Butterfly Doll stole Mizuwali's designs

Doll Manufacturers Irokebijin
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Hi everyone. This is Steven from Celesdolls, and I was asked to post this here.

For those that don’t know me, I write about doll news on my blog, and I’ve been somewhat covering the latest Piper Doll/Irokebijin drama. A few days ago, I released a post here, where I identified the “culprit” of the Doll4Ever drama as Butterfly Doll. You have to scroll near the bottom of the post to see it.

Basically, Butterfly Doll is a newish brand with designs extremely similar to Irokebijin’s. They’re made in the original Doll4Ever factory. Combining what Mizuwali said recently with Butterfly Doll’s latest tweets, it’s easy to put the pieces together - especially when Butterfly Doll began selling Irokebijin dolls (Koharu, Hina, Sayaka, Abby) under their own brand recently.

Originally, I held off on writing about this (lack of evidence, and Doll4Ever/Mizuwali probably didn’t mention them for a reason). But as an individual blogger, I want to be a voice who can say things that others can’t. Keep in mind, Mizuwali has never specially named them, and I haven’t spoken to either Mizuwali or Doll4Ever about this. This is purely my own assessment or guess, which I think has more than enough evidence to prove.

Anyway, if this is true, I think it’s important to spread the word. While copyright laws may be (almost) non-existent in China, most Piper and Irokebijin doll owners (and fans of Mizuwali) are global (and should know what’s happening). Many people still haven’t heard of this “drama,” and since Japan is both Butterfly Doll’s and Irokebijin’s target audience, I think there’s an interesting clash (and an easy way to stop Butterfly Doll through information). Again, it seems that Doll4Ever and Mizuwali can’t speak about this (and have already moved on), but this is still relevant in my opinion, as Butterfly Doll continues releasing Irokebijin dolls as their own (and Piper Doll’s Miho in their banner suggests that Piper Doll may be next too?).

PS: If Doll Forever or Mizuwali wants this removed, please do so. Also feel free to move this topic if it’s in the wrong section. Thank you for your time. :slight_smile:

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Welcome Celesdolls! Thank you for helping clear up the situation :+1:

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You are a welcome addition to our forum @CelesDolls !

Thank you for posting this important information.

  • I highly recommend your blog for all the latest news!*

:clinking_glasses:

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Welcome!

Thanks for shedding some light on this whole situation. People need to know not to order Butterfly Dolls with their stolen designs.

We stand firmly behind @mizuwali and his beautiful designs, and wish him all the very best in his future endeavors! :+1:

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Some very good (nice to know) information here. Thanks for this post! :100:

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Butterfly Doll saw my post and emailed me today. They accused me of smearing, attacking, lying, and slandering them…

(Through some language barrier) they said their factory no longer supplies Doll4ever, and claimed that they never “stole” anything. The writer of the email said his boss “sculpted” the seamless neck design, including the skeleton and molds. Basically, claiming that they created everything themselves including the Platinum TPE.

They didn’t address the “stolen” Irokebijin designs though, which I will ask them about. They also claimed that Doll4Ever isn’t actually based in Taiwan, and suggested something negative about Doll4Ever.

It would be cool if @Mizuwali could also chime in to get a clearer story from both sides. But right now, it sounds like they’re claiming that because they “made it,” they own it, which of course isn’t true if Mizuwali or Doll4Ever designed the original heads and bodies. I just need that confirmation to really solidify it, but I’m pretty sure Mizuwali did design everything; the factory just made it for him (which supposedly includes the molds, skeletons, and materials).

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Damn right! Piper! :muscle:

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Welcome to LDN CelesDolls! Excellent to see you here, I really enjoy your news blog :100: :beers:

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Hi everyone. I have an important update about this “drama” and it’s not what anyone expected. And some people won’t be happy about this, but it’s my personal and honest opinion.

Despite being a random blogger, after spreading this news (the title of this of thread), I had an obligation and responsibility to fact-check and get both sides of the story. Maybe I should never have gotten involved.

After learning about factory-brand relationships in China, and speaking with both Butterfly Doll and Doll Forever, I’m no longer on either side in this conflict. Right now, I’m in the middle. The idea of ownership is very complicated in this case, and can be argued for either side.

I’ll leave you with this post, which is a everything so far all in one place: Doll Forever vs Butterfly Doll: The Complete Drama & Saga - CelesDolls

Make your own conclusions. I didn’t have much to work with, but in the end, I’m neutral. It’s hard to trust anything either side says because it’s all hearsay. Both sides moved on, so rather than continuing to meddle with this, I should move on too.

Thank you for your time. Yoast readability score says this is the worst post I’ve ever written. Have fun.

