BANDAI official Ultraman toy information site

Oh...



this is····!



No way...!?





"My name is HANE2."




There it is!
Hanejiro from "Ultraman Decker" is now available!

Moreover,
It moves!It talks!It lights up!It makes sounds!


So, hello there! I'm Nono, in charge of Ultraman toy planning and development.

This is a sudden announcement, but we will be doing "Hanejiro."


Among the items released this year were some that were based on the concept of technical appeal, such as "Ultra Eye," which incorporates infrared communication to recreate NARIKIRI sequences, but in terms of technical specifications, "Hanejiro" is undoubtedly the top item.
We thoroughly pursued a balance between the cuteness of the design and the advanced EL gimmicks unique to AI mecha, and put all our efforts into "recreating the real Hanejiro that is both cute and cool."



Best of all, this Hanejiro has a built-in motor, so its neck moves automatically.

moreover,

It has a built-in microphone and a voice recognition system, so you can actually have a conversation.


As for the motor operation, if it simply continued to move back and forth it would be a gimmick that is used in relatively inexpensive toys, but the key point is that the movement is controlled by an IC to recreate the movement of "moving in response to sound and light."​



This ability transforms simple movement into "expression," helping to bring the character of "Hanejiro" to life, just like in the play.


And as for the main dish, voice recognition, its key feature as a toy is that it doesn't just "react to sound" but "distinguishes words," allowing for full-fledged conversation play.
Toys that incorporate voice detection are usually designed to "respond to sound," meaning that they will respond to any sound that is spoken to them (or even just clapping).
(For example, the PB version of Ultraman toy Beliarok had this gimmick.)

However, this time Hanejiro has a higher level of performance, being able to properly distinguish and respond to "words."
Therefore, its reaction will change depending on what you say to it, such as "Play some music!", "Where's the monster?", or "What's your name?"



As an aside, in the past I was actually in charge of a NARIKIRI item for a certain high school student warrior that had a similar function.
The excitement of actually playing with that product and the appeal of its gadget-like feel were quite encouraging, but because it was a NARIKIRI item, the process of inputting words to activate the transformation sequence was one-way, so I had the feeling back then that "it would be much more fun if this feature was incorporated into character figures so that they could have a "dialogue."​


A few years later, while we were planning "Decker," "Hanejiro" appeared, which was an AI mecha with an extremely high affinity with the "voice recognition x dialogue" gimmick, so we thought, "We have to take on this challenge now!" and moved forward with the project.

We already have the know-how from past experiences about what kind of voice recognition would be fun, so we're confident that we can create some really fun ways to play with it.
The details would be too long to explain, so I will introduce them in a separate article, but here is an example.

<Example 1: Monster commentary game>
This conversation game begins when you ask, "Tell me about monsters?"
If you tell the Decker the name of a monster that appears, Hanejiro will explain information about that monster.

The specific flow of the conversation is as follows:
"Tell me about monsters?" ⇒ Hanejiro "Which monster do you want to know about?"
"Monsargar!" -> Hanejiro "Monsargar is a monster sent from Planet Melanie to destroy civilization. Its weak point is its head, where its nerves are concentrated!"
The conversation proceeds in this manner.

If the part that corresponds to "Monsarger" is changed to" Eleking "or the name of another monster, Hanejiro 's commentary will change accordingly.
In short, it's a mode that allows you to play in a similar way to "Kanata's Dimension Navigation" at the end of the program.

The number of monster names we can support may increase or decrease slightly during development and testing, but we will do our best to increase the variety as much as possible!

<Example 2: Playing music>
When you say, "Play some music!" Hanejiro will respond, "Let's play this song. Start the music!" and then play the opening song, "Wake up Decker!"

Although this element is a little removed from what is depicted in the play, I decided to incorporate it because from my own experience I knew it would be an incredibly exciting experience.
This is the first toy to include Decker's opening theme song, so I think you'll find it appealing in that respect as well.

There are also many other games that utilize voice recognition gimmicks, such as a "operation command game" that responds to phrases such as "Guts Hawk launches!", and a rock-paper-scissors game.

We have also released a short video introducing these elements, so please check it out.

So that's all for the initial report for now.
"It moves! It talks! It lights up! It makes sounds! Hanejiro" is a toy that you won't regret buying, so if you love toys and gadgets, be sure to get it.