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Original Gundam Character Designer Draws Sapporo Beer Commercial
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
The Tokyo-Hakone Round-Trip College Ekiden Race (Hakone Ekiden) is one of Japan's most prominent college-level relay races. The two-day race is held from January 2-3 with a total distance of 217.9km as racers trek from Tokyo to Hakone as they have done nearly every year since 1920. The Sapporo Beer company is a sponsor of this year's race and is working with acclaimed character designer Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and record-setting runners Yuta Shitari and Suguru Osako on a commercial to air during the race's televised broadcast.
The commercial is titled "Hakone Ekiden no Sonosaki e" (Beyond Hakone Ekiden) and will feature animate portions by Yasuhiko. This is the first time the 71-year-old Mobile Suit Gundam character designer has worked on a commercial. The band BUMP OF CHICKEN's track "Lost Man" will serve as the ad's theme song.
Yasuhiko provided the original character designs and served as chief animation director for the Mobile Suit Gundam anime series. Since then, he has continued to lend his skills to the mecha franchise and most recently worked on Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin as chief director and designed the characters for Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE:0096.
If the drama of Hakone Ekiden peaked your interest, this year's anime series Run with the Wind centers around a team aiming to complete the race. It's currently streams on Crunchyroll.
Source: Comic Natalie
