Popular voice actor and actor Kenjiro Tsuda appeared at a press conference in Tokyo on March 23rd for Suntory's new TV commercial for "The Premium Malt's," alongside Suzu Hirose, Sairi Ito, and Joe Odagiri. It was revealed that Tsuda will be joining the "Premol-chan" series, a live-action adaptation of the popular anime "Chibi Maruko-chan" featuring the characters as adults.
On this day, in front of Hirose, who plays "Premium Maru-chan," Ito, who plays "Premium Tama-chan," and Odagiri, who plays "Premium Hanawa-kun," Tsuda, who will be narrating the new commercial as the new character "Premium Hide-ji," made a surprise appearance in his white-haired costume.
The three were surprised when Tsuda appeared, exclaiming "Oh! (laughs)." Tsuda greeted them in character, saying, "I've brought the new The Premium Malt's." When the host asked Odagiri if he felt a lot of emotions because Hideji is Hanawa-kun's butler, Odagiri replied, "I really do feel a lot of emotions (laughs). I love this voice and appearance," to which Tsuda smiled and said, "Thank you (laughs)!" At the tasting corner, they also showed off their banter, with Tsuda saying, "How is it, young master?" and Odagiri replying, "It's delicious, Hideji baby."
The new commercial features an orchestral arrangement of "Odoru Ponpokorin" and Tsuda's narration as the three dressed-up women showcase powerful action and cool poses to promote "The Premium Malt's," which has been revamped in both its contents and packaging. Hirose reflected on the filming, saying, "The monochrome world is very cool. It felt like we were shooting a music video, and I was a little embarrassed (laughs)."
