About the studio
Good Smile Company started in May 2001 as an event management and talent company, which is not exactly where you'd expect a figure manufacturer to begin. It moved into hobby products in 2002 through a partnership with Max Factory, and by 2004 had become primarily known for exactly what fans associate it with today: Nendoroid and Figma figures of practically every anime character worth collecting. *From booking events to filling shelves worldwide with tiny plastic anime characters, that's a career pivot.* Based in Sotokanda, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and founded/chaired by Takanori Aki, Good Smile Company isn't an animation studio or a broadcaster, it's the merchandise side, though its Hatsune Miku figures alone have shaped how a huge chunk of Vocaloid and anime fandom expresses its love of a character. Two decades in, it's arguably done as much to keep anime fandom's shelves full as any studio has done to keep its screens full.