Fans of the pop rock band Macaroni Empitsu will want to head to Tokyo from February 17 to March 6, 2023 to enjoy a newly-reworked 10th-anniversary exhibition. Guests are invited to look through various macaroni holes around the exhibition hall to catch glimpses of some curious and rare items only on display for a limited time.

After being held at several locations around Japan, the exhibition will return to Ikebukuro PARCO in Tokyo next month.

Items appearing in the Macaroni Empitsu 10th Anniversary Book -Macaroni Kuronikuru- will be on display, and a short film titled Aspirations will be screened following its premiere in Shibuya.

Graphic designer Shun Sasaki served as the art director for the exhibition.

Fans won’t want to miss out on the exhibition’s original merchandise featuring key visuals and lyrics from the band. Come get a glimpse at the history and personal lives of Macaroni Empitsu’s members while you can!

[Comment from Vocalist Hattori]
“Macaroni Empitsu’s exhibition is making a triumphant return to Tokyo! New content has been added this time around, so be sure to come fall into the macaroni hole!”

Music group Macaroni Pencil has unveiled the jacket for its latest song, Hoshi ga Oyogu, scheduled to be released on April 15, 2022.

The song will serve as the opening song for the anime adaptation of Summer Time Rendering. Yasuki Tanaka’s manga series ran from 2017 to 2021 in Shonen Jump+, quickly becoming a smash hit. A live-action adaptation and real escape game based on the series will also be coming soon.

The band recently performed at Nippon Budokan on their 10th-anniversary tour, becoming a popular topic on social media sites and stirring up plenty of excitement for the new series.

Summer Time Rendering Trailer #2
https://youtu.be/_JgOMtS2FkE

The chorus of the opening song can be heard in the second half of the second trailer, so be sure to give it a watch and a listen!

Japanese bicycle shop Asahi has teamed up with the anime series Crayon Shin-chan as part of its spring promotion campaign to spread awareness of the importance of riding your bike safely. Check out the collaborative video below.

The video was released to highlight the rules and manners of bike riding as with the sunny spring season comes more riders. It stars Shin-chan and his parents and is sure to have fans of Yoshito Usui’s series reminiscing on the manga and anime while taking into account the importance of protecting yourself and those around you. Playing in the background of the video is Hashirigaki by Japanese rock band Macaroni Enpitsu. The song, which sings of youthful days, was used as the main theme for the new anime film Crayon Shin-chan: Shrouded in Mystery! The Flowers of Tenkazu Academy.

As part of Asahi’s spring campaign, their official website also has information on things to consider when choosing a bike, how to praticing riding with training wheels, and more, all presented by the Kasukabe Defence Force from Crayon Shin-chan. The website is also giving 10 lucky people a chance to win a Nintendo Switch Lite by completing and posting the colouring-in sheet you get when buying a children’s bike on their website to Instagram.

Bourbon’s five-episode audiobook no doubt created for its Noukou Choco Brownie snack was released as an animated TV commercial last week. The video features Japanese pop rock band Macaroni Enpitsu’s new song Tomason which was written for the commercial.

The audiobook no doubt becomes a TV commercial

The no doubt audiobook was written by the popular Japanese author Yoru Sumino who is perhaps best known for writing I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. It tells the story of two boys who are in high school. They aren’t part of an afterschool club, and they don’t have part time jobs. They come to realise that this time will be what they look back on when they grow up. The characters were designed by Itsuka, an illustrator popular online.

The commercial features the song Tomason by Macaroni Enpitsu.

“no doubt” Animated TV Commercial

“no doubt” Recording Behind The Scenes

Japanese voice actors Hiro Shimono (Attack on Titan; Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba) and Yuki Kaji (Attack on Titan; My Hero Academia) voiced the characters in the commercial. Below is an interview with both of them on the commercial, part of which we have translated.

Hiro Shimono x Yuki Kaji Interview

A snippet of the interview, translated 

Q1: How did your performances go? Tell me about your shoot.

