Most people may have never heard of ball jointed dolls before since it is such a niche hobby. Although it is not a very common thing talked about in modern society, ball jointed dolls have made their way into pop culture.

Anime, movies, and books have started showcasing ball jointed dolls. Today we are going to look at some media that has showcased these dolls.

BJDs and Anime

I feel like anime is really starting to accept BJDs. There are BJD companies that are even doing collaborations with different anime titles. Here are some of the anime shows that have BJDs in them.

Rozen Maiden

The anime originally aired in 2004 and has 4 series or seasons. The anime was based off a manga from author Peach-Pit who published the story in 2002 with the original story have 8 volumes.

If you like stories about magic and dark pasts this is the anime for you.

So a quick synopsis for you:

“In the 20th century, a legendary doll maker named Rozen created seven bisque dolls which were powered and given sentience with a gem called Rosa Mystica. Since then, Rozen sent the dolls away to find masters and to battle among themselves to gather each other’s Rosa Mysticas; this competition is referred to as the Alice Game. When a doll obtains all seven, they are to become a perfect doll dubbed as Alice and will be reunited with Rozen.

Rozen Maiden follows Jun Sakurada, a middle school student who has withdrawn from society after suffering persecutions from his classmates. He is chosen to become Shinku’s master and joins the Alice Game along with the other dolls masters.”

There were a few doll makers that even made dolls after the popular characters from the story!

Angelic Layer

Next up is a super cute series called Angelic Layer. I really enjoyed reading this series as a kid because the characters were so loveable! If you know anything about CLAMP get ready for a story full of twists and turns!

First serialized in 1999 and written by CLAMP, the story follows Misaki Suzuhara who gets swept into the world of dolls that battle.

“The primary protagonist is Misaki Suzuhara. Despite her short appearance she is a seventh grader who just moved to Tokyo to live with her aunt, Shouko Asami. After arriving in the city outside of Tokyo Station, Misaki watches a battle between two dolls on a big live-screen called Angelic Layer, a highly popular game in which players (called Deus) buy and custom-design dolls known as Angels that are moved by mental control when on a field called the “layer.” “

The story is super cool and I love seeing all the different types of dolls that fight! They also made an anime that aired in 2001 with 26 episodes! Takara made a doll for the show but it is very hard to come by now.

Another

BJDs seem to be put at the center of horror themes at times. Another is an anime that aired in 2012 and is a horror anime. I personally have not seen the series but it was interesting to see BJDs put into the show.

“Another follows Kouichi, Mei, and their classmates as they are pulled into the enigma surrounding a series of inevitable, tragic events—but unraveling the horror of Yomiyama may just cost them the ultimate price.”

I really don’t know what the relationship between the dolls and the characters are but they do appear is several episodes.

And you guessed it! Someone made a doll from this show too! Azone went ahead and made one the characters available for purchase at one point.

Dolls

On my Facebook page, “Dolls” the manga, was suggested. This is another one I have never heard of before but I am actually really curious about it now. The series was made in 1995 and has 4 volumes.

“The stories revolve around some special dolls, the Plant Dolls, and the people who buy them. The dolls choose their owners, and desperately need their owners’ love; they often reflect their owners’ personalities for better or worse. Each story is independent of each other, though there may be references to knowledge learned in previous stories. Some stories have a fairy-tale like quality: they are eerie fables meant to warn against certain actions. There are several non-Plant-Doll related stories included in the Viz-released volumes as well.”

BJDs in Movies and Music

BJDs have made their way into movies and in music videos too! Granted most times when they appear they are always kind of eerie or made to be a bit creepy.

Music

First up we have the singer Kerli who featured BJDs in her music video “Walking on Air”

The BJD she has featured in her video is a Doll in Mind Flora.

Kerli also has another music video called “Tea Party” in where there are several dolls featured in the video too!

Here is the music video if you would like to check it out!

Mistula

Over in the Philippines there is a virtual band group of BJDs named Mistula.

They were pretty popular and even had their own fanclub! I tried finding some songs but it was back in the early 2000s so it was hard to find. There was this really neat feature about the band and the owners featured in this video!

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This japanese rock band had a cover called “Yami no Kuni no Alice” and a BJD was featured on the cover image. However the song does not feature any BJDs.

Movies

An all time favorite to most BJD collectors is the Korean horror movie called “Doll Master”

I actually own this movie and really enjoy watching it!

5 young people, a quiet doll maker in a wheelchair and her dedicated helper, a chained old man in the basement and a mysterious young girl in red… all together in a lonely doll museum in the woods. What starts out as a fun trip to pose for new dolls soon turns into a nightmare that not everyone will survive.“

Several of the dolls were from a company called Custom House Dolls. The company has gone through many different changes and is now owned by Luts!

BJDs continue to captivate

I think it is so neat to find BJDs coming into main stream things! I really enjoy seeing them in music videos and movies. I do wish they would not be portrayed too much in horror things but I guess some people do fear dolls in general. I hope that they continue to become popular and people can appreciate the artistry and craft that goes into making these dolls.

Have you seen any of these anime/manga/movies/music videos before? Have you seen BJDs in other mainstream areas? Tell us about it in the comments section below!