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Dunlop Tire's 2nd Road to You Anime Short Stirs Feelings of Parental Love
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
On Monday, Dunlop Tires announced it had a second fully-animated commercial in the works for its Winter Maxx 02 stud-less tires. The ad is titled "ROAD TO YOU ~Hoshifuruoka no Yakusoku~" (Road to You: Promise of the Starry Hill) and follows a college student named Yui spending her 20th birthday with her mom at an observatory in Hokkaido where her late father used to view the stars.
The topic proves to be just as emotional in actuality. The nearly four-minute anime ad debuted today with all the emotional tears it promised.
Voice actress and accomplished fan artist Aoi Yūki stars in the short as Yui with Chiwa Saitō taking on the role of her mother and Nobuhiko Okamoto as her father. Saito, who has a child of her own, said the short exemplifies how parental love remains even after a father or mother passes away. She found the feelings expressed in the short relatable because of her own experience as a mother.
Okamoto joked on how well drawn the tires are in the ad, but also said the ad distills the feelings of parents and their children and that the ad stirred his heart.
Studio Ghibli alumni animator Yabomi drafted the short's character designs and Rozen Maiden director Kou Matsuo helmed the short. Eri Tamura adapted Yabomi's character designs for the short and was also the anime's chief animation director. Additionally, Keina Suda is returned from the previous short to compose the theme song "Lethologica".
Source: Comic Natalie