Rokan Cheung, Tsutomu, and the Secrets of His LEGO® Brick-Built World

Originality, recognizability and a deep passion for Japanese pop culture are among the key elements that define the work of Tsutomu, known throughout the international AFOL community as Rokan Cheung. His LEGO creations range from iconic BrickHeadz models to collectible busts and helmets, reinterpreting characters from franchises such as Gundam, Lupin III, One Piece, Studio Ghibli and many others. In this exclusive interview for Mattoncino24, Tsutomu discusses his creative process, the importance of designing truly original MOCs, the relationship between drawing and building, the challenges behind some of his most complex creations, and the techniques he uses to make characters instantly recognizable using only a limited selection of LEGO elements. A fascinating journey through art, design and imagination that demonstrates how creativity can go far beyond the boundaries of the official LEGO catalog. Tsutomu talks about his LEGO world In your profile, you write "All are original designs." How important is it for you to create something that doesn't already exist in the LEGO catalog? "I do respect people having original creation instead of copycats. Therefore, I want to have my MOCs also original designs which are not be found in existing LEGO catalog". How does one of your MOCs usually begin: with a sketch on paper, a mental image, or directly with the bricks? "When I got into LEGO, I didn't have many pieces to play with. So, I use LEGO studio software to begin my design. It became my design process. But sometimes, just like some other designers, I would start with a special part that would be great for presentation. Then, it determines the scale of the MOC". Between drawing, painting, and LEGO building, which discipline influences the others the most? "Drawing would influence the others the most as it equiped me with sense of proportions and presentation skills". Your BrickHeadz have a very distinctive style. How do you keep a character recognizable while still maintaining your own artistic signature? "Thank you for your nice comments. Since BrickHeadz has its own distinctive proportions, some characters may not be suitable for BrickHeadz style. Once you find something that could help a character recognizable, may be special hair style, may be its clothes and accessories, you name it. After that, it's a mind training process. You have to learn how to simplify the characters and present it into 4x4 cubes. Besides, I would avoid using decorated tiles unless there is no alternative building way". Which BrickHeadz design was the most difficult to create, and why? "Ashuraman from the Japanese manga Kinnikuman would be the one. This character has 3 faces. It took me a while to solve how to fit the head with 3 faces to the body. Besides, his helment is full of pearl gold color. It's hard to find the right parts as those were not available back in the days when I designed it". Many builders focus on technical accuracy. You seem to focus more on expressiveness. Do you agree with that description? "Ha ha, that's true. I'm literally not a technical accuracy guy. If so, I would have built a lot of architecture stuff instead". Gundam, Lupin III, One Piece, Studio Ghibli (g bi): what makes Japanese characters and franchises so inspiring to reinterpret in LEGO form? "Being a Japanese animation fan, I always expected LEGO would obtain IP from them and produce minifigures for those characters. But in reality, it's difficult to achieve that goal. So, I decided to use brickheadz style to reinterpret them in LEGO form and it turned out that the result was quite positive".