What is “Fuchico on the Cup,” you ask? Well, Fuchico is a fictional character who sits on the edge of cups.
No, this is not at all high concept, but if you do not live in Japan, or do not have your finger on the pulse of what is trending there in the pop culture arena, Fuchico (traditionally spelled “Fuchiko”) might be new to you. But that is okay, that is why we are here! Fuchico is pretty much the essence of “kawaii” or “cuteness” and the craze for her really started around 2013-ish (maybe earlier). She started as a gasaphon (like those little 25¢ machines in the States, but much, MUCH better) mini figure release as the brainchild of manga artist Katsuki Tanaka. The idea is to put little Fuchico on the edge of your cup, and bask in the happiness it brings you.
Well, Max Factory is getting in on the action with some figma releases available now in a variety of colors. Yeah, any sane person who has an affinity to this concept will likely only need one of these figures in the color of their choice, but since we are far from that, we wanted to show you your choices: original (blue), “new color” (red), moss, peachy (more pink), and fresh (yellow). AmiAmi had a killer deal on these as pre-order pricing goes, but last I checked, all of the colors were still available, so you can still get the one you want, if you are inclined. I am not going to lie, they look great all together, so if we pushed you into getting multiple colors, please accept our apologies.
If you own any figma releases, you know that they are always of the utmost quality, and these Fuchico figures are no exception. At first I was guessing that these would be more stripped down in terms of accessories compared to most figma releases due to not really needing them, but I was wrong. These have just as many alternate hands as you would expect, as well a three different skirt pieces to help with posing, and a standard figma stand. Sure, you have to supply your own cup, but otherwise, these extra pieces can help add a lot of personality to various situations, and the potential of the figure moves far past just cup sitting to, well, anything really.
That is the true fun of these. These are not pre-posed gasaphon figures, Fuchico can now go anywhere, to be honest, I could devote an entire Instagram account to just putting these figures in random places with some subtle interaction. If such a thing already exists, I could get caught up in a feed for a long time. Sure, these figures aren’t really essential to a collection, but that is kind of the point, right? It is just a simple concept that hopes to make a day more interesting or irreverent, so I am all about it.
I would recommend picking up at least one of these in your choice of color, because they most certainly are fun figures. I have a feeling my wife will be finding them in random spots around the house, just to see them disappear the next day and end up in a new place. It is fun and probably just the bit of simple escapism that anyone could use throughout their day.
Want a new friend to keep your cup company? AmiAmi has you covered.
