King & Prince's Kaito Takahashi and Jun Shison star together in new TV commercial "#Our Summer Song Campaign"

■A playlist selected by King & Prince’s Takahashi Kaito and Shison Jun has also been released!

Universal Music’s new TV commercial “#OurSummerSongCampaign,” starring King & Prince’s Takahashi Kaito (the official spelling of “Taka” is with a はしごだか) and actor Shison Jun, has been released.

In addition, playlists of songs selected by Takahashi Kaito and Shison Jun, as well as a playlist of various summer songs from Universal Music, have been released on various music distribution services.

■TVCM Story “#Our Summer Song Campaign “Summer Classroom””
The five close friends from high school visit their alma mater for the first time in a long time. Feeling a little sentimental, they start listening to songs that bring back memories. Shison reminisces about the time they used to play around with the broom guitar. Takahashi, worried about being alone, comes over to tease them. Though they feel a little embarrassed, the nostalgia and momentum of the moment transports them back to their high school days, and they sing and laugh while playing the broom guitar. Wanting to remember those days, they want to listen to Mrs. GREEN APPLE songs. The video expresses a time slip from such high school memories to the present day.

■TV commercial shooting episodes
The setting for this commercial is that Shison and Takahashi, who have been best friends since high school, are now working adults and reminiscing about their irreplaceable high school days to the music of Mrs. GREEN APPLE. The shoot begins with Shison reminiscing about his alma mater for the first time in a long time, and Takahashi teasing him, before moving on to flashbacks of the five of them in their high school classrooms and modern scenes. The commercial also required high acting skills to be expressed through facial expressions rather than words, as the nostalgia for their youth brought back by the power of music is something to watch. Keep an eye out for the sad yet cheerful expressions on the two actors’ faces.

■Comments from Jun Shison and Kaito Takahashi
Q. Looking back on the filming.
Shison: I’ve always loved music and listen to it on a daily basis, but when I found out I was going to be doing a commercial for Universal Music, I suddenly felt a lot of pressure and wondered if I was up to the task. But I really hope I can express my love for music in the way that it is.
Takahashi: As King & Prince, we are always indebted to Universal Music, so I felt like it was a familiar presence and I was very happy. I’ve been dancing since I was little and have been exposed to a lot of music, so I’m happy to be able to appear in a commercial like this.
Q. Do you listen to the commercial song Mrs. GREEN APPLE?
Shison: When I was around 21 or 22 years old, I did a movie about a band, and while I was listening to a lot of bands at the time, I became really into Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “In the Morning,” so I listened to that song a lot.
Takahashi: Mrs. GREEN APPLE was popular when I was in high school, and we all listened to them. They were already a big hit, and I listened to them a lot. I listened to “Ao to Natsu” in particular quite a lot.
Q. About summer memories.
Shison: During the summers when I was a student, I was a catcher on the baseball team, so I have memories of being forced to run behind the catcher’s mask and suffering. But now, looking back, I think it was a lot of fun.
Takahashi: When we went to Okinawa for a summer school trip, all my friends around me were diving into the ocean in their uniforms, knowing that the teacher would get angry at us for it, but I was the only one who was afraid of getting scolded, so I couldn’t do it. It’s a bit of a vague memory, and I still think back to it and wish I had just jumped in.
Q. What would you like to do this summer?
Takahashi: I got my diving license about two years ago, and when I went on a family trip to Hawaii last year, I went diving and saw fish eating food, which was really fun. Unlike an aquarium, you can’t usually see that. I’d like to go overseas to see it again.
Shison: I have a boat license. About two years ago, I took a week off before starting a long-term stage performance, and I wanted to leave something behind, so I got my boat license. When the performance was over, I wanted to drive a boat and have a barbecue, so I worked hard on the performance, but in the end I couldn’t. This summer, I’d like to go out to sea with Takahashi on a boat and go diving together.
Q. About playlists
Shison: When I get hooked on a song, I want to listen to it about 50 times forever, so I put songs that I’ve listened to about 50 times in this playlist. In particular, Ulfuls’ “Waraereba” makes me feel positive whether I’m happy or a little depressed. If you start with “Waraereba,” it’s a good playlist. That’s my biggest preference. I also like songs from the 1980s and 1990s, so I made a playlist filled with my favorite songs.
Takahashi: I made a playlist to get you in the mood for summer. I think listening to the songs will evoke that feeling.
Shison: When I looked at Takahashi’s playlist, there were a lot of songs I didn’t know, and I really wanted to listen to them.
Takahashi: There is a song called “Ero” by CreepHyp. I first encountered this song when I was a freshman in high school and went to karaoke with some seniors who were a year older than me. At that time, one of the seniors was desperately imitating CreepHyp’s Ozaki Sekaikan, and I was shocked and was like, “What is that?” and “What is that song?” Until then, I had been dancing, so I only listened to hip-hop, but I was like, “Japanese bands are amazing, they’re cool!” I was a good kid, or a stereotypical person, so when I started listening to CreepHyp, I felt like I was able to free myself. I still love the music I listened to back then. I go back to the scenes of that time with the music. I included a lot of songs that have such memories. I will listen to all the songs for the rest of my life.
Q. Please give a message to those who have watched the commercial.
Shison: I believe that music can touch our hearts, remind us of times past, bring to mind scenes, and is a part of our lives, so I would love to create a commercial that will fill everyone’s lives with the music of Universal Music artists.
Takahashi: I think that music is something that can connect people regardless of borders, race, or gender. Through music, you can make friends with many different people, get along well, or just immerse yourself in the music. I think that the songs you listen to will be important to you for the rest of your life, so I hope you find your favorite songs, listen to them a lot, and love them.