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Japacon TV is a show that introduces Japanese subcultures such as anime and Vocaloid and broadcasts at 12 p.m. every Friday on the Japanese satellite broadcast channel BS Fuji. This episode is titled “Dream Collaborations Between Anime and Commercials?! The Frontlines of the Anime Advertisement Business.” It is themed after collaborations between anime production companies, creators, and the commercial industry. In this second part, we will introduce one genre of anime commercials: collaborations.
Since the year 2000, countless collaboration-type anime commercials have been created in Japan, but among these there is an anime commercial that had a large impact not just in Japan, but worldwide. We are talking about the collaborative Next A-Class commercial created by Mercedes-Benz, Production I.G, and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto.
Production I.G is a company that has created many of Japan’s popular anime including the Ghost in the Shell and Attack on Titan series. Yoshiyuki Sadamoto is well-known as the character designer on Neon Genesis Evangelion and he is highly regarded in the world of anime.
And then there’s Mercedes-Benz. This German company is a top automotive brand worldwide, and it’s not a stretch to say they’re synonymous with luxury cars. So why did Mercedes-Benz choose anime as its means of advertising?
Watch the program for the answer!
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
