McDonald's Japan taps three '80s anime legends for a moving, nostalgic video【Video】
Three of the greatest anime series ever produced featured in video that's not quite as simple as it might look.
Young diners are a big part of fast food chains' clientele, and so it's no surprise that McDonald's Japan often has tie-ups with popular contemporary anime series and characters. In just the past few months, we've seen collaborations with Pokémon, Chiikawa, and Hatsune Miku, for example.
But for its latest anime endeavor, McDonald's Japan is widening its scope and looking back to the '80s, creating a heartwarming video featuring three all-time classics of Japanese animation.
Things start off with a finger pressing down on a boombox play button, and it's not just the electronics design but the hand-drawn and hand-painted artwork that immediately tells us we've gone back a few decades, and we get further confirmation as Yusaku Godai and Kyoko Otonashi make their first appearances. The two are the main characters of Maison Ikkoku, a landmark romantic comedy from Rumiko Takahashi (creator of Inuyasha and Ranma 1/2) that aired on Japan TV from 1986 to 1988.
Yusaku and Kyoko aren't the only '80s anime stars here, though. Next up are Madoka Ayukawa and Kyosuke Kasuga, hailing from Kimagure Orange Road, an anime series broadcast in 1987 and 1988. Kimagure Orange Road was also a romantic comedy, with Kyosuke being a recent transfer to Madoka's school who's trying to hide he fact that he has psychic powers, and Madoka herself having aspects of her life that she keeps just as tightly under wraps as Kyosuke does his secret.
And finally, we come to Lin Minmei and Hikaru Ichijo, first seen in 1982's Macross TV series, and then in 1984's Do You Remember Love? theatrical anime retelling, from which the clips in McDonald's video are taken.
For extra sentimental seasoning, the video is set to 'I Feel Coke,' a Japanese Coca-Cola commercial tune from the 1980s that's an unforgettable audio representation of the era within Japanese pop culture.
▼ An extended version of the video, with some different anime images. Like the shorter version, it preserves the anime's original aspect ratios.
The title of the video is Ashita mo Waraou, Ano Koro mo Ima mo, which translates to 'Let's Smile Tomorrow, in Those Days and Now Too.' Interspersed with the cuts of '80s anime are scenes of people enjoying life and enjoying McDonald's, some of them old enough to have been in the target market for the featured anime when they were first airing, and others, like 25-year-old idol singer Rena Moriya, of Sakurazaka 46, considerably younger.
▼ Rena Moriya
Japan is experiencing a wave of '80s nostalgia these days. Part of that is just the cyclical nature of pop culture, with styles and motifs from the era having progressed from feeling outdated to freshly retro in the minds of young people. Japan being in the midst of an economic slump also has more than a few people, regardless of age, looking longingly at the rosier business climate of the early to mid-'80s, when it looked like the boom times would never end.
And yet, the video isn't just a way of saying 'The good old days sure were good, weren't they?' As fans of the featured anime know, while Maison Ikkoku, Kimagure Orange Road, and Macross are all fundamentally positive-minded series, none of them is all sunshine and rainbows. Each one has a love triangle as a major part of its storyline, and none of them take the common modern-day anime writing escape route of ending with a vague, non-conclusive final act that keeps all of the players' relationships in a will-they-or-won't-they balancing act so that viewers can create whatever head cannon they want for how the situation sorted itself out with no hurt feelings. There are characters who get their hearts absolutely crushed in Maison Ikkoku, Kimagure Orange Road, and Macross, and part of what makes them all incredible series is how they show that even when you put everything you've got into something and don't get the ending you wanted, you have to find a way to pick yourself up and find a new source of happiness.
▼ Shine on, Mitaka.
And that's not even getting into all the other trials and tribulations the characters face, such as figuring out what your professional calling is in life, being trapped in a time warp, or fighting off an alien invasion.
So yeah, on the surface the video can be seen as just a way to remind everyone that anime, burgers, and soda have all been very enjoyable things since the '80s, but there's also the message that even when times are tough, we can find a way to get through them with the help of friends, family, and the other people we love, including ourselves.
