I was trying to figure out why this recent commercial for Tokyo Disneyland Disney Halloween looks so damn cool. I’m an anime fanboy so my thought was that anything with a Japanese voiceover would just seem cooler, but that’s not the case. Then it struck me: Mickey and Mini and decked out in Venetian costumes instead of the typical goth look associated with Halloween. The result is that our mouse suddenly takes on a magical European quality that I just doesn’t associate with Mickey who’s as American as you can get. Read more…
This is Noto Arisa (能登有沙) who is nicknamed Nocchi, this video is a regular feature on the DogaDoga7 Anime NewType Channel. I’m somewhat addicted to these videos on YouTube because Nocchi is always hanging out at anime cons and sneaking around animation studios. In the video above she’s announcing her 2nd personal manga, talking about some DVD and mentioning that she will debut as a voice actor in an animated drama titled Deba no Hime Goto. Below is the video of her snooping around Gonzo, the studio responsible for the Strike Witches: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 3, 2009 in Japanese TV
This new commercial in Japan for SoftBank is the coolest thing right now: It features the J-pop group SMAP (Sports Music Assemble People) with the powerful 1974 recording of The Loco-Motion by Grand Funk Railroad. I’ve got to say I usually hate when an agency grabs an old hit, but in this case they’ve done a nice of bringing it back to life! Read more…
This segment from a Japanese game show features quite a bit of silly cosplay. I’m not sure what show this is from, but it was titled “An Idol and a Pair of Geeks”. Two of the idol singers featured in this skit are Seira Sakurai and Matsumoto Wakana. My favorite part of this video come at the 4:21 mark where the singer is beating up the poor otaku while performing her song.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 29, 2009 in Japanese TV
From 1974 until 1978 NTV ran a children’s educational show called Karikyuramashin (カリキュラマシーン) which was inspired by Sesame Street in the United States. What I love about this show is that the music is quite catchy: The video above features the songs Twisted Uncle, Kya and the Awry song. Below are other video segments from the show which are now the treasured childhood memories of Gen Xers in Japan: Read more…
To celebrate the latest Sgt. Frog publications Kadokawa has been putting out these very surrealistic commercials on YouTube. Although the frog themed water bottle looks quite cool: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 21, 2009 in Japanese TV
This new Japanese ad for Pizza-La features the J-pop act Buono! which is yet another side project associated with Hello! Project Kids and Berryz Kobo. Aside from the musical aspect of this I have to admit that the idea of a Camembert cheese pizza made me want to break my current diet. By the way what’s cool about this ad is that there is a version for each member of Buono!, shown below are the spots for Airi Suzuki, Miyabi Natsuyaki and the ever so cute Momoko Tsugunaga: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 12, 2009 in Japanese TV
This latest action packed episode of AKBINGO! starts off with the girls attempting to sneak into a high school — it sort of reminded me of how Josie and the Pussycats might come up with a solution. Later in the episode there’s a museum sketch where the J-pop girls get paint all over their face: Read more…
The purpose of the Ultraman USB Computer Companion is to, uh — I’m not quite sure in all honesty! The official description is “Ultraman ideal companion for your computer, he’ll will move at random, react at your voice and sound”. So i guess you could describe this as a fanboy themed entertainment peripheral for your computer. Read more…
The Japanese commercial is for the Monsters, Inc. attraction at Tokyo Disneyland which is set to open this Summer. I really love hearing the Pixar characters speak in Japanese, it makes them a bit more anime like for me!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 7, 2009 in Japanese TV
In 1989 Ray Charles recorded a cover version of the song “Itoshi no Ellie” by the Japanese band Southern All Stars for this TV ad. Of course he made it his own and renamed it “Ellie My Love”, the ad did so well that it sent the song to be #3 in Japan selling more than 400,000 copies. Here’s the full length song performed in concert: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 4, 2009 in Japanese TV
Unlike most of those infamous spots where American stars only do a Japanese commercial that never gets seen back home this 1989 Japanese spot for Pepsi was part of a global advertising campaign. However in the States the spot was pulled off the air once Madonna’s “controversial” music video came out, but lucky for us (and the Pepsi New Generation) the Japanese commercial aired. In this advert I like the added touch of Madonna hanging out on her couch watching her own video.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 30, 2009 in Japanese TV
Anna van! (Announcer Bang アナ★バン!) is broadcast on Sundays at midnight on the Fuji Television Network. The show is a bit odd because while it’s aimed at adults the studio setting looks like a kids show with the host talking to a sun puppet. This episode below is titled “Know the Future” and features palm reader who informs the well dressed ladies if they will be lucky at love, work or money: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 29, 2009 in Japanese TV
