History Main / TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse

* In ''[[Anime/TransformersRobotsInDisguise Transformers: Car Robots]]'', the Autobot base is in Tokyo, and Fortress Maximus is buried in some ruins under the city. The majority of episodes also take place in Tokyo.

-->-- '''Sailor Moon''', ''WebVideo/SailorMoonAbridged'', "[[http://youtu.be/jMmRT9I9Ktk?t=58s Episode 5]]"

Is there [[TokyoMewMew a group of five girls]] [[Manga/SailorMoon who each have the potential to fend off aliens who want to conquer the Earth]]? They go to neighbouring schools.

* In ''Manga/SailorMoon'', the immensely powerful supernatural enemies of the Senshi almost never seem to attack anywhere but one tiny area in the Minato ward of Tokyo which the Senshi can all reach in a few minutes by running. Also, in the [[CrystalSpiresAndTogas idyllic future]] ruled over by the main character, guess where her seat of government is?
** As always there are a few exceptions. In the anime Sailor V is stated (and shown in her orgin story episode) to have spent some time fighting monsters in England while the Manga version has her defeat a villain in Greece (by accident; she got on the wrong plane) and China.

* The battle for the fate of the entire planet in ''[[{{X1999}} X/1999]]'' occurs in Tokyo.

* Averted in ''HaruhiSuzumiya'', which takes place in the city that is technically unnamed, but clearly is [[CreatorProvincialism the author's]] [[WriteWhatYouKnow hometown]] of Nishinomiya. What's interesting, it also avoids the KansaiRegionalAccent, despite the city sitting right between Kobe and Osaka.

** Justified in ''Series/ZyudenSentaiKyoryuger'', since Japan is the "Golden Land," the place the Zyudenryu were created by Torin and the only place they would gather naturally.

* The webcomic ''OkashinaOkashi'' starts with an anomaly hitting Tokyo Tower and pulling a group of teenagers into another universe. The main character is GenreSavvy and has deliberately dressed in a SailorFuku just in case something like that actually happens. I can't think of a reason why said plot hole would hit Tokyo Tower, particularly.

-->-- '''Sailor Moon''', ''WebVideo/SailorMoonAbridged'', "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMmRT9I9Ktk Episode 5]]"

This is also seen in many American media, particularly involving UsefulNotes/LosAngeles and [[BigApplesauce New York]]. Entire books have been written on why fiction writers make Los Angeles a magnet for violence and natural disasters. A lot of shows (violent dramas and sitcoms alike) will be set in Los Angeles as an easy means of subverting CaliforniaDoubling. New York, meanwhile, is the other major center of the American television industry (dueling with Los Angeles for that role) and the undisputed center of the comic book industry; a frequent joke in comics is that New Yorkers (or residents of the city serving as an {{expy}} of New York) tend to be more used to superhero fighting than anyone else. UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco and UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} also show up in this role on occasion, though not to the same degree as those two cities. Likewise, in British media [[BritainIsOnlyLondon London Is The Centre Of The Universe]]. [[CanadaEh Canadians]] who refer to {{Toronto}} as such, however, are being self-deprecatingly sarcastic (if they live in that area themselves) or just plain sarcastic (if they're from anywhere else in Canada).

In the rare cases Tokyo technically can't exist, you can substitute any of the main three locations that were historically capitals: Nara (most of the eighth century AD), Kyoto (from the end of the eighth century, officially to the 1860s), or Edo (Tokyo before it was renamed; the ''de facto'' capital from the 17th century onward). SF series set when Tokyo has ''already'' met [[TheTokyoFireball the logical outcome]] of this trope tend to name their new city after the old one, just with some prefix or suffix to indicate it's not the original. [[note]]Tokyo-3, Neo-Tokyo, Tokyo Millennium...[[/note]]

In the rare cases Tokyo technically can't exist, you can substitute any of the main three locations that were historically capitals: Nara (most of the eighth century AD), Kyoto (from the end of the eighth century, officially to the 1860s), or Edo (Tokyo before it was renamed; the ''de facto'' capital from the 17th century onward). SF series set when Tokyo has ''already'' met [[TheTokyoFireball the logical outcome]] of this trope tend to name their new city after the old one, just with some prefix or suffix to indicate it's not the original. [[note]]Tokyo-3, Neo-Tokyo, Tokyo Millennium...[[/note]]

This is also seen in many American media, particularly involving Los Angeles. Entire books have been written on why fiction writers make Los Angeles a magnet for violence and natural disasters. A lot of shows (violent dramas and sitcoms alike) will be set in Los Angeles as an easy means of subverting CaliforniaDoubling. Sometimes San Francisco. New York sometimes, especially in Marvel Comics (sometimes lampshaded that New Yorkers tend to be more used to superhero fighting than anyone else). These cities also share many similar traits with Tokyo. See BigApplesauce. Likewise, in British media [[BritainIsOnlyLondon London Is The Centre Of The Universe]]. [[CanadaEh Canadians]] who refer to {{Toronto}} as such, however, are being self-deprecatingly sarcastic (if they live in that area themselves) or just plain sarcastic (if they're from anywhere else in Canada).