Hiro Shimono: “The commercial portrays two boys who are neither adults nor children, so going through puberty I suppose. Their dialogue is elaborate, it was super interesting.”

Yuki Kaji: “Right up to wrapping up, the entire shoot was a lot of fun, including the intervals during our breaks.”

Q2: You both play the roles of high school boys. Tell me about a time from your youths.

Yuki Kaji: “One memory I have from school being young, which is like something out of a painting, was my time a the theatre club. You need real physical strength when it comes to acting, so before dress rehearsal, I’d run around the school building. That’s a memory that’s stuck with me. I’d change into my jersey, and go die– I mean, run to the nearby river embankment too. Being reminded of that now it’s too much like a youth film or something, it’s making me laugh <laughs>. “

Hiro Shimono: “I have a story from my youth too. It was on the day of the Culture Festival [at school]. After the festival finished, I was on my way home with some people, and there was a park with a water fountain in it. I said, ‘Well, it’s already raining, so why the hell not!’ Of course it wasn’t the thing to do, but we jumped into the water fountain and splashed about. That’s what being young is all about, right!?”

Q3: What’s your favourite Noukou Choco Brownie flavour, the regular or the rich milk?

Hiro Shimono: “Noukou Choco Brownie.”*

*Translator’s Note: Implying all of them

Yuki Kaji: “Me too! <laughs>”

Q4: Please give a message to fans.

Yuki Kaji: “I was lucky to have the opportunity to performance Yoru Sumino’s novel no doubt. I’m over the moon about it. The script was of course wonderful, and me and Shimono have known each other for a long time, so I think that comes across in the video with a pleasant atmosphere. The commercial is a youthful drama about two high school boys, and it’s linked to the bittersweetness of Noukou Choco Brownie. Be sure to tuck into one yourself while you listen to the story.”

Hiro Shimono: “[The commercial’s characters] Igarashi and Imai have a great conversation, and getting to do it with Kaji was a lot of fun. It made me think we’ve always had that kind of vibe with each other. Noukou Choco Brownie is the keyword, so please be sure to check out the audiobook to see how it plays its part.”

no doubt Synopsis

One day, high schooler Imai skips school by feigning illness. He is at home in his room, when all of a sudden another boy from his class, Igarashi, comes to visit him. He has the handouts to give to Imai from class, but the high school they go to doesn’t have that custom where a classmate has to give handouts to someone who’s off ill. And the two of them aren’t that class where Igarashi would suddenly pop to see Imai like that. Imai finds it suspicious. Igarashi is interested in the clay work Imai has in his room. Both of them have some free time, so begin to make a town together out of clay.

Crayon Shin-Chan is collaborating with the Japanese pop-rock band Macaroni Enpitsu who are appearing in both the manga and anime adaptations.

It was recently announced that Macaroni Enpitsu is performing the main theme for the anime film Crayon Shin-chan: Shrouded in Mystery! The Flowers of Tenkazu Academy which will be released on April 23, 2021. The band are now set appear in the Crayon Shin-Chan manga in the May issue of Manga Town. The magazine will be released in Japan on April 5.

Macaroni Enpitus will also feature in the anime adaptation of Crayon Shin-Chan on April 24, with all members lending their real voices to their respective characters.

Macaroni Enpitsu | Comment

“Can we really be trusted with such a series as this!? This might be the happiest we’ve ever been. Enpitsu really are collaborating with Shin-chan, right!? It made us thankful for being Macaroni Enpitsu! This collaboration happened because of the band name, right!? <laughs> Thank you so much! We’ve yet to get to recording our parts, but we heard we’re all getting our own scripts, so we bought a humidifier! <laughs> We researched today’s Shin-chan anime series and looked up what kind of characters are appearing. We’re fired up.”

*Comment translated from Japanese by MMN. Translator’s Note: Enpitsu is Japanese for ‘pencil.’

©臼井儀人／双葉社・シンエイ・テレビ朝日・ＡＤＫ 2021