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Krillin, Gohan, and Porunga would like to talk to you about which car you should use your Dragon Ball wishes on.

Lack of transportation generally isn’t a problem in the Dragon Ball universe. Plenty of the anime and manga hit’s cast of super-powered martial artists can fly or leap great distances, so when it’s time to spring into action, they just go.

In the real world, though, many of us need a car to go about our daily business, which is why undersized Dragon Ball adventurers Krillin and Gohan are appearing in a new, English-language ad for Ford.

As the commercial begins, Krillin and Gohan have just summoned the wish-granting dragon Porunga on Planet Namek (the anime version of the planet, not the real-life celestial body that might be getting that name).

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Unlike Shenron (Earth’s wish dragon/jumbo-sized plushie), Porunga grants three wishes at once to those who gather all seven Namekian Dragon Balls, and he asks the pair what they want.

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Excitedly, Krillin first asks for a car with a Sony sound system, a request well within Porunga’s considerable powers.

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Next, Krillin says they want a second car with a rear-view camera. Not wanting them to squander their wishes, Porunga begins to suggest a single model with both features.

Krillin cuts him off, though, asking for a third car with impressive highway gas mileage. In his defense, it’s actually quite a prescient criteria, since once all three wishes are used up the Dragon Balls will scatter and our heroes will have to scour Namek for them again, something that will be much quicker and more convenient in a car than on foot.

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Despite his generous nature, Porunga’s patience reaches its limits. Exasperated, he says he’s bundling their wishes together into one package: a Ford Focus, which can be outfitted to meet all of their stated desires. With that, the dragon disappears in a flash of light, as the ad reminds viewers to “Conserve your wishes.”

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Not only is it surprising to see the American Ford Motor Company recruiting characters from Japanese animation to promote its products, the ad was specifically created for English-speaking car buyers, not potential motorists in Dragon Ball’s home country of Japan. While the Dragon Ball Focus commercial is only being shown online, it’s still an impressive sign of the inroads anime and Japanese pop culture are making overseas, and is arguably even more significant than Toyota’s series of Hatsune Miku Corolla ads that were created for English-speaking territories a few years ago.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to draft a letter to Mazda North American Operations to find out if anyone on its marketing team is a fan of Escaflowne or Slayers.

Source: Anime News Network
Images: YouTube/Ford Today

If you too feel the need to gab about ‘90s fantasy anime or Hiroshima-built sports cars, follow Casey on Twitter at @NatsuKazeOtoko.