Interest
Mel Kishida Wants to Bring Cuteness to World of Motorcycles
posted on by Eric Stimson
Mel Kishida, a character designer known for a signature brand of cuteness (Hana-Saku Iroha, the Atelier video game series), is interested in bringing his style to the world of motorcycles. Motorcycles have become more popular among anime fans lately as part of the itasha trend. He plans to design a motorcycle helmet and sticker featuring four members of the J-pop group Niji no Conquistador (Conquistador del Arcoíris) and the unofficial Doberman mascot of GooBike, a motorcycle website.
From left to right: Shigematsu, a representative from GooBike, Okumura, Nagata and Nemoto
When asked what images they associated with motorcycles, the four singers (Minari Nagata, Nagi Nemoto, Yuka Shigematsu and Nonoka Okumura) chose "cool," "choiwaru" (a fashion term referring to dapper middle-aged men), and "tokusatsu heroes." Nevertheless they also long for a "dreamy cute" design typical of Kishida — "Melhentic," as Shigematsu joked. The Japanese use the German word märchen to refer to fairy tales. "Lace, rainbows, stuffed animals, bunnies, bears — you know, a fancy feeling," Nemoto explained. They called the combination of the harder, edgier tone of motorcycle culture with the fluffier, fancier feel of Kishida's style "dreamy cool."
Kishida's preliminary sketch
Unfortunately, Kishida doesn't keep a schedule, so he hasn't set a date for when his design will actually be done. Stay tuned!
Kishida sincerely pleads for your understanding.
Among Kishida's other antics, he has wrestled a high-ranking sumō wrestler, held an autograph session with fans wearing a white bodysuit, and cosplayed as Kantai Collection's Shimakaze.
[Via Kai-You]
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