Slice of life anime at McDonald's

Anime is a medium that allows for wild, out of this world visuals and story telling but some of the most popular stories of all are the slice of life stories, the tales of the regular highs and lows. They also make for great advertising for various products in the real world from educational courses to Disneyland!

Check out the youtube version below!

Studio Colorido have produced another endearing food advertisement, but this time related to recruitment. They were also the company behind the endearing miso soup commercials that I wrote about here. (click) As McDonald's is a huge name in Japan, the commercial features the vocal talents of AKB48 singers Rin Okabe and Yui Yokoyama, the video begins with a fresh first year college student names 'Sumire Hibino' noticing a help-wanted poster as she rides past. Soon enough, she’s working alongside 'Ikumi Hoshino', another senior college student working at the restaurant part-time.

Keep it together Sumire!

Ikumi embodies the helpful senpai (senior) concept that is prevalent throughout Japanese culture and guides Sumire through the various trials of starting a new service job. How to handle customer's requests for the trademark McDonald's smile as well as backing her up when she has trouble with a food order. Whispering to calm down and keep it together.

The animation is smooth and beautiful, they make the food look delicious too!

Strawberry Milkshake!

Sumire eventually grows into the role and offers great service herself, gaining the approval of those around her as well as job satisfaction. While you may think that this is glorifying the service industry as something more fabulous than it is. It does keep its roots grounded, it acknowledges that for many the service industry is often a spring board to future jobs, giving valuable work experience and soft skills. Ikumi senpai eventually moves on with a tearful goodbye. At the end, history repeats itself as Sumire welcomes a fresh recruit who goes by the name of Wakaba.

The recruitment website itself highlights that this is an ideal job for those who do not have to support a whole household such as housewives, part timers and university students. Various characters from different backgrounds are shown who will no doubt be featured in future commercials!

I look forward to seeing their stories too!

Jobs for people of all ages

Cosplay overwhelms the streets in Osaka

Busy in an understatement, luckily there were pockets of space for photos etc.

Each year, the streets of Osaka in the geek district of Nipponbashi, also known as 'Den Den Town' (Electric town) are closed off to traffic to celebrate all things otaku. It is freaking. amazing.

On Sunday 20th March, 2016, the 12th annual 'Nipponbashi Street Festa' took place, the area is absolutely swarming with people, with the event getting bigger each year. The streets are filled with cosplayers, street photographers, tourists and general geeks a like. It's a great event to participate in or simply enjoy all the wonderful sites and high craftsmanship of the many cosplayers. Seriously, the quality of the outfits was phenomenal.

I was lucky enough to get many photos, I hope they prove and show off the cosplayers talent! I will try to name the characters where possible, the event is totally free so I highly recommend visiting next year! I had a giant grin on my face the entire time!

I will let the pictures speak for themselves, enjoy!

Vega - Street Fighter

Crazy huge hair!

Hotaru - Dagashi Kashi

Great outfit

Amazing Monster Hunter group, impossible to get a good photo sadly, too many people!

Arale - Dr. Slump

Great Spirited Away group, love group cosplays.

Shirahoshi - One Piece

Love Live - Really popular series to cosplay this year. Fandom is nuts.

One of the best Clouds from FF7, best sword by far.

Fantastic Porco Rosso cosplay, but as the plane!

Great Idea

A Certain Scientific Railgun

Dragonball, lots of the male cosplayers were ripped! Diet inspiration!

More Love Live!

Deadpool!

Creep Ring

 One of the more awkward aspects of Cosplay events are these situations. Usually Schoolgirl character cosplays get an overwhelming amount of attention with swarms of photographers taking photos, usually much older guys. You can often see many of them pointing their cameras from a low angle to try and get a panty shot. Luckily new rules have stopped them being as invasive as they used to. Kinda of a weird situation, since the cosplayers also need their photos in order to spread their cosplay across the community. It's a shame some of the cosplays that are phenomenally made don't get as equal attention.

As you can see, nothing out-worldly, just a schoolgirl character? Maybe K-on/Love live.

Awesome Gundam group

Couldn't quite get her scythe in shot!

Attack on Titan, far less cosplayers than I expected.

Fantastic Evangelion duo

Shishio Makoto - Rurouni Kenshin

Gaki no Tsukai runners!

Monster Hunter

Mixture of characters, I was hyped about the One Punch Man's 'Sonic' in black.

Prison School

REALLY Impressive balloon Mario Karts

Such an amazing idea

Great Vash cosplay from Trigun, all his gun holsters etc. fully functioned.

Madoka Magica Maid version?

Evangelion - Race queen version

Doraemon Group

Really cute - Yokai watch?

Amazing Dead Master/Black Rock shooter cosplayers, advertising a cosplay armory company

One of my favorite cosplays of the day. 

Awesome

So much awesome.

Dirty Pair - Oldschool!

Another creep wall, look where the cameras are pointing...

She had TONS of attention

You see these uniforms on a daily basis...

Hestia - she is wearing one of those fake chest add-ons, not her real boobs, but effective for cosplay, and modesty!

Yup

Persona 4 - Chie

She really captured the character well!

Friend is a huge fan so I took several poses.

She could pose well too!

Well done overall!

Great Majin Buu, knows how to work with what you have!

AMAZING Rory Mercury from GATE.

Looks exactly like the character - Axe was insane too

Chun - Li - Streetfighter

Chun Li - Streetfighter

More Madoka

wut

Cloud's wig looked great. Sephiroth's foil sword, not so much - but better than what I could do!

Steins Gate! Tu-tu-ruuuu!

Great craftsmanship

Big group of Mechs!

Old school Transformers

Tanks too! Girls und panzer?

Well, that's the best of the bunch that I took! I hope you enjoyed, it was fantastic fun and a great cultural experienced. I loved how people of all ages took part and shows how much anime/manga is a part of life over here.
Inspired me to maybe do one myself next year, got a whole year to think of something!