A promotional test run of new LED technology will see characters from various anime series adorn the manholes of the Japanese city of Tokorozawa.
Developed by the Tokorozawa City Waterworks Bureau, the new LED technology aims to provide the city with both a platform for advertisements. It will also be a source of light to aid in crime prevention:
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According to an official press release, the campaign features designs from the following twenty-eight series:
- A Certain Magical Index
- Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin
- The Five Star Stories
- Anime Tourism Association Official Character “Junrei-chan”
- Bungo Stray Dogs
- Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!
- Yamato Takeru
- The Melancholy of Harumi Suzumiya
- Lucky Star
- Slayers
- Date A Live
- Overlord
- Sword Art Online
- Full Metal Panic!
- Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
- Neon Genesis Evangelion
- Record of Lodoss War
- Sgt. Frog
- Spice and Wolf
- KonoSuba
- Kino’s Journey
- Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious
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The inclusion of Uzaki-chan is an especially welcome sight as it celebrates the series’ popularity, despite its recent targeting by Western critical social justice activists who have accused the series of promoting pedophilia.
The manholes are installed in a path that runs from Higashi-Tokorozawa Station to the upcoming Tokorozawa Sakura Town attraction:
Tokorozawa Sakura Town is an entertainment facility built in a joint effort between the city of Tokorozawa and manga publisher KADOKAWA. It will host a range of attractions including an “experience-based” anime hotel, the Kadkoawa Musashino Museum, and a new Kadokawa office.
The facility was set to open in July 2020, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, this date was pushed back to November 2020.
What do you think of these new manhole covers? Are there any other animes that should be added in the future?