This late 80s greed-is-good coffee advert exerts a wonderful bravado for UCC THE Coffee. Doing some research I found that THE Coffee (with sugar!) is still being marketed to the public, in fact here’s the full line on the Japanese UCC website. Here’s another slightly less dramatic spot for THE Coffee from the 80s that I found: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 28, 2009 in Japanese TV
My guess is that commercial for Fujicolor Super HG has to be from either the late 80s or maybe the early 90s. The spot features the picture perfect looks of Imori Miyuki who started her career in 1986 in the TBS series It’s not fun, this is love (遊びじゃないのよ、この恋は) and is still active today. She has focused on comedy and her latest role was in the series Road to Remarriage (再婚一直線!) where she plays a struggling cartoonist trying to balance life with her proper looking husband and cute child: Read more…
I came across this recent manga themed advert for the Nissan Cube and was blown away — I really love how the design of this spot picks up on the conventions of Japanese comics from the black and white characters to the use of zip-a-tone patterns.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 19, 2009 in Japanese TV, Tech
I don’t know the exact date of this advert but looking at a primitive cell phone my guess is that it’s from the late 80s. The spot is for KDDI who entered the cel phone business in in 1987 and are still going strong today. The music in the advert is by Yuming (Yumi Matsutoya) who hit her career high point from the late 80s until the early 90s which is why her music seems to dominate the spot.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 14, 2009 in Japanese TV
AKBINGO! a variety show which features the J-Pop group AKB48 which has so many members that they actually divide them up into different teams. In this episode the competing diva troupes has a show down by jumping rope! The fate of the young lady who is hot by the rope? Well she’s forced to dress up in nerdy eye glasses and must face the taunts of her fellow team members: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 13, 2009 in Japanese TV
It was only a matter of time until virral video marketing found a way to Japan — in this case this ad campaign is for Fit’s Gum which is manufactured by Lotte. I have to say that the dance music is rather catchy and i like the added touch of the secondary dancers: The first who is a mannequin and the second girl in the dog outfit. By the way you’ll notice the ever so cute Akita Inu doggie in the lower right corner of one of the spots. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 22, 2009 in Japanese TV
This vintage Japanese commercial for Parliament Lights looks to be from the late 80s — in fact it feels so cliched that it almost seems like a parody ad from Saturday Night Live. This ad also interesting for me to look at this because cigarette commercials were banned in the United States in 1965, so even seeing a spot for smokes is somewhat surreal in any language.
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 15, 2009 in Japanese TV
As part of my obsession with Japanese comedian Ken Shimura I came across this clever comedy skit from 1984. In 1974 Shimura joined the Drifters who started life a rock band and comedy group in 1964 (think old school variety show routines). They had a very popular show on TBS from 1969 until 1985 which was called Hachijidayo, Zen’inshugo! (It’s 8 p.m., Everyone Together!”). The humor in the show pretty low brow by Japanese standards, although what I like about watching it is that you don’t need to speak Japanese to get the jokes which in this case can be very visual. One friend of mine once derided Shimura as “the Benny Hill of Japan” but as someone interested in animation I rather appreciate visual comedy, so to me Ken is a treasure.
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 9, 2009 in Japanese TV
I’m not 100% sure what show this is, but I know for certain that it’s a segment from a young child’s educational TV show which is produced by NHK in Japan. When I first started watching this I just assumed that I was in for two minutes of the cat being taunted by the singer in the video, but the addition of cat and mouse cosplay actors made me laugh right away.
In this article New York based artists Nick Kent gives us a riveting world tour of all things Rube Goldberg:
I was browsing Japanese DVDs at a bookstore the other day when between the anime and live concert discs I spotted strange wooden contraptions on the covers of a pair of DVDs.
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 4, 2009 in Japanese TV
I kid you not — Samurai Sentai Shinkenger is the 33rd Super Sentai Series created by Toei to sell an never ending tide of toys! Since the 70s the Kamen Rider formula hasn’t changed much, but why mess with success? In fact not only has this series done well in Japan but there are still American kids buying Power Ranger toys years after that series came here in 1993 (which looks quite primitive to the special effects in Samurai Sentai Shinkenger). Read more…
