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We’ve no doubt all experienced that feeling of frustration when, right when things are getting good, our favorite TV show is interrupted by an ad break. We kick ourselves for getting suckered in, knowing full well that both the show’s makers and the networks that host it put the ads in where they did for good reason – to keep us glued to our sets that little bit longer.

But there are times when even the ads are so well made that they’re as entertaining as the shows we were watching. This new commercial for a Japanese soft drink, for example, is so cleverly shot that for the first few seconds we genuinely thought it was footage taken by a couple of high school girls tooling around in their classroom. Until, of course, they started back-flipping off buildings, sprinting across roofs and pulling every trick in the ninja book.

Sure, it has almost nothing to do with the product, but we think you’ll agree this is one of the coolest ads around.

You wouldn’t be overly harsh in describing the town of Atami as “sleepy.” Located on the coast of Shizuoka Prefecture, Atami’s glory days as a major resort largely ended with Japan’s Bubble Economy of the 1980s and early ‘90s.

That said, the town’s not without its charms. Atami has ocean views and hot springs, plus, according to this awesome ad, a few high school girls who are secretly ninjas.

As the video opens, we see two girls screwing around during some downtime in class, making silly faces and joking around. One decides to take a video with her smartphone, and when her embarrassed friend runs off, the chase is on.

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Out in the crowded hallway, it looks like the runner is boxed in, until we see her deftly hop over the desk in her path.

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As we follow her, it becomes clear she’s quite a bit more athletic than the average teenager.

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As she performs backflips and spin kicks, you might start to wonder, is she a ninja or something? Then she does something that answers that question pretty definitely.

▼ Yes, she is!

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Apparently the pursuer is just as acrobatically gifted, though, as she follows her prey both onto, and then off, the school’s roof.

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Superhero-level climbing and leaping skills aren’t the target’s only shadow warrior tricks, though. Now out on the streets of Atami, we see her employ a plethora of ninja ploys, including makibishi (caltrops)…

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…kemuridama (a smoke bomb)…

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…and even maruta, an advanced technique where you disguise a block of wood as yourself in order to misdirect your attacker.

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Still, the tenacious hunter refuses to give up, even if it means scaling Atami Castle.

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▼ Don’t try this at home, ninja kids!

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Atami is a seaside town, though, and eventually the two kunoichi run out of solid ground. Calling a truce, they sit side by side on the beach.

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Maybe as an apology for embracing her friend by filming her, the girl who’d been doing the chasing pulls a peace-offering out of her bag, as we finally find out what this ad is for.

▼ Suntory’s citrusy soft drink C.C. Lemon

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True, up until the tail end, the video has absolutely nothing to do with the product, although we imagine the physical feats involved would make you work up quite a thirst. A lot of advertising is like that though, especially in Japan where celebrity endorsements are considered the golden standard of marketing. So many products try to convince you to try them by implying a connection to an actor, model or idol singer, and while those are titles a lot of people non doubt aspire to, for our beverage money, you can’t beat the compelling argument of, “CC. Lemon: It’s what ninjas drink!”

Source: IT Media
Images: YouTube