French Actor Turns Into Robotic Cat In Japanese Commercials

by 25 Comments

It’s no secret that western celebrities do commercials in Japan for some extra cash. Everybody’s gotta make a buck, right?

But some of those commercials are more strange than others. Case in point, Jean Reno’s recent commercials for Toyota in Japan.

Jean Reno, if you don’t know him, is a French actor who’s had crossover success in the English-speaking world, with a handful of high-profile movies like Leon: The Professional, Ronin, and the trainwreck that was the American Godzilla remake (but we don’t talk about that).

What’s weird about these recent commercial isn’t the actor nor the company, but the fact that they feature Jean Reno dressed as cartoon character Doraemon.

Doraemon

Doraemon is a classic Japanese kid’s cartoon about a time-travelling, robotic cat from the future (who for some reason doesn’t have ears), who hangs out with kids and inexplicably pulls magical items out of a pouch on his stomach.

These Toyota commercials feature a live-action, future version of all the beloved Doraemon characters with Monsieur Reno as the eponymous character.

It’s be like if Chow Yun-fat came to the US to play a live-action Scooby Doo in a commercial for Ford.

The premise of the whole sieries is a little sad, though. It follows the lives of the kids from Doraemon all grown up. The main child from the series, Nobita Nobi, is now 30 years old, single, and without a driver’s license. So who’s to help them?

Nobita has to compete with his rival, Suneo Honekawa, to win the affections of his childhood friend, Shizuka Minamoto. Unfortunately for Nobita however, Suneo has not only a driver’s license, but seemingly unlimited financial success.

But all isn’t lost for Nobita. His old pal Doraemon can help him check out all the sweetest new cars, get his license and hopefully, win the heart of Shizuka.

Doraemon’s help comes in many forms. Hi magical contraptions include a door that leads everywhere; a tiny, head-mounted helicopter; and a phone that shows the future. Not bad for a guy without ears.

One commercial even features AKB48 singer Atsuko Maeda, making the “six degrees of separation” game a snap. Jar Jar Binks to AKB48? Easy!

Jar Jar Binks was in the Star Wars franchise that also starred Natalie Portman, who appeared in Leon The Professional with Jean Reno, who was in a Toyota commercial with Atsuko Maeda who is a singer in AKB48! No problem!

In the end, it’s unclear if Nobita ever gets his license, a car, or the lady of his dreams. But if nothing else, Nobita gets to hang with his futuristic cyber cat and, in the end, isn’t that what’s more important?

Which commercial was your favorite?

  • simplyshiny

    ahh is that YamaPi as Suneo? And Jean Reno? uh…best CMs ever!

  • ジョサイア

    Too bad we don’t have Commercials like this in america…D’:

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=19509501 Matthew Olson

    I remember, last year they did another Reborn Campaign with Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, as part of the “Drive for Tohoku” thing, didn’t they?

  • J.

     …Or in the UK. =(

  • http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

    Yes! We actually wrote about that earlier this year

    http://www.tofugu.com/2012/03/10/japan-reborn/

  • Genkisan

    For me the highlight of the commercials was seeing Tsumabuki Satoshi playing Nobita!

  • ジョサイア

    Or in Brazil D=

    xD lol

  • uknowme

     Or in Belize…

  • ジョサイア

    Or in the Ukraine.

  • Hanamichi

     He is not French, he is Spanish

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Reno

  • Gentlementleman

     Or in Germany…

  • ジョサイア

    Or the 
    Central African Republic. C:113) Libya114) Liechtenstein115) Lithuania116) Luxemberg117) Macedonia118) Madagascar119) Malawi120) Malayasia121) Maldive Islands122) Mali123) Malta124) Martinque125) Mauritania126) Mauritius127) Mayotte128) Mexico129) Micronesia130) Moldova131) Monaco132) Mongolia133) Montenegro134) Montserrat135) Morocco136) Mozambique137) Myanmar138) Namibia139) Nauru140) Nepal141) Netherlands142) New Caledonia143) New Zealand144) Nicaragua145) Niger146) Nigeria147) Niue148) North Korea149) Northern Mariana150) Norway151) Oman152) Pakistan153) Palau154) Palestine155) Panama156) Papua New Guinea157) Paraguay158) Peru159) Philippines160) Pitcarin Island161) Poland162) Portugal163) Puerto Rico164) Qatar165) Reunion166) Romania167) Russia168) Rwanda169) Samoa170) Sao Tome171) Saudi Arabia172) Senegal173) Serbia174) Sierra Leone175) Singapore176) Slovakia177) Slovenia178) Solomon Islands179) Somalia180) South Africa181) South Korea182) South Sudan183) Spain184) Sri Lanka185) St. Helena186) St. Kitts & Nevis187) St. Lucia188) St. Vincent & Grenadines189) Sudan190) Suriname191) Swaziland192) Sweden193) Switzerland194) Syria195) Taiwan196) Tajikistan197) Tanzania198) Thailand199) Togo200) Tokelau Islands201) Tonga202) Trinidad203) Tunisia204) Turkey205) Turkmenistan206) Turks & Caicos207) Tuvalu208) UAE209) Uganda210) Ukraine211) United Kingdom212) United States213) Uruguay214) Uzbekistan215) Vanuatu216) Venezuela217) Vietnam218) Virgin Islands US219) Virgin Islands UK220) Wallis & Futuna221) Western Sahara222) Yemen223) Zambia224) Zimbabwe

  • Catherine44123

    He’s not Spanish, he’s Moroccan.

  • http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

    Born in Morocco, but it seems like he’s made most of his career in France. Really, he’s ~a citizen of the world~

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=44807468 Jessica Minckler

    Doraemon got his ears bitten off by rats… thats why he’s afraid of them =/

  • Ini Aamat

    or in Malaysia.. :(

  • ジョサイア

    Where’s that? O_o

  • Dyonathan Misuguti

    Or in Brazil…… lol

  • Rudy

    Excellent I like this actor a lot (ok I’m french) and it’s so funny to see him in this kind of role when I look at his career!

  • Rudy

    OH and by the way his name is “Jean Reno”, he did make a movie named “wasabi” with Yoshimido Yumi

  • ジョサイア

    O_O…Does anywhere but japan have good commercials?
    I’ve already seen that Malaysia, Brazil UK, Ukraine, Belize, Germany and Central African Republic don’t have em…

  • ジョサイア

    Wow, You’re not that far from japan so you’re good…Right?

  • http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

     Or in Japan . . .

    . . . wait, #$%@!

  • Dreamersakura

    ain’t this old news ???

  • http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

    It’s not news, just something I thought people might find entertaining :)