Exclusive: Anna Vissi in a Japanese advertisement again(!) What's the director saying?

2 years after the famous advert with Anna Vissi and her song 'To Poli Poli', which the famous artist Naoki Mitsuse created for the Japanese beverage sake (Tateyama Brewing Company), Naoki is back with a new advert with the song 'To Poli Poli' writen by Nikos Karvelas (music) and Dimitris Patsios (lyrics)!

Anna Vissi stars in the new advert but so does her beloved dog Vanilia in a surprise role!

The director of the advertisement, Naoki Mitsuse, spoke exclusively to fannatics.gr about Anna Vissi, the concept of the new advertising campaign and the impact of the first advert in Japan:

We see several 'strange' participants in the advert, is there a specific theme or symbolism?

"Without revealing too much, the characters in the restaurant from the advert are inspired by a cartoon series, which was created in collaboration with Tateyama Brewing Co. The storyline of the series revolves around a 3 eyed devil and a ruthless director of a company. The characters in the advert enjoyed an excellent dinner and are being entertained by a wonderful singer. The fact that the Japanese sake, which works so well with Japanese cuisine, fits equally well in Western cuisine is part of the meaning of the ad."

Why did you decide to use Anna's song for a second time in the campaign? What was the impact of the first advert in the media and elsewhere?

"The reason we decided to use 'To Poli Poli' by Anna for a second time was because of how successful the first advertisement was. I believe that Anna's music sounds so fresh and exotic to the Japanese ear."

Did you know that Anna has a white Maltese dog like the one in the advert?

"Yes, I knew that Anna had a very special Maltese dog called Vanilia. The inspiration for the dog in my animation came when I saw a stray dog in Naples train station, which reminded me of Vanilia."

We'd like to hear your comments about the advert or a message you have for Anna:

"It was a real pleasure and a great privilage to be able to create an animation using Anna's music again. I'm happy to know that 'To Poli Poli' will make another appearance on Japanese television as a burst of freshness in the chaotic sea of the Japanese tv programms."

* Watch the first advertisement by Naoki Mitsuse with the song 'To Poli Poli' here