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Mariah Carey’s Canned Coffee Concert
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 30, 2010 in Japanese TV
This Nescafe spot starring Mariah Carey is from the year 2000. I half suspect that Carey didn’t go to Japan to do the spot because it seems to be shot against green screen. The give away is her awkward interaction with her co-star who I believe is Japanese comedian Sanma Akashiya: Read more… Put Down That Romantic Manga, Nanako and Her Panda Puppet Need to Talk to You About Tea
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 29, 2010 in Japanese TV
This very strange Kirin Green Tea ad from 2003 features Nanako Matsushima (松嶋菜々子). Apparently the young lad is getting his romantic advice from a manga, so our fashion model hero knocks him to the floor and then gives him tea tips with the help of her panda puppet. The entire sequence is very strange to say the least, and yet making it even odder is that we never see the panda puppet or the tea in the establishing shot with Nanako: Read more… The Boss of Singing Firemen
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 24, 2010 in Japanese TV
Boss is one of my favorite canned coffee beverages so this Japanese advert caught my attention right away. What I find interesting about this spot is that as the camera pulls out I was expecting to see some sort of visual explanation as to why the singing fireman was wrapped up in his hose — but alas with a zen like quality that answer is never given. Read more… You Know Your Girlfriend Really Loves You When Your Co-Workers are Animals
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 22, 2010 in Japanese TV
You know you’re watching a Japanese commercial when a workaholic’s girlfriend stops by with a spot of tea and doesn’t seem to notice anything that’s slightly odd about the fact that your two co-workers are in fact a cat and a goose. Credit for this fun spot belongs to Aflac in Japan: Read more… Touched by Romantic Retro Anime
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 18, 2010 in Animation, Japanese TV
Touch is a manga that ran in Japan from 1981 until 1986 in Weekly Shone Sunday, along with Urusei Yatsura it was on of the most popular comics in that magazine during the early 80s. The manga which became an anime series in 1985 was a combination of baseball with romanic comedy. What’s cool about this commercial is that you can see the wide range of merchandise the show inspired — from a musical album to a “Happy Bag” of goodies that was sold through the Japanese drug store chain Lawson. I love the added touch of having the two characters from the show standing outside an anime version of the drugstore in the last shot. Read more… Double Dames Dolled Up for Ramen
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 17, 2010 in Japanese TV
Both of these quirky ramen commercials are from a 1998 campaign for Nissin. The first spot where the two ladies magically acquire cat ears stars Kikuti Momoko and Miyuki — and of course I love how the second advert makes a Marilyn Monroe reference: Read more… Boogie Woogie for Mabinogi
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 16, 2010 in Japanese TV, Videogames
This is a very clever rhyming ad for Mabinogi from Japan which is an anime themed RPG game that you can play online. The game was developed in South Korea by devCAT and is published by Nexon — the good news for Americans is that the game is available in English, however if you’re a Mac user the bad news is that the game is Windows only. Read more… A Moving Meow March
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 15, 2010 in Japanese TV
Ikuzo Yoshi and Yuki Nae star in this very silly 1995 Japanese advert for the Yamato Transport Co. Their cat suits are a reference to the company logo which features a mother cat transporting a baby kitten. My favorite part of this commercial is when after marching across the screen they then scurry back accompanied by a cartoonish sound effect. Read more… Snapshots of My Space Station Vacation
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 10, 2010 in Japanese TV
This Canon Autoboy Luna camera commercial from 1996 has everything that a fanboy would want in life: A chance to get to hang out at a space station with a pretty model and her adorable doggie! By the way I half suspect that the space station motif was inspired by the Michael Jackson music video Scream which came out about a year before this — and of course that production owed a great deal to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Read more… Lieutenant Saavik I Beg You to Please Put Down That Cupcake!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 7, 2010 in Star Trek, Television
Upon seeing the above poster blown up to billboard size in NYC my fanboy reaction went something like this: Lieutenant Saavik what are you doing? You’re a Star Fleet officer AND you should be setting an example for the crew! Logic demands that you put down those high calorie items and not romp around in a reality weight loss show!!! Mind you that my reason for this is because twenty eight years later this is how I still see Kirstie Alley in my mind: Read more… The Pepper and Cheese Aliens Are Your Ramen Friends
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 5, 2010 in Japanese TV
Yes this Nissin ramen commercial starts out quite normally, but then it quickly travels from the Swiss alps to the Twilight Zone. So like little Miss Muffet our ski bunny is in the middle of a forest enjoying her warm but somewhat lackluster noodles: And then suddenly behind the trees appear two Kamen Rider villains, one with a pepper grinder head and the other with a cheese head. These two villains of lackluster instant noodles then attack her meal by zapping it with extra delicious flavor. Our heroine then goes on to enjoy her Milk Seafood Noodles as if nothing abnormal had occurred. Read more… A Yummy Yogurt Drink Claymation
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 4, 2010 in Animation, Japanese TV
