The review will be about their Gmp-11 and my interaction with GKO

The mask is a anime version of the character “Aria Blaze” from “My little pony: Rainbow rocks”.

My personal experience with GouKaOu kigurumi studios(GKO) was very good. I am also really happy with the quality of my semi-custom mask and while it took some time before it was done, I can't complain.

So I am going to split the review in a few sections: production time, the mask, the hair, comfort, and communication.


PRODUCTION TIME
When I contacted GKO they gave me the month when production would start (This was seven months from that point) and that it would take two months to complete.

In the end it took roughly eleven months before the mask arrived at my door step. The last four months were production time. This was due to some issues at the time and as far as I know everyone that ordered around my time suffered from this delay, some more than others.

While I could complain that production time doubled in that period and that it cost me my debut at a con, two months isn't all that bad.
THE MASK
Before I say anything, remember that I have only worn ride the pig and ayame masks and seen the inside of a charming kitsune mask. This means my comparison pool is extremely small.

It is also worth noting that my character is from a cartoon and GKO is responsible for transforming her into a style that fit the mask. Before he did this he sent anime fan art of the character to me to show what style he wanted to use. He truly showed interest in my character and devotion to the project.

So now for the mask itself. The first thing I noticed was how smooth the mask was.  The outside is completely flawless and the paint job is absolutely spot on with some realistic looking rouge. The view ports are well hidden and can't be seen unless you know where they are. The eye prints are what you'd expect them to be, nothing fancy. (I probably wouldn't have agreed with anything fancy anyway)

The stars were also custom made by GKO and look really nice on top of the mask. They were cast and they don't look cheap, and are fairly sturdy.

The inside is a bit bumpy but is still smooth. The padding is nothing special, but it distributes the weight nicely and doesn't get in the way. It’s also removable, as it is glued to a strip with velcro on one side. It might be worth noting that some of the more expensive miniatures I have bought came with the same padding, if that is any indication to the quality.
THE HAIR
Easily the best part of the mask. And the worst part, depending on how you look at it.

My character has the standard twintails that we have seen before in the miku style masks. The difference is that my character has green stripes running through the hair. When I commissioned the mask, this is the part where I expected something to go wrong. But GKO got all the stripes right, putting them in all the right locations and made sure they are properly connected.

They also made two pieces of hair that go around the mask in a heart like shape. This was done really well and the glue used still holds up after 5 months. They also made the hair 80 cm long, yet the placement of the tails is just right, so it does not pull the mask back too much.

But there were also some bad parts here:

The glue/hairspray used to hold up the heart shape did clutter a bit. Luckily this is only noticeable up close and when you are as tall as I am no one gets to see it.  I have seen styling on other masks and it looks just as sturdy but also looks nicer. This might be due to the heart shape, which can be hard to hold up right.

The second bit is the worst. Early on in the project I specified that the pony tails had to be detachable because of transportation, maintenance and eventually replacement. When the mask arrived I found out they are fixed to the mask. This means maintaining is harder because I have to hold up the entire mask instead of one tail. Transport will now mess up the hair more since it is bound to the mask and when I have to replace them, I will have to destroy part of the hair.

While this is mostly my own fault since I only mentioned this once early in the communication and never repeated it since, it is worth mentioning.
COMFORT
So is the mask comfortable to wear? Short answer: Yes

The mask fits right around my face and the eye slots line up perfectly. My vision is limited to straight in front of me, bottom left and bottom right, but it is enough.

The padding does a great job of distributing the weight. I don't feel like one part of my head has to carry more than the rest. I was also surprised how little weight the huge pony tails give to the mask. Make no mistake, it is still heavier, just not as heavy.

The ventilation is ok, but I can definitely see it getting really warm in higher temperatures.

I also heard that GKO masks have a tendency to press down on the nose. I don't really have that problem. Sometimes I do, but most of the time my nose isn't touching the front. I guess that might be related to the ponytails.
COMMUNICATIONS
My communication with GKO consisted of roughly 50 emails from me to him over a period of 6 months. And all of them, with the exception of one email, were answered. He usually responded on tuesday due to having a translator.

I made several adjustments to my hadatai and he adjusted the forms every time and sent them back for me to check.

I didn't get a lot of updates during production unless I asked for them, but I am not sure if that was because he didn't want to update me or because there was nothing to update due to the delays. During the design phase I way more involved which is more important anyway.

CONCLUSION
Overall I would definitely commission them again if they were not so busy already. They did an amazing job on the mask and I am very happy with the result. The communication was top notch and the styling is really well done.