Interest

Chicken Enters a Deal with the Devil in Amazing Ramen Anime Ad

Nissin's Chicken Ramen makes an unholy union of chicken broth and egg but by god, it's delicious. The company's adorable Hiyoko-chan mascot trades his cuteness for an all encompassing power of flavor in an advertisement that could only have been dreamed by Gō Nagai himself.

The official website offers an in-depth story of the events in the advertisement that was also published in paranormal magazine Monthly Mu. According to the story in the magazine, the statue seen at the beginning is a being called "Akuma no Kimura." Hiyoko-chan participates in rituals to the demon to satisfy its desire for perfection and obtain what is missing to achieve that desire. The description goes on to say that the demon isn't really an external entity, but more of a representation of a demon-like thing that exists within human beings that cannot be destroyed.

The ad repeats the phrases "Sugu oishii, sugoku oishii" (immediately delicious, super delicious). This repetition is supposed represent that the phrase itself no longer has meaning outside of being a spell to access the subconscious. Eventually the phrase transforms into "jigoku oishii" (hellishly delicious). The change happens naturally to the point where the listener doesn't notice until both "delicious" and "hell" coexist.

After Hiyoko's transformation, he becomes a devil named "Caym," a reference to the apocryphal demon also known as Camio that has a bird-like appearance. The demon is well known in Japan because of artist M.L. Breton's depiction in Collin de Plancy's Infernal Dictionary.

The website further breaks down the ad's symbolism such as Caym's acceptance of the egg that leaped skyward, as if it were the sun and pouring the hot water kettle. Both elements are represented by opposing triangles to complete the yin and yang and thus, the order of the universe. The symbols also create hexagonal stars when combined, the symbol of King Solomon.

The result? Hiyoko-chan brings about the creation of a new world through the darkness. The entire plot is acknowledged on the website as heretical (as would some of musings in the descriptions). The story ends with "Fusion also leads to chaos, but harmony beyond that fosters growth, evolution. By receiving Kimura 's revelation, our table can be further evolved" and posits that the commercial could be a good omen for a change in food culture.

This all got pretty deep for a heavy-metal commercial about a chicken eating some ramen.

Update: Corrected transcription and translation of phrase. Thanks, Laethiel.