The live-action television commercial series imagining a grown-up version of Chibi Maruko-chan is back with a new installment. Starting June 8, 2026, the spot titled “Premoluko-chan: Celestial Observation” (プレモル子ちゃん・天体観測篇) will begin airing nationwide in Japan. Tsuda Kenjirou reprises his role as the premium butler, Hidejii.
The ongoing collaboration series, which launched in February 2025, answers the question: “What if the Chibi Maruko-chan characters became premium adults?” The cast features Hiratsuka Suzu as premium Maruko, Itō Sairi as premium Tama-chan, Odagiri Joe as premium Hanawa-kun, and Tsuda Kenjirou as Hanawa family’s butler, premium Hidejii.
Stargazing at a Private Island Villa
Like the previous installment, the new CM is set at premium Hanawa-kun’s vacation home on the Hanawa family’s private uninhabited island. Here, premium Maruko and her friends relax under a starry sky while enjoying The Premium Malt’s beer.
One character remarks that “drinking beer while watching the stars is an irreplaceable time,” sparking playful banter about wanting to go to space or drink beer while looking at Earth. Just then, a shooting star appears. Without missing a beat, premium Hanawa-kun shouts a wish: “May Hidejii always stay healthy!” The butler’s eyes well up, and Tsuda Kenjirou’s narration concludes: “He’s an old man who gets emotional easily.”
Interview Excerpts
What recent happy moment made you want to raise a toast with The Premium Malt’s?
Itō Sairi:
“Recently I had a filming scene where I had to teach a lesson to students. The script had two pages of textbook-like lines—dates and events like ‘in 197X, something happened…’ exact knowledge, not just explaining cause and effect. The moment I finished, I really wanted a drink right then.”
Hiratsuka Suzu:
“I had a job that required practicing several different variations of a scene perfectly. I’d been training for it since last year. When we finished filming all of them, the director praised me, saying ‘That was really cool.’ I was so happy. I thought, ‘This calls for a drink, right? And tomorrow is my first day off in a while!’ So that night I went out drinking with my makeup artist.”
Premium Hanawa-kun’s wish on a shooting star for premium Hidejii’s health is memorable. If you could have one wish granted now, what would you ask for?
Hiratsuka Suzu:
“When I read the script for a stage play, I wondered, ‘When will I even learn all this?’ With dramas or films, you go through the cycle of memorizing lines and forgetting them—I’m used to that. But memorizing an entire script for the stage is a different feeling. So I’d wish for the ability to learn lines instantly. Also, I want infinite stamina, so I’d wish to become a superman!”
Itō Sairi:
“On my days off, I have limited time. There are friends I want to see and family I haven’t seen recently—and it all makes me feel like I’m about to burst. Part of me wants to rest, but I can’t. So I’d wish to have everyone I care about live in the same big apartment building nearby, so I could see them anytime.”
Hiratsuka Suzu:
“Yesterday someone said exactly the same thing. ‘Just not the floor directly below me,’ they added.”
Itō Sairi:
“Who was that? Ha ha ha.”
