Showa Note: Pokemon Sun & Moon Collection

Showa Note, one of Japan’s oldest and most renowned school supplies and stationary brands, teamed up with Pokemon to release a series of school supplies for the new school year.

I came up with the concept and storyline of this commercial and was responsible for location scouting, set design, casting, costume design, script editing, directing, editing, shot composition, schedule coordination, and photo manipulation.

After collecting feedback from focus groups, the team at Showa Note came back with concerns about the dangerous nature of parkour featured within the commercial. We agreed to insert a “Do not try this at home kids” caption within the shots where dangerous stunts and acrobatics were performed. Asahi Shimbun wrote a short feature about the innovative use of parkour in the commercial.

We produced and released 2 versions of this commercial - one 15 second commercial, one 1 minute long commercial.

Clients: Showa Note / The Pokemon Company

Director: Yohei Takahashi

Concept + Art Director & Co-Director: Erika Omura Schmidt

Production Assistants: You Sato, Daisuke Okada

Production Company: Vista Co. Ltd.

Executive Producer: Jinko Ishino