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Totoro Designer's Latest Bread Anime Ad Streamed
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
The Fukuoka-based bread company Francois is currently streaming an animated "society's leading edge is nature" commercial. The commercial feature's violinist Mei's rendition of the inspirational song "You Raise Me Up."
The commercial is part of Francois' partnership with Hakone Ekiden, a prominent university relay marathon race held between Tokyo and Hakone on January 2-3. Francois' "natural raw materials only" commercial aired with the same animation but a different song on six different channels in Japan on January 1-3, 2013.
The commercial series revolves around Cassis, a girl who works for her family's bakery and wants to become a baker, and a handsome young man named Arles who is studying architecture in Paris. Francois is also currently streaming its back catalog of commercials, which includes eight other animated ads that the company has created since 2010.
Yoshiharu Satō (character designer and animation director for My Neighbor Totoro, key animator for Children Who Chase Lost Voices, Arrietty, Porco Rosso) designed the original characters for the ad campaigns. Although the company has not confirmed if Sato himself animated the commercials, the commercials feature the copyright of "YS."
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