gravitating to the story every time – coming up to, and the contents I haven’t seen personally but of course I’ve been hearing from people who have already watched Godzilla Minus One is really back to the classic era: Gojira is coming out from nowhere after WWII happening and for these people, they’re saying this is the best movie ever to see the iconic Gojira stuff. 

So I’m really dying to see this. 

You mentioned the flexibility of the storytelling, which is something that I feel like I’ve observed more in the recent era for Toho. They’ve been doing a lot more experimentation with the storytelling, going back in time to older interpretations or even mediums that they haven’t used in some time. For example, I’m a big fan of Godzilla Singular Point, because there really wasn’t any other Godzilla story quite like it. When your teams are looking to make or expand products, with these kinds of new stories being put out, do they lead you to entirely new product ideas or is it more of “how do we get this new idea to integrate into our existing plans?”

KW: We’re probably not going to go too much expansion on something out of the figure. Sometimes, actions figures is always, always, always the call for people who are collecting – from any format to any size to the type of figure, you know vinyls and PVC, the actual figure to the feature figures, all kinds of stuff.          

But we really gotta see how the actual target audience goal gets bigger and sometimes I kind of have to speak up on behalf of Playmates because the Hollywood movie is really reaching out to a wider audience and might need a lot of play stuff coming out. As for Bandai right now, the classic line is the one that’s reaching those core fans, we probably we stay as a core category as we go and we might have a little bit of a format, I mean, the size is different from affordable price point to, you might probably see get expanded to a gachapon, a kind of capsule toy, as an entry price point. And also, we have a blind bag type of mystery something comes out and again vinyl figures with a little bit of a higher action figure orientation of a feature figure with a 12 inch size to it. That’s the product core of Bandai. 

I also should mention Tamashii Nations, which is a highly dedicated, highly articulated department under the Tamashii Nation brand, they have just announced while I was in Japan, the Godzilla Minus One [figure] pre-order just started. Those types are like $100, and I was just looking at the samples, it’s just close enough to see all the texture of this product – it is absolutely breathtaking. It is a different kind of level of what you see in the vinyl figures in capturing all the vinyl texture, this hundred bucks Tamashii Nations stuff is just going beyond the next level. That’s kind of the price point we try on every single approach from the Gojira perspective. 

That makes a lot of sense, and I do like the Tamashii Nations line as well – admittedly like you said a bit of a higher price point. 

KW: (laughing) It is higher, if only we didn’t have to pay the money!  

It’s absolutely worth it, for sure. 

KW: Right? So just wait, you have to see our actual sample for Minus One. I was absolutely just blown away. The leg points are absolutely reptile like, the texture is amazingly representing the Gojira in Minus One. So you’ll see. 

Do you have a personal favorite Godzilla film or adaptation of the character? I know we both want to see Minus One yet and really want to but there are others! 

KW: So my favorite one is the classic one. That little 1954, the original one. He’s not scary but he’s really kind of, I won’t say cute, but that’s the way that Gojira started. And of course that was when I was a kid, that was the safest time. I might have to remember, I think I had a couple of vinyl figures in my hand and play along – that is still in the back of my memory. That original original, that’s probably the best of the best for me. 

But I shouldn’t say the less of the Gojira or that I don’t like it, I like every kind of moment of the different formats and especially this Minus One, the director of Minus One is that [added] that kind of spikes up and lights up blue. When you see that in the trailer – he’s a genius. He’s a very famous director of that kind of movie. So I might see this and it might probably be the best one. But I’ll just hold off until I see it.  

I do have one not directly related to Godzilla question, but it is about the Movie Monster Series line specifically – as an Ultraman fan, I notice that the line does go outside of the Godzilla space sometimes to include other brands that Bandai Namco has licenses for – what are the chances that we could see those make their way to the States? 

Washida: Oh my god, you bring up a good point because I was going to go that route too. So, Tokusatsu is one of the new tent poles for Bandai to create as a category in the United States, because Gojira is kind of spearheading for the kaiju monsters, the big giant monsters coming in. 

And then you absolutely did a good segue to Ultraman. We are now working with the Netflix team, you probably heard of it – Netflix creating a new animation of Ultraman (Ultraman: Rising.) And also we are actually a great partner with Tsuburaya, the licensor of Ultraman. We are going to create the biggest splash of this franchise next year when the Ultraman Netflix film is available, which is probably looking at a June/July timeline. We are already pitching this Ultraman new line to retailers, to come up with the Gojira line, including vinyl figures like you mentioned, will becoming to the United States too.  

Wave 1 figures of the Movie Monster series are available at specialty and hobby retailers and on Amazon.

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Images courtesy of Bandai Namco