Source: Twitter/@McDonaldsJapan via Jin
Top image: Twitter/@McDonaldsJapan
Insert images: Twitter/@McDonaldsJapan, YouTube/マクドナルド公式（McDonald's）
● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Follow Casey on Twitter, where putting Macross, Orange Road, and Maison Ikkoku in the same ad makes it feel like he's being personally targeted by McDonald's Japan.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
SoraNews24
3 hours ago
- SoraNews24
A Pokémon fan's eye-opening experience of Japan's national championship
'Is this even the same game I play?' Like most competitive games, Pokémon has had many tournaments over the years, both within Japan and internationally. However, despite being an obsessive fan of Pokémon Go , our Japanese-language reporter P.K. Sanjun had never attended the Pokémon Japan Championships, also known as PJCS, which originally started back in 2009. PJCS was held on June 21 and 22 at Pacifico Yokohama, in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, as the official tournament to decide the top Pokémon trainers in Japan across four divisions: the Pokémon video game, the trading card game, Pokémon Go , and Pokémon Unite . At its most fundamental level, the Pokémon games are focused on 'collecting,' 'training,' 'battling,' and 'trading,' but at these tournaments the focus is specifically on the battling aspect. P.K., however, generally avoids battling in Pokémon Go , unless it's absolutely necessary, and so has never taken much of an interest in the competition. This year, a high school student who he knows was competing, so he decided to tag along as a sort of guardian. ▼ Participants in the games receive a sticker. Having gathered competitors from across Japan, who had successfully made it through the regional qualifiers, the venue was brimming with an intense fighting spirit, which in combination with many thoughtful touches by the organizers scattered about, created an exciting environment for both players and spectators alike. Even though everyone was there to cheer and compete in the matches, there were plenty of things to keep people occupied during any downtime. ▼ If you place a trading card on the device, it will display an enlarged version on the screen next to it—perfect for a photo opportunity with your favorite partner Pokémon. While keeping an eye on the preliminary rounds of the high schooler he was accompanying, P.K. wandered around the venue until he heard thunderous roars erupt from one section. Going over to investigate, he discovered that the source of those cheers was Pokémon Unite. Throughout the entire day, the most visibly hyped area was undoubtedly the Pokémon Unite zone. P.K. wasn't all too familiar with the game, and being a relatively recent addition to the franchise, he'd assumed it might have had the fewest spectators of the four areas. However, just based on the sheer energy emanating from the crowd, it was incredible. According to a Pokémon Company staff member P.K. spoke to, ' Unite always gets super hyped like this,' suggesting that it's nothing out of the ordinary for fans of the game. Perhaps it's in part due to the pro teams who also compete? Nevertheless, he was impressed at the scene of all of the fans cheering with towels that bear their favorite team's names. In terms of short peaks of excitement, though, Pokémon Unite couldn't hold a candle to the Pokémon video game division. The crowd numbers were through the roof, which is to be expected from the original core of the franchise, and the video game section being the main event was an undisputed fact. On the other hand, the trading card division felt less like something that would have had people jumping out of their seats, but more like something people watched with deep concentration. Naturally, there were cheers and applause, but despite the impressively-sized audience, the atmosphere wasn't full of squeals of excitement. Instead, the surroundings resonated with deep rumbles of appreciation. P.K.'s beloved Pokémon Go had perhaps the most subdued of all of the crowds. In terms of numbers, the fans watching the Pokémon Go division were clearly in last place. If someone unfamiliar with the event happened to walk by, they might assume that it was the least heated part of the competition, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The battles were seriously intense. P.K. was captivated by the mental warfare and mind games that were underway before the match had even started, and was blown away by the elite techniques on display and incredible pressure where not a single mistake was allowed. It was almost inconceivable to him that these top competitors were playing the same game he plays every day. The quality and intensity of matches just didn't correspond to the energy exhibited by the crowd. P.K. could understand the low hype if the battles were boring, but with the skill on display, it simply didn't make sense. As a fellow Pokémon Go trainer, P.K. hopes that everyone can rally together in the future to hype up the battles more. The winner of the Pokémon Go tournament, Takumi Tanaka, commented, 'Once you start battling, catching and trading Pokémon becomes even more fun.' Takumi also hoped that the tournament format—playing nine rounds and the people with six wins going through to the next stage (known as the 6-3 format or Swiss rounds) will be available to play in the game itself sometime in the future. Summing up his experience at PJCS, P.K. was surprised at the level of excitement around Pokémon Unite , and comparatively how underwhelming the crowd at the Pokémon Go matches were. Overall, though, he was moved by the thought of how thousands of people in a single space shared their love for Pokémon. If you didn't happen to catch any of the championships in Japan, the World Championships will be held in Anaheim, California, from August 15-17. However, spectator tickets are no longer available, so if you're looking to join in the excitement, you'll need to catch one of the livestreams through the official Pokémon account. If beating down the competition to become a Pokémon Master is more of your thing, it's never too early to start brushing up on your skills for next year's championship. I've already started practicing in the hope that Pokémon Sleep gets added to the roster of games to compete in; I've a good feeling I've got a chance at first place. Photos ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! [ Read in Japanese ]