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Great that you fact check your stuff. Fact checking is something the MSM rarely let get in the way of a story :wink:

China is a different world and the concept of copying or stealing designs is very different over there. Intellectual property rights are non-existent.

Copied from the internet “In Chinese culture, copying (I would not use the word “stealing”) symbolizes respect for a product and has roots in Confucianism.”

In find myself agreeing with your article.

I asked Miss K (my Piper Doll Akira) what she thinks and she said “Butterfly Doll deserve a big spank.” She’s definitely in the Mizuwali camp :slight_smile:

If Butterfly Doll and Piper Doll / Irokebijin end up making the same products, it will come down to who makes the best quality product as to who will get the custom. It will be interesting to see how the brands diverge as new models come on the market.

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Very interesting, and also very unfortunate that business partners who may have called each other friends, are now adversaries over must what have been different visions going forward, so much so, that Mizuwali felt the need to cut ties with Butterfly Dolls.

A good reporter lays down the facts found, totally unbiased, which you have done. It’s up to the individual reader to make up his or her mind up now.

Thanks for providing your findings to give us a better understanding of what is and has been going on. :clap:

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A post was split to a new topic: Question about Anime Doll Aisa

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Hi everyone. I updated my post with the latest information: https://celesdolls.com/doll-forever-vs-butterfly-doll-the-complete-drama-saga/

In short, Butterfly Doll just released some new “Piper Dolls” that spark some moral issues. In my latest Chapter (5), I discuss the legal and moral implications of their latest release, as well as something else they did behind-the-scenes.

While I’ll remain neutral to keep things as fair as possible, from a Western or moral perspective, things are beginning to favor Doll Forever again.

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Thanks for keeping us updated Steven. :pray:

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If I read and understand this right BD can only make copies of the molds they have and try to frankenstein something together.

In the end that means that copies of molds are not identical to the original and have small deviations and imperfections which will grow over time when you don’t have the original digital source. Unless BD starts creating their own original stuff…

My personal opinion is to stick with D4E and Mizuwali the creator and head behind those beautiful dolls.

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Sorry, my last Chapter was really wordy and confusing. :sweat_smile: I edited it a bit. You’re mostly right.

Basically, BD has access to everything, but I personally don’t think they should create new dolls/molds based on Mizuwali’s designs (Akira, Jessica, etc) that didn’t existed before, like a 140cm Akira. Fine, they proved ownership of the old molds, but don’t keep making new ones with Mizuwali’s designs…

Yes, they definitely should make their own original stuff. In my opinion, that’s their only way forward. They’ll never make it re-releasing and recycling Irokebijin and Piper designs (living in Doll Forever’s shadow forever).

This shows how vital Mizuwali’s role was in all this. He was the artist that designed all the heads and bodies. Without him, Butterfly seemingly has no artistic talent to create anything new themselves. They may have developed the technology, but are too focused on “reclaiming” Doll Forever than becoming “Butterfly Doll.” (their own identity)

They showed me how great they were at developing things, yet given the chance to create something new, they simply mix-and-matched Mizuwali’s designs.

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That was an amazing read! Thank you for sharing.
I write this directly after reading you blog so I don’t know yet what other peoples thoughts on this are.

But I think Butterfly Dolls will be the winner in the end not morraly but just economics. The global doll market is huge and only some people know now about the things behind the scenes… People click and buy the doll they want to have and don’t care and don’t know about this backround.

This whole “I design a model and you make it for me” thing seems to be common practice in China.

Many “brands” use one and the same factory and differences can only be seen in their “own” head models.

For me, your post definitely clarified how some things work over there and why different brands offer the same bodies.

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Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me if butterfly has the molds, was doing the production etc. Mizuwali had the design vision, did all the work promoting the designs and they (Piper/Irokebijin) will always be associated with him. This is just bad business in my opinion, dirty honestly. It does the industry and China in general no favors in my opinion.

Piper :muscle:

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My friend, I regret to tell you that you made the wrong bet. :wink:

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Dear friends who care about us, thank you for your support and continued attention. Thank you also to celesdolls for your unremitting efforts in the past two weeks to reveal the truth to everyone. Many people have come to ask about this matter before. I have kept silent for two reasons. One is that I have been very busy recently to deal with these situations. People are busy every day. Work with factories or third-party suppliers.
Another reason is that I have always been kind to the little brothers who used to do things for me, hoping to give them a chance to repent, but it turns out that their behavior has become more and more outrageous, and they have lied more and more, so I have to tell the truth clearly. . I will provide the detailed content and all the evidence to celesdolls. As for how he will present it? How much will he present? This will be completely up to him. I hope this can solve everyone’s doubts. I am also here to support us for all the troubles we have caused. My friends apologize for making you worry!
Mizuwali :pray:

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