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Fans criticize Softbank’s anime character live-action phone ads as ‘disrespectful’

Fans criticize Softbank’s anime character live-action phone ads as ‘disrespectful’

Last month, SoftBank‘s series of commercials depicting several classic anime characters all grown up premiered. The ads star Kyoko Koizumi (Tokyo Sonata, Hanging Garden) as Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon), the proprietess at Moon Ribar an atmospheric rooftop bar. She’s assisted by Maruko-chan (Chibi Maruko-chan, played by Suzu Hirose) and welcomes guests like Fist of the North Star‘s Kenshiro (famous Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizō XI), Obocchama-kun (played by Shinnosuke Mitsushima), Duke “Golgo 13” Tōgō (played by Fumiyo Kohinata), Joe Yabuki (Ashita no Joe, played by comedian Naoki Matayoshi) and Astro Boy himself, played by Masato Sakai (Honey and Clover).

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New Japanese commercial captures high school life with amazing blackboard chalk art animation

New Japanese commercial captures high school life with amazing blackboard chalk art animation

For students all around the world, the day of a big test is one of the most nerve-racking of the entire school year. And when you’re sitting for your university exam in Japan, it’s like the final step of a long journey after months of solo studying, endless reading and many sleepless nights.

The student’s journey to the final exam has now been beautifully captured in a unique two-minute commercial that features the most fitting of canvases: the humble school blackboard. While students around the country have shown us their amazing talent for creating chalk-based works of art on classroom blackboards, this commercial brings chalkboard art to life with a moving animation that will simply blow you away.

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Studio Ghibli animators’ West Japan Railway ad has us ready for summer! 【Video】

The hot summer months of July and August are almost upon us, and for families with young children, you know what that means…SUMMER VACATION! That’s right, like in many other parts of the world, families in Japan will be thinking about how and where to spend their summer holidays, including plans for travel. It seems quite fitting, then, that West Japan Railway Company, or JR West Japan as it’s commonly called, has recently announced the launch of the “JR West Japan SUMMER TRAIN!” campaign to showcase the appeal of traveling in western Japan by rail.

And it so happens that there’s something unique about this campaign that makes it hugely appealing to anime fans in particular — the commercial for the campaign features animation created by members of the Studio Ghibli team, and their beautiful artwork is immediately recognizable.

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Whimsical Ghibli Studio-style animation appears in bread commercials【Videos】

It’s been almost a year since Studio Ghibli announced it was halting production after director Hayao Miyazaki’s retirement, and also since the studio’s most recent movie, When Marnie Was There, played in theaters. However Yoshiharu Sato, one of the studio’s animators who helped direct and design My Neighbor Totoro and served as a key animator for Porco Rosso and The Secret World of Arriety, has given Ghibli animation fans something to look forward to with his recent work on Francois company’s Slow Bread commercial series.
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Toyota Chocobos?! Iconic Final Fantasy music used in new car ad 【Videos】

Following several years of building dependable, affordable, yet almost utterly soulless automobiles, Toyota is trying to get back to creating and market cars with a sense of joy and playfulness. After all, it’s a waste to treat driving as just going from Point A to Point B in the dullest way possible instead of the fun journey it has the potential to be.

That’s why in its newest commercial, Toyota is invoking the spirit of adventure with a fleet of yellow hybrids running about the countryside with the musical accompaniment of one of the most instantly recognizable pieces of Final Fantasy music ever composed.

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Samurai tennis! Professional Kei Nishikori trades racquet for a sword in this awesome new ad

Last year, Nissin, makers of Cup Noodle instant ramen, created the awesome Samurai in Brazil ad, in which a soccer player clad in Japanese armor travelled to South America to show off his footwork to the locals. The company later caught up with the freestyle soccer expert in Europe with a sequel, Samurai in Manchester .

In its newest commercial, Nissin isn’t just switching venues, but sports, too, as Samurai in New York features one of the best tennis players in the world, who proves just how talented he is by leaving behind his racquet and delivering powerful forehands, backhands, and serves using a wooden sword.

