Dragon Ball Toyota Sienta Commercial

Relive the epic moment when Toyota went full Dragon Ball for their 2012 Sienta minivan commercial and performed a parody of the theme song!

While writing Dragon Ball Culture Volume 7: Anime, I discovered an interesting bit of trivia about Dragon Ball’s theme song, Makafushigi adobenchā! (“Mystical Adventure!”)

In April of 2012, car manufacturer Toyota performed a parody of the song in a national commercial for their Sienta minivan type passenger car.

In the commercial, a childlike drawing of the vehicle rolls down the street in rhythm to the song. Then, a paper-like version of actress Haida Shōko (はいだ しょうこ) sings original lyrics about the vehicle’s features, such as three rows of seats that can fit 7 people—two of which are dancing crabs?!

Why Dragon Ball?

Why would Toyota use a Dragon Ball song in their commercial?

Due to Dragon Ball’s success as an anime, a generation of fans grew up with the series.

For decades, Makafushigi adobenchā! became part of the cultural milieu of Japan.

During that time, those children grew up and had families of their own. The use of this song tapped into the positive memories of people who grew up with Dragon Ball and wanted to protect their families on the road.

According to an archive of Toyota’s Sienta website, the advertisement was part of their “Play Genius Parent-Child Project.”

The goal of the project was to get parents and children to play together. The site said, “If there are more parents and children who play, which makes their bodies and minds energized, the whole of Japan will surely become more energetic. Fun ‘play’ that helps children grow, deepens family ties, and makes you smile. Let’s all have a good time and be full of energy in body and mind!”

That sounds a lot like Dragon Ball, right? You can picture Goku and Vegeta training with their kids!

If only we had commercials like this outside of Japan.

Although to be fair, Ford released an awesome ad in 2015 for the Ford Fusion.

We need more ads like this, Ford!