Spies are trending. With a new Mission Impossible movie about to hit theaters, it’s more evident than ever that we love these pop culture characters. Adventurous, with a mission in mind and fighting for a greater good, they are the closest thing to real-world heroes. And in Japan, aware that they have the most famous spy of the present, they have decided to promote the new Mission Impossible movie with the most unexpected crossover.
Mission Impossible: Deadly Judgment, Part 1 has received an official poster where the original actors are replaced by the characters from Spy x Family. A popular anime series that is sweeping both within and beyond the borders of the Land of the Rising Sun, it tells the adventures of a spy named Twilight, who is forced to form a fake family to reach his objective and prevent a new war between the countries of Westalis and Ostania from erupting. This becomes more complicated when he not only has to hide his identity from his wife and his adopted daughter, but they also have their own secrets, as his wife is an assassin and his daughter is a psychic.
At the same time, the promotion has also led to the voice actor of Lloyd, the civilian name of Twilight, explaining the key aspects of the Mission Impossible franchise in a video of just over a minute. Another small nod that serves to contextualize the audience while, at the same time, promoting both the movie and the anime along the way.
While it will be released in Japan on July 21st, Mission Impossible: Deadly Judgment, Part 1 will premiere in Spain, the US, and much of Latin America a week earlier, on Friday, July 14th. Similarly, Spy x Family has one season, which aired between April 9th and December 24th, 2022, available on Crunchyroll, with a second season already announced but without a release date yet.
While these kinds of promotional crossovers are extremely rare in the West, they are quite common in Japan. It’s something we hope other countries take note of because, in addition to being highly effective, they are truly fun to watch.
Some of the links added in the article are part of affiliate campaigns and may represent benefits for Softonic.
