Now, Studio Ghibli is kicking off the New Year with a brand new commercial for local audiences, and it’s in honour of an equally well-known and beloved franchise: Japanese convenience store chain Lawson.
Thanks to some of the country’s most experienced anime industry pros, the short commercial for Lawson reminds us of everything we love about the convenience store chain, from its limited-edition goods to its coffee and hot food displays.
Back in 2001, the anime studio produced an ad for the convenience store chain to help promote Lawson’s tie-in merchandise campaign, which offered free goods for customers who used the store’s Loppi ticket machines to purchase tickets to the Ghibli feature film Spirited Away.
Tomohiko Ishii, who worked as Assistant Producer on Ghibli’s Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, produced the new commercial, recruiting real Lawson convenience store employees to provide voices for the characters.