The Winning Figure of the Great Ninja Figure War Contest: Hiroki Akimoto's Kakashi! Learn About the Champ's "Figure-Sculpting Way"!

First, I would like to thank Masashi Kishimoto for creating the fantastic story of Naruto, as well as express my profound gratitude to everyone who voted for my Kakashi Hatake figure!!!

I aimed to win when I entered, of course, but I honestly didn't expect to, so when I saw the results I was so shocked it felt like time stood still for a moment (laughs).

I truly tried to nail down all the cool aspects of Kakashi into this one figure, so I'm relieved to see that intent came across to the voters!

There were people who even sent me messages of support thanks to this contest, so I'm thrilled to proudly present my winning figure!

I'll use this win as inspiration, and do my best to continue creating cool figures!

Thank you all very much!!!

—Can you tell us why you chose Kakashi?

Hiroki: The contrast in his personality where he seems like he doesn't care most of the time, but is a strong and reliable teacher when it counts is honestly something I find really cool. This Kakashi is of him fighting with Obito, whose body has been taken over by Black Zetsu during the Great Ninja War. Seeing him fighting on a knife's edge, clothes tattered and torn, made a big impression on me. That's why I chose this scene.

—What stands out to you about the Naruto series and its characters?

Hiroki: The character designs. They stand out in a way where you can tell them apart even just by looking at their silhouettes, so there's no shortage of characters that would be fun to recreate! It's pretty amazing how, no matter the character, each one is drawn with such refined details.

—On the other hand, was there anything about the sculpting process this time that was particularly difficult?

Hiroki: Kishimoto's illustrations are so well done that I felt a lot of pressure turning his 2D drawings into 3D figures. The bar being set so high was the most challenging part for me.

—The rules prohibited effect parts this time, yet you chose to recreate a scene where Kakashi is using Lightning Blade. Why is that?

Hiroki: I wanted to create a sculpture where people could imagine seeing Lightning Blade even without actually adding special effect parts. When you choose a scene that has momentum, you can create the idea of the technique with just the movement and positioning, so my goal was to do that with my design.

—Was that to show your respect for Kishimoto?

Hiroki: Precisely!

—Leaving the creative process of figure sculpting aside, what is your favorite scene from Naruto?

Hiroki: Asuma Sarutobi's final moments. Not only did that one reduce me to tears, I also really loved the scene that follows it where Shikamaru smokes a cigarette in imitation of his lost mentor.

Hiroki: Also the battles with Zabuza Momochi. Not just how they show Naruto and his team's first time fighting for their lives against a powerful foe, but the emotional impact of the portions focusing on Zabuza and Haku's story as well.