Japan Envy: Jean Reno x Doraemon (update: now with video)

What do you get when you cross Doraemon with French actor Jean Reno?

Jean Reno, from The Professional, among other films
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Doraemon, Japanese children’s character adored nationwide 
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Renaemon? Yes, that is a 63-year-old world-famous actor with a bell around his neck.

If I lived in Japan, I would be able to turn on my television and watch a Toyota commercial featuring Jean Reno as Doraemon, starting today. As you can tell, I am beyond disappointed that I do not live in Japan to watch this spectacle, but thanks to the internet, we can all be satisfied by the abundant photos and soon-to-be-posted YouTube videos. At the time of this post, I don’t believe the video has been uploaded anywhere yet, but as soon as I find it I will be sure to share it with all of you. 


Update: The commercial has long since been posted! It’s as cute as I imagined it would be.

Nobuta and Shizuka, now both 30 (the commercial acts as sort of a “Doraemon reunion”), go for a picnic together using public transport. Shizuka needs to get to her violin lessons, and Suneo (all-around jerk and rich guy) appears with his car to take her there. Nobuta returns home, dejected and lamenting about the fact that he doesn’t have a car. Doraemon appears saying “Long time no see, Nobuta,” to which he replies “Get me a car!” (as Doraemon is famous for being able to produce anything out of his pouch he wants). Doraemon says no, and when Nobuta asks why not, he answers with: “You don’t have a driver’s license!” Cue Toyota logo and phrase saying basically: “Get a driver’s license.”

I love it! Seeing Jean Reno dressed up as Doraemon and speaking Japanese has made my life.

You can go here to see a few photos of the commercial itself. Some other famous Japanese actors are in the commercial, titled “Nobita’s BBQ,” but we only really care about Jean Reno, right?

What’s he got in there?
Doraemon is famous for pulling anything and everything of his pouch. (Nobita pictured on left)

About Anne

Also known as apricotsushi. Anne can be written with the kanji for apricot (杏), and sushi was the most quintessentially Japanese thing I could think of when I was 13, resulting in my goofy, albeit memorable, nickname.

4 thoughts on “Japan Envy: Jean Reno x Doraemon (update: now with video)”

  1. Ha! I love that Japan has this history/reputation/tradition of completely WTF? commercials featuring top-shelf (and sometimes not-so-top-shelf) celebrities 🙂 Also, I look forward to being able to see this ad in action.

  2. Yeah, and I love how the celebrities try to keep their Japanese commercial activities on the down-low! I hear that in the US it’s kind of considered a B-grade thing to do to appear in a commercial like that.

    Anyways, here’s the link to the first (I think in a series) commercial! Jean Reno isn’t in it for very long, but it’s still pretty funny. I couldn’t find one with subtitles so I’m going to update this post with a brief description of what’s going on in a second, so be sure to check it out, Bryan! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfAjnn4Iy20

  3. LOL, I am in Japan but I haven`t seen this one with Reno in it yet. They have been airing another version with grown up Nobuta and one of the other characters (kind of a bully guy). I definitely want to see this one on TV!

  4. Hey Sean!

    Oh, this was just the only one I could find on Youtube back when I searched for it the other day. I hope they air some more with more of Reno in them! From what I saw of the pictures of the CMs showing up on Japanese news websites, there may be a couple more yet.

    I really liked those DoCoMo white shiba-inu family ads they did a while back. Are they still doing that series?

    I’m so jealous of your life in Japan! Video games, cute stuff everywhere…

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