Highlights
- Japan adds a special drone show to its unique Christmas celebrations, featuring popular anime such as Evangelion, Demon Slayer, and Ultraman.
- STARDANCE aims to inspire people by using their imagination to explore the night sky and unite fans over the water with breathtaking drone displays.
- Drone shows are an eco-friendly and safer alternative to fireworks, offering versatility and control to create anime characters and symbols in the sky.
Japan has some interesting ways of celebrating Christmas, and now the latest addition to that list is a special drone show. The performances are inspired by three of the most popular anime in Japan, and last for five days. The drone shows will be held at Sea Paradise in Yokohama, just south of Tokyo, with three performances a day depending on which anime you are interested in seeing.
The three anime being featured in the drone shows are Evangelion, Demon Slayer, and Ultraman. These three anime are some of the most popular and famous, both now and historically, in Japan. They are still actively relevant, with plenty of fans who will be more than happy to see these shows. And conveniently, if you are only a fan of one and not all of them, they are each going to have their own performance time slot that is centered on only that title – though if you want to see them all, that is also okay because they are all showing each day of the scheduled performances with only an hour break between each one.
The show itself is called STARDANCE, and will be held over the ocean. According to the press release, STARDANCE is meant to make people use their imaginations to think about what lies beyond the sky they can see. People have historically been inspired by the night sky to develop science, create art, and explore their culture, and that is what STARDANCE is hoping to achieve as well. Evangelion, Demon Slayer, and Ultraman are the three “star” anime of Japan, and by looking into the real stars and watching the drone show together over the water, everyone watching will be inspired and united in their hearts.
STARDANCE will use 1,000 drones equipped with LED lights to create these performances. The created displays will be around 150 m (482 ft) high, with the night sky as their canvas. The shows will run December 23rd and 24th, then again on December 29th, 30th, and 31st. December 24th will also have a special fourth show that is Christmas-themed rather than anime. The order of shows will change each day, but the shows will always be at 5pm, 6;15pm, and 7:30pm. You can check the timetable on the official website.
Drone shows are quickly becoming popular internationally as a replacement for fireworks performances. They are still bright, beautiful, and easy to see by huge crowds up in the skies. However, they are less damaging to the environment, with zero waste and no sound. Drone shows are also safer, with almost no risk of accident or injury to workers or spectators. Finally, drone shows are more controllable than fireworks, and are able to create shapes and do things that fireworks would never be able to achieve.
Because of the versatility and control of drones, shows like these anime-themed ones are possible. While the event has not revealed exactly what the drones will do yet, we speculate they will be forming characters and symbols from the shows in the sky! Each show is only scheduled to last 15 minutes, but that is enough time to create, or maybe even animate, some of the series most beloved characters, or even the logos from the show. We will have to wait and see what they are able to achieve!
If you are planning to be in Tokyo around Christmas or New Years, this is a special chance to celebrate the holiday season with anime! Tickets for the event are ¥4,300 ($29USD), and are already available via the event’s website. It will be held at Yokohama Sea Paradise for five days in late December 2023, featuring Evangelion, Demon Slayer, and Ultraman.
Source: PR Times, Sea Paradise
