13 commercials for Mana Ashida: The key is to break free from her image as a child actress in “Marumo
Entertainment reporter Toshio Ishikawa's "The other side of the story: ......
Entertainment Reporter Toshio Ishikawa’s “Behind the Scenes of That Event: ……
I was once on a trip to a hot spring with some celebrities. When they were leaving the next morning, the inn keeper said to them, “I enjoy watching you every day.
“I enjoy watching you every day.
I’ve enjoyed watching you every day. But the celebrity said
“I’m not on the show every day.
But the celebrity replied with a pouting face, “I don’t appear every day.
It’s true that I don’t appear on the show every day, but I was surprised by his answer. I thought he could have just said, “Thank you,” but for some reason he was in a bad mood. I wondered if he was always like this to people he didn’t know.
It’s not uncommon for people to say “I’m watching it” to people they often see on TV, including as a social courtesy. I’m sure Mr. Bando had a desire to talk to a celebrity, but he stopped talking to me.
“I guess I should have said, “I’ve been watching the show you’re on.
I guess I should have said, “I’m watching your show.
Anyway, there are some successful celebrities that you really can’t go a day without seeing on TV. Aina Ashida is one of them.
She made her debut as a child actress at the age of five and starred in her first drama at the age of six. The second drama she starred in, “Marumo no Okite” (Fuji Television Network), also drew attention for its theme song.
She became the youngest person ever to participate in NHK’s 62nd Kouhaku Uta Gassen (2012) at the age of 9 years and 239 days, singing “Maru Maru Mori Mori” with her co-star Fuku Suzuki. The record has yet to be broken.
At the age of 15, she gave a congratulatory message in a kimono at the “National Celebration to Congratulate the Accession to the Throne of His Majesty the Emperor” held in the plaza in front of the Imperial Palace. There is no end to her record.
For a while, she had to save her entertainment activities for her schoolwork, but after she was accepted into junior high school, she gradually began her entertainment activities in earnest. Why do people watch Ms. Ashida every day?
It must be the TV commercials. She is currently appearing in 13 commercials. The queen of commercials for the first half of 2009 is Tsubasa Honda with 15 (according to the Nikon Monitor), but for some reason, I keep noticing her commercials.
I’ve seen her in a lot of commercials, such as for the cell phone company Y!mobile, the English conversation service ECC, and Suntory’s Iyemon, which became a hot topic when she appeared with Shogi player Sota Fujii. I wonder if it’s because she appears in commercials that are aired frequently, or if she’s a sponsor of the programs I watch….
I wonder if it’s because she appears in commercials that air frequently, or if it’s because she’s a sponsor of the programs I watch. As Ashida has never been involved in any scandal, it seems that the companies would love to have her as their image character.
Her MC role in the variety show “Dr. Sandwitchman & Mana Ashida” (TV Asahi) has also become a regular feature. She professes that reading is her hobby, and I am amazed at how knowledgeable she is.
After passing the entrance exam for junior high school, she is now a freshman at a very famous and difficult high school. She says that she wants to go to medical school and become a pathologist (a doctor who investigates diseases from collected cells of patients).
There are many people who become explosively popular as child actors, but gradually lose popularity as they grow older. In this case, Ms. Ashida’s popularity is increasing while she is taking exams and studying for school, which is truly amazing.
After gaining popularity with “Marmo,” Ms. Ashida made her Hollywood debut in 2001. After that, she must have been inundated with offers to appear in movies, but she saved her workload for her junior high school entrance exams, which turned out to be a good thing.
I don’t mean to exaggerate about her re-debut, but I think she was able to successfully break away from her role as a child in “Marumo. Now, I have established an image as a knowledgeable and cute “young lady student. I really look forward to seeing what kind of actress she will become as she grows up.
It seems that she is aiming to become a pathologist, but I would like to keep watching her active in the entertainment industry.
Come to think of it, Ms. Ashida has been in stardom since she was a little girl, but I’ve never heard anything bad about her from people in the TV station industry, such as “cocky” or “selfish. Back to the topic at hand, if she were to say to me, “I watch your show every day,” I’m sure I’d answer honestly, “Thank you,” even if I was wrong.
Interview and text by: Toshio Ishikawa (Entertainment Reporter)
Born in Tokyo in 1946. Born in Tokyo in 1946, he has a unique career path: from the advertising department of Shochiku to a reporter for a women's magazine to an entertainment reporter. He is currently a regular contributor to "Mentai Wide" (Fukuoka Broadcasting System), "Sumadan" (Yomiuri Television), and Rainbow Town FM.
Photo: Yoshio Tsunoda/Afro: Yoshio Tsunoda/Afro