Koukoku-kun

Method

series

21 articles

The Moment a Story Takes Hold, Aboard a Train / Fujifilm "ASTALIFT"
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富士フイルム アスタリフト | 列車のふたり ナノテクノロジー | 2023

The Moment a Story Takes Hold, Aboard a Train / Fujifilm "ASTALIFT"

What happens when you bring a story into a cosmetics commercial? This ad feels like an experiment in just that. Aoi Miyazaki, disguised in a trench coat, sunglasses, and a blonde wig, jumps onto a train. Masaki Okada, claiming he's "come from the future," launches into an endless explanation of nanotechnology. Seiko Matsuda's "Red Sweet Pea" plays in the background, and in an atmosphere that can't quite decide if it's serious or comic, the two set off on a strange journey together.

I Laughed for Seven Straight Minutes / Apple "The Whole Working-From-Home Thing"
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APPLE | The Whole Working-From-Home Thing | 2020

I Laughed for Seven Straight Minutes / Apple "The Whole Working-From-Home Thing"

In July 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic, a seven-minute short film arrived from America. It was called "The Whole Working-From-Home Thing." And yes, it was exactly that: kids bursting into meetings, dogs barking, video calls in pajamas, screen-share mistakes, and somehow still making the deadline. The video crossed 10 million views within two days of release. As a sequel to 2019's acclaimed "The Underdogs," it wrapped the chaos that literally everyone was living through in humor.

What's Lost and Gained Over Two Years / Kirin Afternoon Tea "Aitai tte, Atatametai da. 18 Fuyu"
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キリン 午後の紅茶 | あいたいって、あたためたいだ。18冬 | 2018

What's Lost and Gained Over Two Years / Kirin Afternoon Tea "Aitai tte, Atatametai da. 18 Fuyu"

This series began in winter 2016, and apparently this is its conclusion. It's the kind of project where the casting alone practically guarantees success, but using the same actors across multiple years takes it even further. You can clearly see, right there on screen, what's been lost and what's been gained, and in that sense a different kind of charm emerges.

Make a Commercial That Old Guys Won't Understand / Nissin Cup Noodle "SURVIVE!"
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日清カップヌードル | SURVIVE! | 2013

Make a Commercial That Old Guys Won't Understand / Nissin Cup Noodle "SURVIVE!"

In 2013, Nissin went and did something wild. A young office worker in a suit of armor charges into a Western army, shouting "Nice to meet you!" before getting blown away by a cannon. A job-hunting student gets grilled by a polar bear interviewer in a blizzard, and at the beach, a monstrous shark attacks people, demanding "likes!" It's completely absurd, yet it captures the mood of 2013 exactly as it was.

30 years later, your stomach still remembers / NISSIN FOOD "HUNGRY? III UINTATHERIUM"
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NISSIN FOOD | HUNGRY? III UINTATHERIUM | 1994

30 years later, your stomach still remembers / NISSIN FOOD "HUNGRY? III UINTATHERIUM"

This is the Uintatherium installment, from 1994. It's part of the era when the series that had already stunned the world with mammoths and moas was still going strong. A caveman gets tossed around by a giant mammal, but in the end there's just the word "hungry?" and that white cup with red. By now this rhythm needs no explanation. It's one of the sequels in the series that won the Grand Prix at Cannes as a whole and became a landmark in Japanese advertising history.