Is This Amazing or What! Check Out CalorieMate’s Blackboard Art Animation Commercial!

| Super Cool Awesome Tokyo Now | Posted by Kenji Harada on Oct.25.2015

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Nutrionally-balanced food CalorieMate’s new commercial has been on air in Japan since the 24th.
The commercial is a story that uses blackboard art to reminisce about the life and struggles of a student, played by Yuna Taira (ex: Oha Girls Chu! Chu! Chu!), in the year leading up to her entrance examination.

CalorieMate is a nutritionally-balanced food that can easily supply one’s body with good nutrition.
It’s a strong ally for students who are studying, or in clubs.
This commercial expresses the the troubles of girls challenging the huge life hurdle of entrance exams, and supports the test-takers by telling them, “Show your potential!”

The blackboard art animation was drawn by blackboard artist Renarena and 34 current art school students, and took 2623 hours and 6328 slides to complete.

Contributor Wanted!!

Taira, who played the lead role, wrote the following on her blog regarding the commercial, which took a year to produce:
“These 6328 drawings took 34 art students 2623 hours to draw. They drew me. They drew a test-taker who struggled through spring, summer, fall, and winter; an entire year. To be in the college exam hall and feel the tension in the air… They captured it. As I imagined how this might be what next year and the year after feel like, I was able to experience the feeling of being a student studying for entrance exams”

The commercial’s song is “Yume wo akiramenai de” (Don’t give up on your dreams), covered by 18 year-old singer Anly, and the majestic string sound makes it a truly moving performance.

In the making-of video, you can see various processes in the creation of the video, and of course, the blackboard art. It’s a fusion of Japan’s aesthetic sense, which seems to continue to fixate on small details, and blackboard art, which is experiencing a boom among students owing to its compatibility with social media. Surely, this, too defines “Cool Japan”.

Contributor Wanted!!

Calorie Mate official website : http://www.otsuka.co.jp/cmt/

Calorie Mate global introduction : https://www.otsuka.co.jp/en/product/caloriemate/

Author

Kenji Harada

The venerable Japanese word "kawaii" is not the adjective "cute"; it is just a word used to communicate the state of mind of feeling love for something.