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Suzu Hirose Plays 3rd-Grader Chibi Maruko-chan — 20 Years Later, Drinking Beer

On February 8, SUNTORY's Premium Malt's beer brand began a new commercial ad campaign starring Suzu Hirose (Our Little Sister, live-action Chihayafuru, The Boy and The Beast, Fireworks, Should We See it from the Side or the Bottom?) as Momoko Sakura from the beloved Chibi Maruko-chan anime about a third-grader. However, Maruko-chan is 20 years older and ready for the perks being of an adult.

The campaign parodies the anime's next-episode previews in its first teaser, saying, “Next time, PreMalt's new commercial will be… The Tale of Becoming a Premium Adult!” The video substitutes Maruko-chan's old hometown with New York City with voiceovers by Maruko, her best friend Tamae “Tama-chan” Honami, and her much-envied classmate Kazuhiko “Hanawa-kun” Hanawa.

Chibi Maruko-chan ends every Sunday at 6:30 p.m., although it has been airing this month without corporate sponsors after a scandal at Fuji TV.

As of press time, SUNTORY has streamed two sets of commercials on YouTube. The first set features Hirose as Maruko-chan, Sairi Itō (Suzume, live-action Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!) as Tama-chan, and Joe Odagiri (Kamen Rider Kuuga, SHINOBI - Heart Under Blade, live-action Mushishi) as Hanawa-kun holding a reunion in a bar in New York City. The second set of commercials features Maruko-chan and Tama-chan opening time-capsule letters they wrote to each other when they were kids. Both sets of commercials feature 7-, 15-, and 30-second versions.

Set 1 "Reunion"

Set 2 "Letters"

SUNTORY has collaborated with other anime and manga over the years. In 2019, the beverage maker produced commercials in with Weathering With You. 2020 saw SUNTORY partner with Crayon Shin-chan for a set of Craft Boss Coffee commercials. In late 2024, SUNTORY gin brand Sui released a commercial with characters designed by Blue Period creator Tsubasa Yamaguchi.

The real-life late Momoko Sakura created the semi-autobiographical Chibi Maruko-chan manga in 1986, and serialized it on and off in Shueisha's Ribon magazine until her passing in 2018. The manga series spawned an anime series in 1990, and the anime aired until late September 1992. A second anime series premiered in 1995 and is still airing. The story follows the titular Maruko-chan (also known as Maru-chan) in a partly fictional recreation of the creator's childhood in Shizuoka Prefecture in the 1970s.

Sources: The Premium Malt's X/Twitter account, SUNTORY's YouTube channel (link 2, link 3, link 4, link 5, link 6), Comic Natalie