Shruaki Trinity was a joint collaboration project between GOOD SMILE COMPANY (GSC) and RED Entertainment (RED) from late 2006 to 2008. The project initially started of with drama CDs, PVC figures of five heroines, and a manga adaptation of the story that was first serialized in the March issue of Dragon Age monthly magazine in 2008, with the first and only volume released in August 2008.

GSC oversees the five PVC figures that were planned for the initial releases, while RED deals with the story and all related tie-ins (drama CDs and manga).

The first five PVC figures that were released:

Shuraki Trinity BOX-01 Mishiro Akatsuki 1/8 PVC Figure (released twice)
Shuraki Trinity BOX-02 Riu Meifen 1/8 PVC Figure (released twice)
Shuraki Trinity BOX-03 Char 1/8 PVC Figure (released once)
Shuraki Trinity BOX-04 Needa 1/8 PVC Figure (released once)
Shuraki Trinity BOX-05 Rize 1/8 PVC Figure (released once)

At the Wonder Festival 2008 Winter event, GSC had a poster indicating there were plans for new PVC figures based on characters from the project, however that turned out to be the last official news about the project.

So what went wrong with Shuraki?

1. The fans got pissed, literally.

When BOX-01 Mishiro Akatsuki and BOX-02 Riu Meifen were first released, they were by far the best mass-produced PVC figures the market has ever seen at the time, but GSC had under-estimated the demand for both figures in domestic and overseas markets, causing the market value of both figures to skyrocket to levels unseen at the time. GSC learned its lessons by the time when BOX-03 Char was released, and increased the production run for it to meet market demand. They even did the right thing by announcing the second production run for both Mishiro Akatsuki and Riu Meifen.

However, with the flooding of the second runs, the market value for both Mishiro Akatsuki and Riu Meifen dived, in effect devalue both figures in the open market. Not only that, when GSC releases BOX-04 Needa and BOX-05 Rize, by far the least popular among the five figures, GSC made lots of them believing there would be a market for the excessive inventory. Sadly that was not the case. As observed by a fellow figure collector on his trip to Akihabara in 2008, the VOLKS shop at the time was holding a clearance sale, and all he could see were loads and loads of Needa and Rize in clearance prices.

Only BOX-03 Char retained the most value in the after market, but that only lasted for about a year. By early 2010, you could find one unopened and mint on eBay at around $100 USD, a far cry from being a highly sought-after product. The rest could be had ranging from $50 to $80 USD, more or less at cost for most sellers.

2. The story was weak.
The serialize manga only managed to get one volume released, and that's the end of it. Not only that, the magazine that ran the manga simply stop including it in the line-up without much fanfare. Bottom line: weak sales kill projects.

It was an ambitious project for GSC, but in the end, poor sales and horrible inventory practices doomed the project. It certainly serves as a good case for similar ventures in the future.

Who knows, maybe GSC and RED may resurrect the project down the road… we do find several light novels being released since 2009, plus the fact that the official site is still alive.