キリン 午後の紅茶 | あいたいって、あたためたいだ。 | 2016
"Your voice is way too loud!" laughed the senior. Viewers cried. / Kirin Afternoon Tea "I Want to See You, I Want to Warm Up"
A quiet train platform. A high school girl with white headphones suddenly bursts into song, loud enough to reach the skies over Mount Aso. There's a bit of a puzzle about whether Moka Kamishiraishi's character could actually hear the sound of a drink dropping from the vending machine, which leaves you a little unsettled—but even setting that aside, this is still a wonderful piece of work.
The problem
To support Minami-Aso Village, which was hit by the Kumamoto earthquakes in April 2016, Kirin Beverage planned this series. The winter hot-drink series, which began in winter 2016, was also aimed at reaching people who didn't normally drink tea, with the goal of making it a go-to winter drink. Shooting on location in Minami-Aso just six months after the earthquake was a commercially risky move, and that choice shows just how serious the brand was about this.
The insight
The design pairs tea—which naturally fits the need for a hot winter drink—with a heartfelt singing voice and beautiful scenery, built into a commercial series. At Mihainokata Station on the Minami-Aso Railway, set against the vast natural backdrop of the Aso mountain range with nothing blocking the view, Moka Kamishiraishi belts out Chara's "Yasashii Kimochi." The ad piles on every classic coming-of-age ingredient—commuting to school, the countryside, trains, visible breath in the cold air, a lovely young girl, a cover of a beloved song—yet somehow it never feels like too much. That's a real achievement. And Moka Kamishiraishi's own personality comes through clearly.
The idea
The setup is simple: a high school girl listening to music through headphones can't help but start singing out loud on the platform, and her voice reaches the station staff, kids walking home from school, even someone on a tractor far away. A single-car diesel train approaches, and inside is a senior from her school. He notices her mid-song and looks surprised. After getting off the train, he buys an Afternoon Tea from the vending machine and calls out, "Your voice is way too loud!" That punchline is perfect—in the instant when embarrassment and joy hit her all at once, the product is right there in the middle of it. The vending machine sound issue was probably just some creative breathing room. Also, the singing and acting ability of Moka Kamishiraishi, who was 16 years old at the time, was honestly overwhelming.
What happened
This series ran for four installments through winter 2018 and became a popular series, with later episodes developing a romance storyline with Kai Inowaki. From the first broadcast, the beautiful nature of Minami-Aso Village combined with Kamishiraishi's singing voice to create a big response. The series design was also impressive in how it kept using beloved song covers each time—aiko's "Kabutomushi" in the second installment, Spitz's "Kaede" in the third, and HY's "366 Nichi" in the final chapter.
Afterthought
It really is packed with every classic ingredient—visible breath in the cold, a countryside station, a commuter train, a lovely girl, a nostalgic cover song, the faint hint of romance—it's all there. But the reason this never feels excessive, and instead feels like a genuine touch of youth, is thanks to the power of the Minami-Aso setting and Moka Kamishiraishi's clear, transparent presence. That expression on her face when she's called out with "Your voice is way too loud!"—I never get tired of watching it. This series ran for two years in the end, and I looked forward to it every winter. And Kirin's decision to greenlight this project just six months after the earthquake deserves real respect, too. Not just selling a product, but supporting a place, telling a story, and warming the hearts of viewers. This feels like advertising at its best.