I’ve got to admit that not that I’ve started to fall in love with Japanese stop motion animation that I can’t stop looking for it on YouTube. This latest advert that I came across is done with claymation and while it has a very kawaii quality to the animation the character designs (or what happens to them) don’t look too typical of what you’d associate with anime. The animation itself is selling a yogurt drink called Yakult mill mill (ヤクルト ミルミル) which uses bifidobacteria to clean your intestines. Another thing I like about this spot is that compared to American ads for similar products like Activa this spot seems so much more entertaining. Read more… The Tokyo Sky Tree: Soon To Be the Tallest Building in Japan
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 1, 2010 in Japanese TV
This cute animated commercial for the Tokyo Sky Tree (東京スカイツリー) which when it opens in the spring of 2011 will be the tallest building in Japan. The groundbreaking for the structure was started in 2008 and the construction is being backed a group of six terrestrial broadcasters (including NHK) who will use it to transmit digital television signals. If you’d like to see the ongoing construction of the building the webcam is here. And here’s a computer rendering to give you an idea of the scale and design of the building: Read more… Veggies Await Their Sad Ramen Fate
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 28, 2010 in Japanese TV
The old vegetarian admonishment is “never eat anything with a face” — so of course looking at these very kawaii veggies heading to their doom makes me feel a tad guilty. This spot was done for Acecook which makes a wide assortment of ramen. Read more… Stereoscopic Games Will Be a Game Changer for Mobile
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 28, 2010 in Television, Videogames
Sometimes when you see a great demo it changes your very perception of a platform: And Rittai Kakushi E Attakoreda (Hidden 3D Image: There It Is!) has made me not only made me see the Nintendo DSi in a new light — but has me thinking that mobile games could displace console games. Now I may be looking at this demo the wrong way but the program seems to be using the sensors inside the DSi to adjust the display, which gives you the illusion of looking into a 3D diorama. Suddenly this makes the idea of 3D on mobile platforms much more exciting: Granted I’ve seen 3D shooters on the iPhone that react to the angle you hold the device at, but this game takes that concept to the next level. Read more… Samurai Cats Love Their Space Heaters
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 26, 2010 in Animation, Japanese TV
The quality of this Dainichi stop motion animation commercial for Blue Heaters from 1987 is amazing — keep in mind that this was done several years before Tim Burton did The Nightmare Before Christmas in 1993. And what blows me away is that the entire commercial had to have been done without any computer help, not to mention is that it looks like they’re using a replacement technique similar to George Pál with his Puppetoons. Yet for all technique the advert is funny and fluid — it makes me wish that I knew the studio and could give proper credits. Read more… Anime Isn’t About the Complexity but the Storytelling
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 24, 2010 in Animation, Japanese TV
This animated Japanese commercial for Karno struck a real chord with me — the spot is so simple yet so very powerful. This advert is a real case of less is more as you have very graphic character designs accompanied by minimalist child’s sing song. Yet the story of a little girl crying and being cheered up by her mother offering her a candy is quite universal and heartwarming. People always identify the complexity of anime as a visual trademark, but having looked at quite a few educational animated segments from NHK I can tell you that isn’t the case. To me what sets anime apart is more than just the craftsmanship but also the storytelling. Read more… A Do-It-Yourself Super Realistic Bug Candy Kit from Japan
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 23, 2010 in Japanese TV
Indiana Jones and the Japanese TV Station Mascot
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 22, 2010 in Japanese TV
Won’t You Join My Pocky Parade?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 18, 2010 in Japanese TV
What’s not in the Pocky commercial? We have dancing salarymen, cosplay clad maid cafe maids, pram pushing mums and a fleet of taxi drivers who all feel the need to express their enthusiasm for their favorite snack! Read more… Highly Animated Hygiene
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 18, 2010 in Japanese TV
American tampon ads can have that “not fresh feeling” feel sometimes — however these two ads for unicharm are much more out there. The first one features a typical absorption theme but then ends with a zero gravity special effect. However the next advert doesn’t look like anything you’d see here in the States: Our protagonist is sleeping away happily while not being distracting by her stuffed doll collection which then animates to life and dances around her while she is asleep: Read more… So You Want To Own a Full Scale Tardis? Toy Fair 2010
Underground Toys had a killer selection of Dr. Who goodies on the showroom floor. Shown above is a Tardis which isn’t quite full scale but pretty darn close! Below is a smaller version for those of us fanboys and fangurls who live in small apartments: Read more… A Jupiter II That’s Ready for Take Off: Toy Fair 2010
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 15, 2010 in Hobbies and Collections, Television
If you’re a Lost in Space fanboy you’re going to like what Moebius Models: A fully finished and lit Jupiter II 1/35th scale metal prop replica. That’s right: If you’ve always wanted one of these amazing model kits but know that you’ll never ever have the time to build one Moebius Models will build it for you! Sadly you’ll have to wait until the 4th quarter of this year, but having seen the model up close I was drooling. Read more… The Green Hornet: Toy Fair 2010
Sadly I wasn’t permitted to take any photos, but the one thing I noticed that the Toy Fair was that there was Green Hornet goodies all over the place! The film is set for theaters on December 22nd this year but I can tell you know that there will be a merchandise extravaganza associated with the release. And while I can’t name any names, the toys that I did see looked quite amazing. Read more… |
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