What is the Attack on Titan Attraction at Universal Studios Japan?

In recent years, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that Japan often gets all the nice things. A Pokémon nature park? Check. An amazing infrastructure of cross-country trains? Check. Universal healthcare? Check. And now, just to add salt to this deepening wound, Universal Studios Japan has just announced the return an Attack on Titan VR coaster. And it will will only be open for a limited time. (Obviously, everything I’ve listed is of equal importance. Obviously.)

Universal Studios Japan has a rotating attraction based on the hot anime of the day. The Attack on Titan XR Ride will actually be taking over a Demon Slayer attraction in the same space. What’s more, the Attack on Titan XR Ride was actually launched at Universal Studios Japan in 2020. However, attending the park in 2020 became complicated for obvious reasons. So, in honor of the show’s final season, the park’s re-running the attraction.

The XR Ride is an indoor roller coaster where riders wear VR headsets. Which already sounds nuts. The Attack on Titan version, which is called Race For Survival, places you in the middle of the action. You’re stuck as townies inside the walls who the Scouts are trying to evacuate in the midst of a titan onslaught. You start out in a horse-drawn carriage, and zoom over collapsed buildings as Eren, Mikasa, Hange, and the gang deal with the titans closing in around you.

However, if you’re caught up on the series, don’t expect the ride to reflect the realities of season four. The ride takes place seemingly mid-season three, because the Colossal Titan does not seem like it’s your friend. This also means Eren is still … uh … at least somewhat likable. And – SPOILER – hearing them merely call the name “Sasha” makes me sad.

This is not the first Attack on Titan ride to pop up in Japan. There’s a different, non-roller coast VR ride elsewhere in Tokyo called The Collapsing Tower. Fuji-Q Highland, a roller coaster park near the base of Mt. Fuji, also has a 4D flight simulation ride based on Attack on Titan. All the art around the Fuji-Q ride makes my heart soar. And remember when Eren was kind of fun. Remember that?

The Universal Studios Japan ride runs from March 4 to August 28, 2022. The experience is also accompanied by a Scout Mess Hall and exclusive merch. But if you’re not in Japan, you’re reading this, and you have the spare change for a last-minute trip to Osaka, best of luck trying to get there. I say this with deep empathy: Japan has been closed to international tourists since the start of the pandemic in 2020. However, many are expecting Japan’s guidelines to loosen in the late spring or early summer.

(Image credit: Universal Studios Japan)

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