I'm not surprised that MasterBox has produced this set. Their customer base is global, and there is a huge group of modelers in Japan. They're practically a closed market unto themselves, with very little contact to the outside world (sort of a pre-Meiji environment for modeling, if you will), except, perhaps, for the anime market elsewhere in Asia. They also form an exception to the casual theft of intellectual property so prevalent in the rest of Asia. But in any case, I see this set going to Japanese modelers first and foremost.
"kawaii" means "cute" or "adorable", and they also will rate a subject on its "cuteness". And these figures aren't just made up. This is a whole subcategory of "cosplay" (a Japanese contraction of the English "costumed play", pretty much dressing up as a character), among all of the fans of anime characters and superheroes, who dress themselves up that way.
So, yeah, I'm not surprised that MB made them.
And it underscores again that Japanese culture is full of contrasts. Pottery and flower-arranging, samurai swords and leading-edge technology, and chicks dressing up in tons of frills and bows. Oh, and, Pokemon.
Kampei!
Brad