* Enforced in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', Tokyo (Tokyo-1) is 100 meters underwater even before the series starts. Tokyo-2 is built in Nagoya as the center of government, and is promptly ignored for the rest of the series; meanwhile Tokyo-3 was built in Hakone [[spoiler:as a combat-ready fortress city over the previously discovered ruins of the Black Moon of Lilith, one of the two seeds of life the Angels are looking for, resulting in 13 out of 15 Angel fights being fought there.]] There are comparatively few incidents in other places. The Jet Alone test was in a different city, and the SEELE council discusses attacks on NERV facilities on other continents, but the audience just doesn't see those because the main characters aren't involved.

* Enforced in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', Tokyo (Tokyo-1) is 100 meters underwater even before the series starts. Tokyo-2 is built as the center of government, and is promptly ignored for the rest of the series; Tokyo-3, meanwhile [[spoiler:was built as a combat-ready fortress city over the previously discovered ruins of the Black Moon of Lilith, one of the two seeds of life the Angels are looking for, resulting in 13 out of 15 Angel fights being fought there.]] There are comparatively few incidents in other places. The Jet Alone test was in a different city, and the SEELE council discusses attacks on NERV facilities on other continents, but the audience just doesn't see those because the main characters aren't involved.

In the rare cases Tokyo technically can't exist, you can substitute any of the main three locations that were historically capitals: Nara (most of the eighth century AD), Kyoto (from the end of the eighth century, officially to the 1860s), or Edo (Tokyo before it was renamed; the ''de facto'' capital from the 17th century onward). SF series set when Tokyo has ''already'' met [[TheTokyoFireball the logical outcome]] of this trope tend to name their new city after the old one, just with some prefix or suffix to indicate it's not the original. [[hottip:*:Tokyo-3, Neo-Tokyo, Tokyo Millennium...]]

* Despite a popular misconception, not all of the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' films were set in Tokyo, although it was by far the most important city to the series. A good example is ''Film/GodzillaAndMothraBattleForEarth'', in which Nagoya is destroyed early on, with Yokohama (on the other side of Tokyo Bay) as the site of the final showdown between Godzilla, Mothra, and Battra.

** Played Straight in ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto'', witch takes place in the Minato Ward (As the Tokyo Tower is often on screen).
* ''{{Ultraman}}'', although at least a few episodes have the kaiju getting out and about in the world (or space). But the rest are in Tokyo, so, yeah.
** This trope is lampshaded in one episode of ''Ultraman Gaia'', in which the main character Gamu, after analysing the trajectory of an incoming alien invader, remarks that it's headed directly towards Tokyo. Captain Tsutsumi replies with an exasperated, "What? Again?"

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* The various ''SuperSentai'' series; the ones that take place on Earth, anyway.
** Carried over to ''PowerRangers'', just replace "Tokyo" with "the Greater Los Angeles Area" (or "Angel Grove" in the case of the original series). Even the seasons filmed in New Zealand still take place in the GLA.

** Averted at first in ''ChourikiSentaiOhranger'' since Baranoia is performing a worldwide-scale invasion of Earth, but then played straight when Japan provides too much resistance to go unnoticed.

* Most ''KamenRider'' series are implied or stated to take place in the Greater Tokyo Area.
** Played Straight in ''KamenRiderKabuto'', witch takes place in the Minato Ward (As the Tokyo Tower is often on screen).

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** Justified in ''[[VideoGame/DevilSurvivor Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor]]'' as the events all occur when the area within the Yamanote Train Line (the busiest part of Metropolitan Tokyo) is locked down completely, trapping everyone inside waiting for the apocalypse. It's another thing entirely that the apocalypse in question would be ''[[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic more familiar to Christians than most Japanese.]]''

** However, it is 'implied that other cities have their own Composers.

[[folder: Roleplaying Games ]]

* The lesser known RPG {{AMMO}} has Kyoto as the starting place of a transdimensional demonic invasion, source of mystic emission that empower magic users everywhere, and base of the heroic army that fights invaders. The Kyoto Tower is the physical place where things gone wild (not to be confused with the TokyoTower).
* In ''TabletopGame/FengShui'', Hong Kong is the center of the Universe.

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* Beautifully played with in {{Gantz}}. The events of the manga take place in Tokyo, but the ''hunters'' soon find out that the same is happening in Osaka. And in Rome. And basically that there is one "Gantz" in any mayor city all over the world. When the [[spoiler: AlienInvasion starts]], the citizens of Tokyo have barely the time to find out that New York and other cities in the USA [[spoiler: have been attacked, before being attacked themselves]].

** The American versions of Film/{{Godzilla}} and Film/KingKong, as well as many others, take place in [[BigApplesauce New York City]], the American counterpart to Tokyo.

Interestingly, this affects the characters within the area. Being from Tokyo often gives you a generic 'default' personality compared to the usual regional stereotypes. You won't see ''their'' stereotype as obviously, unless the story takes place elsewhere in the country. If it ''is'' set away from Tokyo, the city's "normal" residents will instead be meek, overworked, and stuffy -- which just so happens to be the American stereotype of Japanese people in general.

In the rare cases Tokyo technically can't exist, you can substitute any of the main 3 locations that were historically capitals: Nara (most of the 8th Century AD), Kyoto (from the end of the 8th Century, officially to the 1860s), or Edo (Tokyo before it was renamed; the ''de facto'' capital from the 17th Century onward). SF series set when Tokyo has ''already'' met [[TheTokyoFireball the logical outcome]] of this trope tend to name their new city after the old one, just with some prefix or suffix to indicate it's not the original. [[hottip:*:Tokyo-3, Neo-Tokyo, Tokyo Millennium...]]