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Super Federo? Those goofy Mercedes x Mario ads may have had some unexpected celebrity cameos

A lot of ’80s-era kids probably entertained the fantasy of meeting their biggest childhood heroes in the flesh at one point or another. And no, we’re not talking about Michael Jordan or other sports stars of the time. We’re talking about someone far less, uh… athletic: Mario.

Of course, had kids met the real-life Mario and/or Luigi depicted in this goofy and sort of frightening Mario x Mercedes collaboration commercial, they probably would have run for their lives and sworn off Nintendo games forever. But, beneath all the ugly prosthetics and hulking physiques of these game heroes come to life, there may have been, at least according to Japanese netizens, some far more approachable real-life athletes.

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“Wait…what?” That’s not Japanese! Clever American car commercial tricks viewers 【Video】

Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Nissan, Mazda; American car companies have always had fierce competition with their Japanese counterparts. But the American car company Chrysler is trying to change that with the recent release of a very clever commercial for their 2015 Chrysler 200 that respectfully acknowledges Japanese quality while at the same time turning heads in their own direction.

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Shocking, snowy commercial is the saddest ad we’ve seen this fall

Last year, we found terror in an unlikely place: a tire commercial. Wheel and tire retailer Autoway, in an effort to remind us all about changing to winter tires before driving down snowy roads, reminded us all that “Winter roads are scary,” especially when they’re haunted.

Now, Autoway is back with a new ad, and while it doesn’t deliver the fright of last year’s video, it’s no less shocking.

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Walking Bicycle Club looks to change the way we ride, angers internet with promotional video

Not a whole lot has changed since the development of the bicycle around two centuries ago. Near the end of the 19th century we moved away from those bicycles with the absurdly large front wheel and that seemed to be enough.

Sure there have been massive strides in performance technology and certain novel variations such as the recumbent and tandem bikes, but the fundamentals were pretty much kept intact. Now, a Japanese group has come up with a revolutionary redesign of the bicycle which they hope brings joy to riders and all who are around them. Unfortunately many who saw the commercial for it felt the opposite.

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Dove’s “Real Beauty” commercial a big hit in Japan

Sex, as the saying goes, sells. What exactly that means seems to be somewhat up to interpretation–we don’t think you’d want to buy a couch after watching a couple…um…”frolicking” on it–but it’s hard to deny that a bit of sexiness goes a long way in boosting sales. Even something as boring as shampoo can seem exciting when you film a young, perky model showering.

Of course, not everyone thinks that this is the best way to hock merchandise. Last year Dove earned a bit of respect from consumers with their “Real Beauty” campaign aimed at bolstering women’s self-images and emphasizing seeing the natural beauty we all have. Though the main commercial hit the shores of Japan last spring, it seems that it’s recently gotten a lot of attention over here. Click below to see what Japanese commenters are saying about the video!

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These 20-year-old Uniqlo commercials may be the best we’ve ever seen!

Winter is not just coming, it has arrived. The nights are cold and Japanese homes with their relatively poor insulation are no warmer than a popsicle fresh from the freezer. Fortunately, that also means Uniqlo is delivering their latest line of warm wear.

With everything from fleece sweaters to cashmere knits, you can always count on the Japanese clothing company to keep you warm for a reasonable price. You can also count on their stylish commercials to appear like clockwork each winter to announce their latest and greatest.

But a recent rediscovery of two 20-year-old Uniqlo commercials has left us shocked–and howling with laughter!

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Why it’s so important for Japanese celebrities to star in commercials

Even if you can’t understand what’s being said on Japanese TV, it’s difficult to miss the fact that nearly every TV spot and, for that matter, a good chunk of print ads, feature Japanese celebrities shucking various products.

To the Western eye, this can be a little baffling. Sure, sometimes commercials in English-speaking countries will fall back on (mostly) has-been stars to lend credibility to this or that used car dealership or diet product, but most of the time Western commercials star everyday folks. Most surmise this is so the consumer – his/herself most likely an everyman/woman – feels an emotional connection with the ad.

On the other hand, Japanese ad agencies hire TV and movie stars much, if not most, of the time. So prevalent is the practice that Western stars aren’t above traveling to Japan Lost in Translation-style for a week or so of juggling live human beings and shouting broken-English catchphrases for a round of Japanese ads ending in a big payday.

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