If there is
a franchise that knows perfectly how to make both its protagonists and its fans
suffer, it is Puella Magi Madoka Magica. But what was supposed to
be a quiet afternoon of otaku tourism and merch consumption in
Japan, ended up becoming a thriller in real life. This Sunday, a serious
technical failure in the elevators of the imposing Tokyo Skytree caused
panic during the promotional campaign for the magical girls saga.
Six
hours locked up at a height of 30 meters
The
nightmare began in the afternoon when one of the main elevators made a sudden
emergency stop about 30 meters above the ground. Inside the cabin were 20
people trapped who had to endure almost six hours of confinement. The
domino effect was brutal: when the system stopped, another 1,200
visitors were stranded on the observation platforms, hundreds of
meters high, with no way to get off for almost three hours.
Rescue
services worked against the clock and managed to evacuate all those affected
safe and sound around 2:00 a.m. on Monday. After the tremendous scare that
ruined the night of hundreds of tourists, the Tokyo Skytree administration took
drastic measures: the tower will close its doors completely until Wednesday to
carry out an in-depth technical inspection of all its elevators, and they
promised refunds to those who had reservations.
The
Curse of Walpurgisnacht
The most
ironic thing about the matter is the terrible timing of the
accident. The chaos occurred at the height of the special collaboration
with Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Walpurgisnacht: Rising.
This event, which has the tower lit up and filled with themed merchandise until
April 6, was originally going to coincide with the film's theatrical release
later this month. However, the film suffered an indefinite delay due to
production problems.
So the
current situation is almost comical: Japanese fans are celebrating the release
of a film that no one knows when it will come out, in a tower whose elevators
decided to fail at the worst possible time. Definitely, being a Madoka fan
hurts even in real life.
