Skincare Major SKII Unveils Athlete Themed Anime Series Ahead Of Tokyo 2020

Ahead of the upcoming Summer Olympics in Tokyo, SKII Studio, the film studio division of the skincare giant SKII, returns with the ‘VS’ Series, an engaging anime series to inspire every woman that they have the power to #CHANGEDESTINY.

The series features a roster of top Olympic athletes:

• the world’s most decorated gymnast Simone Biles
• world-record swimmer Liu Xiang
• two-time Olympic medalist and table tennis player Ishikawa Kasumi
• badminton duo and Olympic gold medalists Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki  Matsutomo
• surfer Mahina Maeda, and 
• Japan volleyball team Hinotori Nippon

This collection of six films, based on real-life experiences of these Olympic athletes, each looks at the different aspects of societal challenges that women often face and emphasises SK-II’s mantra that destiny is not a matter of chance, but a matter of choice.

The ‘VS’ Series films feature collaborations from famed content creators across the world, including award-winning animation studios such as Imaginary Forces, Passion Pictures, Platige Image and C3, and original soundtracks by singer-songwriters John Legend and Lexie Liu.

To accentuate the viewing experience of the ‘VS’ Series, the brand has also unveiled its landmark virtual city—SK-II City—where the audience can binge on the ‘VS’ Series in a virtual cinema and get an insider glimpse of the SK-II Studio to access exclusive content from the series.

According to ASN data, SK-II has a mere 0.4% (~US$9m) for the FMCG: Cosmetics & Toiletries category across the Asian sponsorship market since Q416, However, its spends have spiralled below its average quarterly spend of ~US$766k since Q18 and has failed to match its peak spend of slightly over US$1.8m in Q317. This has been due to a spate of withdrawals from a) celebrity endorsements and b) a major investment (over US$1.5m) in backing Beauty Bound Asia (a YouTube-based talent-hunt show for the best beauty content creator across the region, in the past year).

Its latest investment into the non-fiction, anime series landscape is likely to herald spin-offs across other Asian markets if it is received well by audiences in Japan, China and Korea: SKII’s key markets.