The near superhuman feats of Major League Baseball’s top players get a heroic anime spin this season, as the MLB presents a new campaign that reimagines the sport’s biggest stars through an anime lens. “Heroes of the Game” launched today across MLB media platforms, including MLB.com, MLB Network, MLB.TV and MLB handles, out-of-home digital placements and paid media.
“Heroes of the Game” is the 2025 extension of MLB’s “Baseball is Something Else” brand campaign developed by Wieden+Kennedy (the agency behind for the lauded Ghibli-inspired “Only Slightly Exaggerated” campaign for Travel Oregon) and consists of :75, :30 and :15 hero films that highlight Shohei Ohtani, Paul Skenes, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge and their missions for the 2025 season. There are also out-of-home digital video placements in Shibuya (Tokyo), Flannels Flagship Store (London), Museo Soumaya (Mexico City) and Times Square (New York).
The campaign continues with films for additional player stories, currently being developed, that weave live action with animation and anime imagery and will be used throughout the season on MLB social channels to react to events on the field. A celebration that incorporates images of the new campaign outside MLB Headquarters in New York will take place on Thursday, March 27. The plaza outside the MLB Flagship Store will display life-size installation of nine player baseball cards — Ohtani, Judge, Soto, Skenes, Ronald Acuña Jr., Jose Altuve, Bryce Harper, Julio Rodríguez and Mike Trout — to commemorate 2025 MLB Opening Day presented by eBaseball™: MLB PRO SPIRIT.
Off the heels of the Tokyo Series games played between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs last week, MLB continues the momentum by leaning into player stories through this popular style of Japanese animation. Anime’s rapidly growing fanbase is engaging followers worldwide with Latin America and the U.S. markets also fueling the industry’s expansion. Many MLB players have embraced their fandom of the genre, with stars like Jazz Chisholm Jr., Rodríguez and Ohtani all publicly expressing their enjoyment.
J-Pop artist Ado was used for the score behind the new campaign, with her work previously featured in the popular anime One Piece. MLB and Wieden+Kennedy partnered with Passion Pictures and Echelle Studios in Japan (which handled production design and art direction) and acclaimed animation director Hiroshi Shimizu for the creation of the “Heroes of the Game” hero film, and teamed with creators from the world of anime, with credits including One Piece and Fullmetal Alchemist, who hand-drew every scene in the hero films.
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