This weekend, car manufacturer Toyota finally got going with their Peace Eco Smile campaign by releasing the first episode of their anime, PES: Pease Eco Smile. This is not the first time a car manufacturer has released an anime for promotional purposes. Back in 2011, Subaru released a free-to-air anime called Wish Upon the Pleiades (Houkago no Pleiades) in collaboration with the production studio Gainax.
So what is PES, you ask? The anime is a light-hearted romantic comedy about an alien that travels to Earth and settles in Tokyo. There, he learns important human values such as love and kindness. Some of the cars expected to be featured in the anime are the Toyota Prius and Toyota Camry, along with a Lexus LFA. Production of the anime is being done by Studio 4°C, which has worked on anime such as Detroit Metal City, Steamboy, and Tweeny Witches.
In addition to being a marketing platform for Toyota, PES also serves to promote the Patisserie A.K Labo in Tokyo and musical artists such as Halfby.
Even if you aren’t interested in cars, PES is worth checking out for its animation quality and music. I would describe it as bright and rainbow-like. Each episode is only 3 minutes long and the entire series is only 4 episodes. You can watch the first episode on Youtube, or check out the PES website for more details.