Azone

The doll company that made fabric clothing an art form and brought personality and customization to character dolls

At a glance

Status
Active.
Based in
Japan.
Known for
Pure Neemo dolls; poseable anime character dolls; real sewn fabric clothing.
Good fit
collectors who enjoy dressing; posing; photographing; customising.
Before buying
store dark fabric away from the doll body to reduce dye staining and buy from an authorised retailer.
Research coverage
Solid

TL;DR

  • Azone International launched as an affiliate in 1998 and is known for Pure Neemo, a poseable doll system with real sewn fabric clothing.
  • Licensed character dolls from Love Live!, Re:Zero, and Azur Lane bridge figure collecting and doll collecting.
  • Pure Neemo dolls are meant to be dressed, posed, photographed, and customized. The collector experience is as much about making as displaying.

From Textile Dyeing to Doll Making

Azone’s origin story is one of the industry’s great pivots: a company that started making tiny clothes and ended up building the industry standard for anime character dolls. The roots trace back to 1988, when Hayazono Tadashi’s father founded Shonan Screen in the Shonan region of Japan. Shonan Screen made stencil plates for textile dyeing, about as far from anime collectibles as you can get while still working with fabric. But economic difficulties in the 1990s forced diversification, and they began producing doll clothes for other manufacturers. Making clothes for other people’s dolls eventually led them to realize they needed to make their own dolls to properly show off the clothing.

In 1998, the company launched Azone International as an affiliate focused on doll clothing and accessories. Their first original character doll, Sahra, arrived in 2000. Shonan Screen was absorbed into the Azone brand by 2006, and Hayazono Tadashi now leads the company as president, continuing the family connection to the original textile business.

Pure Neemo and Real Fabric Dolls

Azone exists in a category adjacent to but distinct from the figure market: it is fundamentally a doll manufacturer, not a figure manufacturer. The product that defines everything is Pure Neemo, introduced in Autumn 2006 with the first Ex☆Cute series. Pure Neemo is a soft-bodied, poseable doll frame at roughly one-sixth of full character size, with interchangeable clothing, accessories, and face parts. The clothing is sewn miniature fashion, not molded plastic. Examine the stitching on a tiny school uniform or the pleats on a miniature skirt, and the amount of textile craft becomes clear.

The Pure Neemo Character Series is where Azone crosses over into the figure collector’s world. Licensed character dolls from Love Live!, Re:Zero, Azur Lane, and dozens of other anime franchises attract both doll collectors and figure collectors. Azone also produces Iris Collect dolls at roughly one-third of full character size, the tiny Picconeemo line at one-twelfth size, the story-driven Ex☆Cute series, and the Assault Lily action dolls that became successful enough to spawn their own anime.

Azone occupies the space between static display and active play. Doll photography, custom outfit creation, and faceup work, meaning painting or customizing a doll’s face, define the Azone collector experience.

Fabric Care and Dye Staining

Start with a licensed character you love in the Pure Neemo Character Series. Prices run from around ¥10,000 to ¥40,000 or more (roughly $67 to $270+ USD). One medium-specific caution: fabric clothes can stain the doll body if certain dyes sit in prolonged contact, so separate storage matters. Buy from authorized retailers to avoid the counterfeits that circulate for popular releases.

Limited licensed collaborations hold their resale value well. The Sheryl Nome and Hatsune Miku releases are famous examples that brought figure collectors into Azone’s orbit. Standard Pure Neemo dolls also stay in demand because doll collectors care deeply about condition and completeness.

Twenty Years of Pure Neemo

Azone is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Pure Neemo doll system with special anniversary releases. New character releases were shown at recent Wonder Festival events. Five flagship retail stores across Japan, including an Akihabara location, give buyers a physical home for the brand, while the US branch handles international distribution.

Sources