Anime as advertisement : Telling a real story

The power of miso.

A few days ago I saw one of the new anime commercials for miso soup airing on TV and was inspired to write this post. However unlike usual anime tie-ins, such as DBZ advertising gum, or Attack on Titan promoting pizza, this was a promotion done using an original short anime story.

Anime, like any other form of film media is an effective way to create a narrative with impact within a short time. The quality of animation used for these commercials is high, very fine details can be seen on the products, scenery and storyline. In the case of the final commercial at the bottom of the page, it was created by Makoto Shinkai, who directed the phenomenal 5cm and Garden of words movies, where the attention to detail was mind blowing. If you haven't seen either of those films, I highly recommend you check them out!

Back to Miso, the brand Marukome has released a set of anime shorts to promote their miso soup, focusing on a strong 'family ties' theme, they are really effective at making you feel warm and fuzzy, just like miso soup does! Check them out below! Even if you can't understand Japanese you will be able to get the 'gist' of the story easily enough due to the good direction. I'll post a brief overview too!

料亭の味 カップみそ汁 夜食篇 Cup Miso: Late Night Supper. 

This is the latest, advertising cup miso. It shows the story of a high school girl and father who lament that they struggle to communicate together effectively.
After studying late at night she comes downstairs to find 2 rice balls and miso soup waiting for her, upon thanking her mum in the morning she realizes that it was actually her father who prepared it for her. She goes downstairs the following night and sees her father making more rice balls, "Do you want to eat together?" for late night supper. She drinks the miso and states "Dads miso soup is warm...". He asks her which flavour rice ball she wants and they play rock, paper, scissors to decide who gets it.
Its a cute way to show they can communicate again over a hot cup of miso.

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料亭の味　たっぷりお徳　母と息子篇 Economy Pack: Mother and Son. 

This commercial advertises the multipack miso sachets. It focus on a young salaryman who has left home for the first time to start his career.
He receives occasional care packages from home containing all sorts of goodies from home, including the multipack. When drinking the miso soup he imagines his mother sitting opposite him, giving him advice and motivating him to do his best. He encounters struggles at work, late nights, illness and overtime but through these troubles he always has his mother supporting him with these care packages. Things begin looking up and he receives a bonus, returning the favour by sending his mother a new sweater.
Despite distance the taste of home comforts can help inspire us and bring people together.

 

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 料亭の味　即席生みそ汁　単身赴任篇 Instant Miso Soup: Job Transfer away from home

This is my personal favourite out of the three. This heart warming story, follows a young father of two sweet girls who has been transferred away from home, a somewhat common thing in Japan for businessmen, albeit for a few years this can understandably put strain on both sides of the family.

However, one day his two daughters decide to pay him a visit. The daughters are keen to make it feel like home and practice with their mother to prepare one of his favourite meals, packing all of the ingredients with them. The father tries to help but they tell him to sit and wait, he father states "they really grew up..." as he watches. The girls, a little upset that it hadn't turned out as appealing as they hoped are instantly cheered up when their proud father takes a bite and claims "tastes just like home", which of course includes the miso soup!
Apparently this advertisement was proposed by one of the company's own employees who was transferred from Tokyo to Nagano. All of these miso commercials feel very relatable and close to home.

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東京ディズニーリゾート Tokyo Disneyland Resort

Ofcourse not only food companies use original anime shorts for advertising, some of the big brands have also created some fantastic stories to help push their services, including none other than Disney! I remember watching this last year as their promoted their Tokyo Disney Resort and being blown away by the quality. Despite only being 30 seconds long they managed to squeeze in a romantic story spanning a few generations. This one needs little introduction so sit back and enjoy the ad for "Where dreams come true."

   

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Cross Road - Makoto Shinkai 

The last and possibly most detailed offering, comes from the renowned director Makoto Shinkai. This anime was a promotional project for the cram school Z-Kai. Due to the difficulty of many University and High School entrance exams here, many students now go to cram schools in a desperate bid to make it into their first choice university. It seems to be a very bitter and stressful struggle involving many late nights, while also juggling day to day responsibilities and part time jobs.
Cross roads features a level of detail as expected of his previous work, the backgrounds and objects are absolutely gorgeous and bring life to their story and help us get absorbed into their world. Cross roads was released in 2 minute, 30 second and 15 second versions.
I especially like the moment where they open their exam papers in unison and the phrase いこう。どこまでも "Lets go/Go further. Anywhere is impossible". Its an inspiring message, regardless of what stage of life you are at.

   

Many outsiders to anime tend to look down on it, seeing it as nothing more as kids tales of beefy muscles, girls with huge eyes, panty shots, robots and power blasts. But this is one of many examples of how it can also be used to tell a heart warming, and very real story.

First Class Season 2 : First Impressions

First Class Season 2 : First Impressions

It is currently the time of year where all of the new drama series begin so I keep finding myself stumbling onto new shows when watching TV, such as Nobunaga Concerto which you can see my impressions on by clicking here. Yesterday during dinner I found myself watching the first episode of First Class Season 2 and despite probably not being in the intended target audience, I really enjoyed it!

Season 2 is set half a year after the first season of "First Class." Where Chinami Yoshinari (Erika Sawajiri) begins work as a fashion designer. In the first season she had battled her way from a starting position to the editor role of famous fashion magazine 'First Class' despite the fierce cut-throat office environment. She eventually saves the magazine from cancellation and triumphs over all of the hurdles thrown her way. In season 2 she has now landed work as a fashion designer, where the stakes are much, much higher. She is now mixing with some very powerful figures in this high end field and a lot of money is on the line. However in the bitchy world of fashion she is now being targeted and trampled upon by her ruthless industry peers. She attempts to get through by using her wisdom and toughness that she gained from experience in season 2.

