http://digthatbox.com/ - Segata Sanshiro's Final TV Commercial - Segata Sanshiro Final TV Spot - Sega Saturn
In this video Sega is threatened by a missile attack launched by a rival company. only Segata Sanshiro can save the day!
Segata Sanshiro is a fictional character created by Sega to advertise the Sega Saturn in Japan between 1997 and 1998. He is a parody of Sugata Sanshiro, a legendary judo fighter from an Akira Kurosawa film.
Sanshiro is a dan holder for multiple Japanese martial arts (karate and iaidou first dan, judo third dan, battoudou fourth dan, toudou 7th dan etc..). He is portrayed by actor Hiroshi Fujioka, who, until that point, was best known for playing the hero Takeshi Hongo in the influential tokusatsu superhero series Kamen Rider.
Sanshiro is a Judo master that tracks down and punishes those who do not play the Sega Saturn. His name sounds similar to phrase "You must play the Sega Saturn!" as well as "Sega Saturn, White", a reference to the new white color version of the Japanese Sega Saturn which followed the original gray version.
Sanshiro lives as a hermit high on a mountain, devoting his life to intensive Sega Saturn training. He trains physically every day by carrying around a giant Sega Saturn on his back and punching buttons on its giant controller, as well as mentally by breaking stacks of blocks with his head. His intense training has resulted in his ability to make people explode twice by throwing them, which he does with ease. He also frequently visits the city to seek out people who are not playing the Sega Saturn, and harshly teaches them a lesson. Sanshiro is a serious man with a firm sense of duty, who believes that playing video games is one of the most treasured activities in life.
The character became very well known in Japan, and helped make the Saturn successful in that country. When the CD music single was released, it sold more than 100,000 copies.
When the Saturn was phased out and the Sega Dreamcast released, Sanshiro's end comes in the form of a commercial involving a missile directed at the Tokyo headquarters of SEGA, implied to be launched by Sony and Nintendo. Sanshiro heroically jumps off the roof of the building, onto the missile, deflecting it into the atmosphere while riding it, in which he lives his last few moments chanting out "Sega Saturn Shiro!!" for one last time, and is killed in the subsequent explosion. The voiceover narrates that "Segata Sanshiro will live on in your hearts," followed by a display of the game Segata Sanshiro Shinken Yugi, a Sega Saturn game in which Sanshiro plays a major role.
Segata Sanshiro was present at the launch of the Dreamcast in Japan.
