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LIDEN FILMS Animates Intoxicating Miki no Mikoto Promo

posted on by Lynzee Loveridge

Back in January, Bandai Namco Entertainment introduced its Miki no Mikoto (literally: Lords of Sacred Sake) internet video program through its &Cast!!! app. The program anthropomorphisizes different types of sake as handsome guys. The story takes place in a large downtown area where gods and ayakashi (supernatural monsters) are rumored to appear. The town is called "Yayoi Machi" and within it is "Matsuyoian" where Seishu no Miko (refined sake princes) work as shop-keeps.

Animation studio LIDEN FILMS, the talent behind The Heroic Legend of Arslan and Terraformars, animated a promotion video for the program. The characters are all based on real brands of sake with different character designers.

The promo stars:

  • Kanbai Koshino, voiced by Kaito Ishikawa. He's based on the sake Koshi no Kanbai, made in Niigata at Ishimoto Sake Brewery.
  • Hikari Tamano, voiced by Ryohei Arai. He's based on the 340-year-old sake Tamanohikari, made in Kyoto.
  • Sawanoi, voiced by Masaya Matsukaze. He's based on the sake produced by Ozawa Brewery in Ome City.
  • Kinkame, voiced by Eiji Takemoto. He's based on Kinkame sake, a small sake brewery based in Omi that uses methods from the Edo period.
  • Reizan, voiced by Yōhei Azakami. He's based on the iconic sake brand from Takamori, Kumamoto, near Mt. Aso. The brewery has been open since 1762.
  • Zakura Dewa, voiced by Hiroaki Miura. He's based on Dewazakura sake from Tendo, Yamagata founded in 1892.
  • Kunimare, voiced by Motoki Takagi. He's based the sake from the brewery of the same name, located in Mashike, Hokkaido.
  • Dassai, voiced by Satoshi Inomata. He's based on the sake brewed by Asahi Shuzo in Yamaguchi.

Seiki Takuno directed the promo with assistant director Fumiaki Usui and animation character designs by Eriko Itō. Usui served as assistant director on Takuno's previous directorial works, namely Poco's Udon World, Love and Lies, and October's Boarding School Juliet. Yukiko Yamamoto composed the promotional video's music.

This doesn't mark the first time that Japan's iconic wine got the anthro treatment. Social game developer Alt Plus took a similar approach in 2016 in collaboration with at least 30 sake brewers. That project was called ShuShu ("shu" is another reading of the character for sake), and it planned to encompass a game and spread overseas eventually. The official website is still alive and the project is still active.

Source: Miki no Mikoto YouTube via Ota-Suke



Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., is a non-controlling, minority shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.

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