SoraNews24
5 hours ago
- SoraNews24
Calpis taps to flow at 1,000 sites across Japan in new plan from beverage maker Asahi
Yogurt-like drink has been beloved by Japanese people young and old for generations. Green tea may be Japan's most traditional non-alcoholic beverage, but when Japanese people are feeling thirsty, especially on a hot summer's day, a lot of them would rather gulp down some nicely chilled Calpis instead. Depending on what part of the world you live in, you might know this yogurt-like drink better by its overseas-market name, Calpico, as bottler Asahi Soft Drinks realizes that in English-speaking areas, 'Calpis' can sound more than a little like a coarse reference to bovine urine, an undesirable mental image for a milky white beverage. But that potential for misunderstanding doesn't exist in Japanese, so if you mention Calpis in front of a group of Japanese people, they won't react with snickers. Instead, many will say they're in the mood for the stuff, and Asahi Soft Drinks wants you to be able to pour yourself a glass of Calpis straight from one of 1,000 Calpis faucet to be set up across Japan. The first of those is going to be going into service this summer at the Hotel Vison in the town of Taki, Mie Prefecture. With Calpis being refreshingly sweet but not as sugary as cola, it's a drink that kids and adults alike have enjoyed for generations, and taking a Calpis break so as not to get overheated while having summer fun is a nostalgic childhood moment for many. With that in mind, Hotel Vison's Calpis faucet will go into service on July 1, and the hotel hopes pouring their own Calpis from the tap will be an opportunity for friends and families to make new memories together. ▼ The Hotel Vison is a pretty fancy place, which speaks to how popular Calpis is across all strata of society in Japan. This isn't Japan's first-ever Calpis faucet. In 2019, as part of Calpis' 100th anniversary celebration, temporary taps were set up at the Tokyo Dome City and Osaka Expo City entertainment centers, as shown in the video below. However, the new Calpis faucet project looks to be a longer-term affair, with no mention in Hotel Vison announcement that theirs will only be around for a limited time. What's more, Asahi Soft Drinks says that while the Hotel Vison is a test site for the program, the company is aiming to install 1,000 Calpis faucets across Japan by the end of 2030. Specifics (such as whether Calpis from the faucet is complementary or must be paid for, hours of availability, and so on) will likely vary from site to site, but fans can look forward to more and more Calpis flowing in the years to come. Related: Hotel Vison Source: Shokuhin Sangyo Shimbun via Livedoor News via Hachima Kiko, PR Times Top image: SoraNews24 Insert images: PR Times (1, 2) ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
SoraNews24
13 hours ago
- SoraNews24
Beef bowl king Yoshinoya to start serving ramen this summer with new beefy mazesoba
It has beef and it comes in a bowl, but it's not a beef bowl. There's no dish Yoshinoya is more strongly associated with than gyudon (beef bowls), and no restaurants is more strongly associated with beef bowls than Yoshinoya. The mental connection between the two is so strong that it's not uncommon for people in Japan to mash the words together and refer to the chain and its flagship food as 'Yoshigyu.' But this summer Yoshinoya is stepping out of the beef bowl box, and while they're not ditching beef in their newest offering, it'll have no rice, because it's beef ramen. Specifically, this is mazesoba. The 'maze' part comes from mazeru , meaning to stir or mix, and while 'soba' by itself usually refers to buckwheat noodles, it can also indicate ramen noodles (as it does in the stir-fried ramen noodle dish yakisoba). Mazesoba is a type of non-soup ramen where instead of the noodles floating in liquid broth they're placed in a bowl with sauce and other ingredients, and you stir everything together just before eating so that the flavor mixes throughout. For its Gyutama Stamina Mazesoba, the key co-star for the noodles is the same strips of simmered beef that Yoshinoya fans know and love from the chain's beef bowls. Accompanying them are sliced onions, diced leeks, tempura flakes, an egg, and a thick-consistency spicy garlic sauce, which is served on the side so that you can add as much or as little as you want. Yoshinoya says the result is tasty and satiating, but surprisingly describes the flavor as 'rich yet refreshing.' Considering that just about every ingredient in Yoshinoya's mazesoba is meaty, pungent, or fried, it's probably best to take that 'refreshing' claim with a grain of salt, but the bold and filling parts of the promise definitely sound plausible, and with Japanese folk wisdom holding that garlic is supposed to boost physical endurance, the Gyutama Stamina Mazesoba, priced at 767 yen (US$5.30) is set to go on sale July 4, right as the midsummer heat starts showing up. Source: Yoshinoya (1, 2)via Hachima Kiko Images: Yoshinoya ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
