Joseph Luster
February 26, 2019 
Makaizo is a term that translates to “devil modification,” which is exactly the type of practice that resulted in the arrest of Kyoto Prefecture resident Takuya Matsuda. In this particular case, the modifications in question were an attempt to increase the sex appeal of figures from the Love Live! idol anime franchise.
The process behind the modifications was pretty straightforward. Matsuda essentially took more revealing figures and combined them with the heads of Love Live! characters, resulting in “super sexy” products he could sell at a high price online. According to reports, Matsuda sold four makaizo figures between November and December 2018 and raked in ¥51,750 (about $465).
There’s a different type of price that comes along with this practice, though. By modifying and selling the Love Live! figures, Matsuda violated Japanese copyright laws, leading to an arrest by the Gunma Prefectural Police.
Here’s a sample of a makaizo figure, which combines Kanan from Love Live! with Utaha from How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend</i>:
ニュースZEROで映ったらしい魔改造の果南フィギュア完全に詩羽先輩やん pic.twitter.com/1QPpQpwGF9
— チョコパン (@chokopan1202) February 23, 2019
魔改造善子と果南のフィギュアがニュースに出てきて草。 pic.twitter.com/YbBUbYYjmr
— やまねこ (@kyojre) February 22, 2019
While Matsuda admitted to the charges, it sounds like this isn’t the first time he’s made some decent coin selling makaizo figures. The investigation also uncovered over a decade of online auction sales that added up to around ¥39 million (about $351,000) in revenue. While it’s unclear how much of that came from modified sexy figures, Matsuda says he has been using the money for everyday expenses and to pay off loans.
Source: Asahi Shimbun via SoraNews24
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