Estranged childhood friends, a blackout, and a mobile app are the perfect ingredients for a marvelous story line.

Japan’s commercials either tend to gravitate toward exciting stuff like taiko drum Pepsi ads, or thought-provoking material such as what it means to be a famous sportswoman representing the country.

But once in a while, a wholesome commercial comes our way and manages to glue our eyes to the screen, like the latest disaster notification mobile app advertisement by electric company Tepco.

The three-minute video features two girls named Kaho and Mayuta who, up until high school, were inseparable childhood friends. They would often meet up at a Japanese sweet store managed by a friendly old woman, but the two girls slowly drifted apart after entering different high schools.

▼ This is one ad worth watching till the end.

All that changed one night when everything went dark in Kaho’s house. Checking her mobile phone app and realizing it was a blackout, she quickly made her way to the sweets store to check on the old lady.

▼ Good thing everything seemed all right.

▼ But upon entering the store, Kaho came face to face with estranged friend Mayuta,
who was just as concerned for the old woman’s safety.

Initial awkwardness was overcome by the fact that the two girls each brought over the exact same ice pops to liven up the atmosphere. Arguing over whether they had changed over the years, the chance meeting melted the frost between the two girls, once more bonding them stronger than ever before.

Japanese netizens are not particularly fond of commercials, but this one had them at the edge of their seats:

“I’ve always skipped commercials. But here, I watched everything from start to end.”
“Did an ad just made me cry?”
“Nothing will come between these two.”
“What a tasteful commercial.”
“So… when’s the movie coming out?”

Even though the video promotes Tepco’s disaster notification app, it certainly feels more like a heartwarming story that speaks to viewers on another level. And if this wholesome tale of two childhood friends made you tear up, wait till you watch a father playing the piano on his daughter’s wedding day.

Source: YouTube/Tokyo Electric Power Company via Danshi Hack
Images: YouTube/Tokyo Electric Power Company
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