Due to its popularity First class was renewed for a 2nd season by FujiTV and is apparently one of the fastest ever series to be signed up for a second season! In the first season Chinami had the role of being a good girl in a bitchy bad girl world. Whereas in Season 2 we see her transform from “everyone else but me is bad” to “everyone is bad including me”. This drama is bitchy, REALLY bitchy. It is like a more extreme version of A Devil Wears Prada except that almost everyone is selfish, backstabbing and out for themselves.

The editors do a really good job of showing the characters two faced personalities by showing their outside comments in normal conversation then having lots of up close shots while a highly emotive inner dialogue is heard. I literally lost count of the amount of close up bitchy stares and smirks I saw in the first episode but the thoughts being projected are so bitchy and amusing that I loved every second of it. My main concern though is that this technique might become tiring fast and may be a bit over the top in the long term, but for the first time viewing I thought it was awesome.

In First Class, to add a bit more depth to the simple bitchiness of the girls, the series uses a 'mounting' scale to judge each other and rank their 'position' among others. I'm not sure if this is an invented term, being an outsider to both the fashion world and a bitchy women's brain; but it is an interesting plot mechanic. The mounting scale basically judges a woman based on their love life, job status, money and personal belongings. It is incredibly shallow to be honest, but this IS the fashion world after all! After each episode the 'mounting' ranking is shown, with actresses being ranked in a playing card format, changing order after the events of each episode. This is a good way to clarify exactly who is 'on top' at that current story point, or who took a mighty dive in social rankings.

Now I'm not going to lie, these pictures don't even do the cast justice. The actors and actresses are gorgeous! They totally fit the 'fashion world' image and are always wearing cutting edge outfits, amazing hairstyle and picture perfect make-up. The pretty faces also work well with the whole two faced bitchy angle the series relies on too. Behind every pretty face there could be some really ugly intentions.

Chinami has to battle against gossiping, project sabotage and just general competition in order to succeed and I'm looking forward to seeing her struggle through. The series may be a bit over the top and direct for some viewers and it may wear thin as the series goes on but I'm going to tune in for now!

You can check out the trailer below!

Nobunaga Concerto Drama First Impressions

Nobunaga Concerto : First Episode Impressions

While channel hopping last night, keeping track of where Typhoon 19 was heading, a random new drama popped on screen. Turns out it was the first episode! I soon found myself getting sucked in because 1) I'm an Oguri Shun fan and 2) It is set around the Sengoku Jidai, and I'm a giant Sengoku nerd. Therefore my interest peaked as soon as I saw the intro. Sengoku Jidai is the era where various samurai clans under the rule of powerful generals fought against each other to unite Japan.

Oguri Shun plays the role of Saburo, a high school student who is poor at studying and pretty unsuccessful with the ladies. In the opening, Saburo finds himself being rejected by a girl at a Sengoku Matsuri, a festival celebrating the famous samurai of the past. While sulking he slips down a hill and smashes his head. Unknowingly slipping through time and arriving in the Sengoku period of 1549. Almost immediately he meets Nobunaga Oda who is the spitting image of himself. Nobunaga is one of the most famous warlords in Japanese history and in this period is the son of a warlord and magistrate of the lower Owari Province. Nobunaga is physically sick and asks Saburo to live his life in his place, under the name Nobunaga Oda.I'm not going to lie, the premise for the series is pretty stupid, and the introduction sequence is full of over the top acting that Japanese dramas are known for. At first I took it for a simple carefree comedy drama, but while it does have many comedic moments it also has a serious side too. At first Saburo treats the world as a joke, thinking that he is still at the festival in modern times. He is still dressed in modern clothing yet has no phone signal, and treats the world as one big stage, much to the embarrassment of his very real retainers. 

Look how stupid he looks!

This is amplified throughout as despite changing into more traditional samurai garb he is still sporting his sneakers and occasionally his hoody. This light hearted tone often made me laugh out loud during some of the more slapstick scenes. Especially when he tries to woo his future wife for the first time, showing clear inexperience!

 However, soon battle breaks out involving Nobunaga's clan, Saburo still assumes that it is a re-enactment and cheerfully walks into battle, almost causing his premature death. It isn't until he is directly attacked, slashed and seeing people die before his eyes that he panics and realises that perhaps the world is real after all! His realisation scene was a powerful moment, however due to drama budget constraints, the battle was very small scale and some of the blood effects were too fake. Ruining the effect. Perhaps I have been spoiled by the recent Kenshin movies.

Another complaint about this drama depiction of the era is that everything is too clean, from the armour to the village. It looks like a set, not a real village and while I realise this is a prime time drama, I felt that it would have had more emotional impact if they tried to make us believe in the world more.

Without revealing the plot of the first episode, several key events occur that push Saburo into power as the leader of his region as well as bringing on the troubles that come with that responsibility. The last thirty minutes of the episode are quite tragic due to the horrors of war and the duty of samurai involved. Saburo grows a lot during a single episode but he still has a way to go! I don't want to say any more for fear of ruining the story but I found myself respecting the drama more and more as the story developed. Becoming less of a slapstick comedy and more of a character development piece.

Having watched the episode with no previous knowledge of it whatsoever it turns out that it is based off a popular manga and anime series of the same title. Needless to say I already have the next episode set to record and am excited to see how Saburo's tale unfolds!

Check out the trailer here!