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McDonald's Japan Rolls Out Saint Seiya Burgers

McDonald's Japan teased a new collaboration with the Saint Seiya franchise on Wednesday by posting an image of the iconic circlet worn by Saint Seiya protagonist Pegasus Seiya with the caption, “This light… it's Pegasus ___?!” An image of Japan with four silhouetted McDonald's menu items followed the caption, “The chosen gourmet, assemble!”

A handful of replies to the initial post poked fun at Saint Seiya with images from several live-action adaptations of the franchise, particularly the 1991 Bandai Super Musical Saint Seiya starring the six members of idol group SMAP. A separate joke reply features Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters character Pegasus J. Crawford wearing the circlet.

The next day, McDonald's Japan formally unveiled the Saint Seiya collaboration menu with burgers inspired by regional dishes: the Hokkaido Jaga Cheese Teriyaki (Hokkaido Potato Cheese Teriyaki), Nagoya Meibutsu Tebasakifu Kurogoma Juicy Chicken (Nagoya Chicken Wings-Style Black Pepper Juicy Chicken), and Hakata Mentai Butter Teriyaki (Hakata Marinated Roe Butter Teriyaki). The burgers will go on sale for a limited time beginning on May 20.

McDonald's Japan released four commercials for the collaboration, set to Saint Seiya's opening theme song, “Pegasus Fantasy.” The first commercial features all three of the limited-time burgers. The final three feature the burgers individually. Appropriately, comedian Seiya Ishikawa of the Shimofuri Myōjō (literally, "Late Autumn Venus" but also a wordplay on marbled beef) duo stars in these ads:

Sources: McDonld's X/Twitter account (Link 2, link 3), McDonald's Japan's You Tube channel (link 2, link 3, link 4)