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Lupin III Theme Attraction to Open in Tokyo in Spring

The anime company TMS Entertainment announced last week that the world's first theme attraction based on Monkey Punch's Lupin III manga and anime character will open in the Tokyo Dome City entertainment complex next spring. Lupin Sansei ~ Meikyū no Wana (Lupin III: Labyrinth Trap) is a walkthrough attraction in which visitors go on a treasure hunt inside the charismatic thief's hideout. Lupin III himself, the sharpshooter Jigen, the samurai Goemon, the femme fatale Fujiko, and the police inspector Zenigata all make cameos.

Similar to the recent Gundam Crisis attraction, the Lupin III attraction lends "A-Scan" personal digital assistants (PDA) to visitors. At the request of the Interpol crime-fighting organization, visitors track down Lupin's loot throughout the attraction's maze-like layout, which has been embedded with radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips. Magic mirrors and hidden booby traps complicate the treasure hunt.

The larger metropolitan area of Tokyo already boasts a Ghibli Museum. Last year, the Gundam walkthrough attraction replaced a Gundam simulator ride at the Fuji-Q Highland theme park at the foot of Mt. Fuji. Fuji-Q Highland also has attractions for Hamtaro and GeGeGe no Kitarō. Further south is the life-size Gundam bust at the new home of the Bandai Museum near the entertainment conglomerate's Shizuoka headquarters. The manga creators Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy), Fujiko F. Fujio (Doraemon), Shōtarō Ishinomori (Kamen Rider), and Gōshō Aoyama (Detective Conan) all have or will have museums built in their honor at their hometowns.

Over the last two decades, Streamline Pictures, AnimEigo, Manga Entertainment, FUNimation Entertainment, and Geneon Entertainment have all released Lupin III anime in North America. The 1983 Cliff Hanger laser disc videogame used Lupin III footage from Hayao Miyazaki's The Castle of Cagliostro film.

Image © Monkey Punch/TMS, NTV

Source: animeanime.jp