It has been a long wait for the first Asian male doll in the Barbie line. Now that he will be released soon as the first male doll in the Dolls of the World line (representing Japan), it is difficult to tell if I should be pleased or not. Clearly authenticity nor cultural accuracy is not the goal here. That being said, he looks like an anime villain sans the big eyes. He also looks fat (not that it's bad).
I guess I was expecting the first Asian Ken to have that oval face and androgenous look like a lot of current Asian male pop celebrities. I'm not a fan of the wide jaw in earlier Ken dolls. This is of course a personal preference that does not reflect all Asian doll hobbyists' view. The mean looking sword wielding doll, of course, doesn't help with the image that Asian men are traitorous.
This doll was made to be sold so the more important question should be, will I buy it? Had it been just another Asian Ken, I definitely won't, but this is the first Asian Ken and judging from the things that went wrong with that doll, there might not be another one, so I guess I have to buy it. I did ask for an Asian Ken and Mattel might get the idea that Asian dolls don't sell like what some blogger proliferates (although I'm doubting if ethnicity has something to do with it or there might me something wrong with the design or the marketing strategy), so I guess I have to buy it.
