Works by the artist Takeyama Noriya! "Keronga", "Keronen" and "Koijalas", charming Vinyl Toy!

Art Soft Vinyl Introduction!!

We'd like to introduce you to Takeyama Noriya, an artist in the Designer Toy world that we are personally a fan of!

Mr. Takeyama from "Melhenz"! (https://www.melhenz.com/)

Speaking of Mr. Takeyama Noriya, his collaborations include "Akabane Baneko", "Amabie no Bietarou", "Keronga", "Keronen", "Koijalas" and many more!

@n_takeyama

If you like Designer Toy(or Art SOFUVI), you may be thinking, "Whoa! Takeyama-can!". If the name Takeyama Noriya doesn't ring a bell, it'actually the person who was in charge of Product Planning for "Koeda-chan", one of Takara Tomy's signature products. He also designed the legendary "Deku-Cchino" figures, which sold out instantly at Wonder Festival in 2006, and is still sending out variouse messages through his character designs, sense of world, and cute stories.

This time, I would like to introduce you to the actual "Keronga", "Keronen" and "Koijalas".

"KERONGA/KERONEN"

First of all, "Keronga " and "Keronen"! Frogs!

The first thing that comes to mind as a characteristic of Mr.Takeyama is "frog".

Yes, that's true. When I think about it, frogs are one of his most popular motifs, and he has used them in many of he's works.

Starting with the "poolys, and now this "Keronga", "Kero Boy", etc., frogs are a must.

Most of the time, soft vinyl products are filled with the thoughts and concepts of the artist or creator, and the objects themselves are often based on old legends and proverbs. Frogs are one of them.

-The noise of frogs and cicadas
-The frog in the well does not know the great sea
-A frog's child is a frog
-Water on a frog's face
-A snake swallowed a frog.
-A frog stared at by a snake
-The frog was expected by the snake
etc...

And I'm sure you've seen frogs before! Everyone has! So I thought they were quite familiar to me. Once again.

I've been looking into it, and it just popped up.

Frogs are a symbol of good luck in Japan! Frogs that exist in this world are said to be omens of happiness, such as the return of money or the return of a loved one. Frogs are also said to give us the power to live positively and not look back, as they have a tendency to jump only forward.

Frogs are good luck charms! In China, they increase fortune. In Bali, they are messengers of the gods. In South America, frogs also bring good luck.

You'll be like, "Wow, a frog!"

They sell frog charms at souvenir shops, and I used to carry around a shiny frog figure in my wallet! I don't know if it increased my money or not, bit it's a familiar creature with a cute form and luster.

ABOUT KERONGA AND KERONEN

First of all, this "Keronga" is an Designer Toy from "TAKEPICO", a collaboration between Takeyama Noriya and "Kaiju-Artist" Picopico!

Design by: TAKEPIKO/ Sculpted by: Picopico.

The gradation of colors in this picture is devine. So very photogenic, isn't it?

The size, design and molding of this Vinyl Toy is wonderful, and the way it can be painted to show a variety of expressions is very appealing!
New colors or the custom color comes out currently, so every time the new one comes out, I get excited!

"KERONGA" is a soft vinyl figure that has been on the sale since 2014 as the second installment of the "Oedo Monster Series", and it is a work of art that combines with realism of a frog-like reptile with cute deformation. I'll talk about this later when I introduce "KOIJARAS", but the VAG series also released a child version of "KERONGA" called "KERO BOY", which is very cute when you put them together.

And the other frog: KERONEN

This one is a collaboration between Takeyama Noriya and Hiroshi Yokoyama's "Maschinen Krieger". "Keronen Cross", "Keronen Keros"(Ma.K version), "Keronen Doris", and Special flash armor (Phosphorescent)!

This is also too cute, and I can get the tadpole pilot on the back.

The pilot also has "arms and legs" that can be inserted.

And look at the back, the nozzle part is upside down "crab". This Vinyl Toy is full of playfulness! The round egg-shaped motif is cute, too!

It's really great a great design! "KERONEN"(Keroenen) was reliesed in the beginning of last year, and when it was first announced, the design really caught my eye! the round egg-shaped lines of Maschinen Krieger and Takeyama's design of the frog are a perfect match, and I think it's a must-have for any fanatic. I think the co-existence of the mechanical and the frog's Biologicalness is a world that only Takeyama can create.
The tadpoles (OTM) are removable, right? It's even cute when you put it on your finger!
The pilot on the frog-shaped robot is a tadpole, and the fact that it can be detached and turned into a finger puppet makes it very playful and interesting! I'm sure my kids would love to see this! Also, as for the Keros, Nencli's Yokoyama-sensei himself created the deco mask.
The coloring and weathering is exactly what you'd expect from Maschinen, and the detailed use of decals is just irresistible!

And the last, but not least "KOIJARAS"

This is another Designers Toy from "Takepico", a collaboration between Takeyama Noriya and monster artist Picopico!

Look at this one too, the coloring. It's beautiful, isn't it?

This is the first "Oedo monster" made under the name TAKEPICO. If you take a closer look at carp, you'll notice that they have a surprisingly creepy face, but I like how they've deformed them into monsters while maintaining their realism. Incidentally, like the "KERO BOY" I mentioned earlier, there is a small Vinyl Toy figure called "KOI-BOZU" in the Medicom VAG series. "KOI-BOZU" is a baby version of "KOIJALAS", but when you put them together they look like a father and son. (VAG= Vinyl Artist Gacha)

And there are many other coloring versions out there, so please take a look.

TALKING MORE ABOUT IT ON YouTube!

Fot the next Art Soft Vinyl Vol.2, we have decided to have a conversation between Takeyama Noriya and Min-Min at Gonza "Shina", a place that promotes the "beauty of Japan".

I would like to introduce you to some wonderful Vinyl Toy artists, along with their works, including the concept and background behind the characters. SOFUVI is more than just a toy, it can also be used as art or interior decoration, so we've put together stories of art SOFUVI artists who are unique in their own way.

VINYL TOYS OR FIGURES CAN BE PURCHASED AT "T-BASE"!

T-BASE JAPAN