Shots | BBC Creative, Nexus Studios & The Mill’s VFX team hype up the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in new spot

Street signs, shops, arcades, a Gashapon parlour, a sports fanatics’ bedroom, a J-Pop music video; nothing is safe from Olympic imagery in this Nippontastic spot for the BBC’s coverage.

Let’s Go There not only dives into the sports that will entertain us this summer, but also is filled with cultural easter eggs (co-created by Japanese artist and designer Fantasista Utamaro) made up of original and authentic artwork and animation.

The stunning visuals are accompanied by original music by legendary Anime composer Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell, Avalon, Hyakkin), who said of the project, “I wanted to bring the excitement of Tokyo to the music using both traditional Japanese instruments and Minyo singings and modern ones like the virtual JPop singer Hatsune Miku.”

“An Olympics hosted in Tokyo was a real gift,” comments Tim Jones, BBC Creative Director. “A city rich in pop culture, hosting the world’s most eclectic sporting event. It gave us the opportunity to push our campaign both conceptually and in its execution. And we couldn’t be prouder to be (finally) sharing it. Every frame of the film is rich with detail, fully immersing our audiences in a Tokyo where the Olympics has already taken over. Just as it will take over all our lives for 16 days this summer.

“Creating something with this much detail was incredibly intricate but also lots of fun. I’ve watched the edit more times than I can count and I still spot something new or something I forgot we included!”

The campaign is also set to sit across the BBC’s Olympics programming; with the titles version providing a seamless transition for viewers as they travel through a futuristic cityscape before arriving in the BBC’s brand new virtual reality studio.