alt title(s): Tokyo Is The Centre Of The Universe
Are aliens landing in UFOs? They'll land in Tokyo.
Is there a neighborhood full of world-class martial artists with superhuman powers? It's in
Nerima-ku.
Is there a magical gateway between worlds? It's in Shinjuku.
Is a giant alien monster attacking? It's attacking Tokyo.
Is there a mysterious gigantic cavern hidden just beneath the Earth's surface, wherein aliens once upon a time created all life on Earth? It's underneath the Sumida River.
Is there a team of ancient celestial heroes who have been reincarnated in the present day to save the world once more? Every single one of them lives in
Minato-ku.
Is a prominent figure from religion or myth manifest once more and living in the world of Men? They're in Ueno.
An
Ultimate Showdown Of Ultimate Destiny? The Budokan's got front row seats.
This is not merely an
Anime Trope but a cliche in anime and manga. The rest of Japan barely exists and the rest of the world might as well not be there at all, because this is the
City Of Adventure.
This may or may not be due to the fact that Tokyo is Japan's most populous city (one-quarter of Japan's population lives in the area, enough that the area is technically governed more like a county than a city) and most manga publishing houses and movie production firms are located there; also possibly justified by the fact that Tokyo is currently the world's most populous metropolitan area. Setting a story elsewhere often
requires that the location be specifically relevant rather than chance.
Koji Okada, creator of the
Shin Megami Tensei series, explains Tokyo as a setting by describing it as "a city playing out the cycle of destruction and rebirth", in the historical, political and economic sense
[1]
.
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 haggard, 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
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.
This trope is type of
Creator Provincialism.
Examples:
Anime
- In R.O.D., a British-backed plot to take over the world is kicked off — in Tokyo.
- Non-subversion: in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tokyo (Tokyo-1) is destroyed even before the series starts, but its replacement Tokyo-3, while not the same city, otherwise fits this trope.
- Likewise Akira, where the replacement is Neo-Tokyo (built over Tokyo Bay, because apparently they couldn't rebuild over the ruins).
- Actually, Tokyo-3 was built exactly in the place where an alien attack had been predicted to come.
- In an odd example, Excel Saga is set in Fukuoka (or "F city"), but everyone talks like they're from Tokyo (with the exception of Sumiyoshi, The Idiot From Osaka). In a possible reference to this trope, the Americans seem prepared for action upon hearing that space debris is about to fall onto Japan, but drop it when they learn it's just F City.
- The various Tenchi Muyo series manage to avoid this trope, as they mostly take place in Okayama... With the exception of the aptly-named Tenchi in Tokyo.
- Subverted and played straight in Digimon Adventure 02: in the World Tour arc and finale, Tokyo isn't the only important place on the map. But with all the Chosen Children in other parts of the world, you do have to wonder why all the main action seems to take place in Odaiba. Aside from Because I Said So.
- It's Justified by the fact that the Big Bad was defeated last time in Odaiba, so the man he was possessing while running evil operations was also there. Of course, this just takes it right back to Because I Said So, as no reason is given for why he didn't move to an area less rich in people already experienced in beating him before getting back into business.
- Except for, you know, the reason thatother equally powerful Big Bads are doing the same thing across the world. And that the most convenient gate into the Digital World for the Big Bad is also in Odaiba.
- It also helps that Fuji TV, the network that aired the show in Japan, is headquartered in Odaiba.
- In Code Geass, Tokyo is swiftly taken over and destroyed by a foreign army, and then rebuilt as "Area 11", which is still the center of the conflict between The Empire and the natives (who are treated as second-class citizens there, if they're lucky).
- Semi-justified for the first half of Magical Project S when it was just Pixy Misa as the antagonist (given that she was specifically brought forth to be Sammy's rival), but it seems sort of silly how Sammy only has to act within Tokyo to affect the universal balance.
- Nazca centers around several Tokyo Ordinary High School Students who discover that they're reincarnations of major figures in the Incan civil war from the 16th century - and, of course, have to resume the battle.
- In Darker Than Black, it seems that the main Gate (a fake sky which leads to the odd happenings of the series) is directly over Tokyo. It's worth noting that a gate over South America essentially wiped out the continent, whereas Tokyo was pretty much unscathed.
Manga
- In Sailor Moon, 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 idyllic future ruled over by the main character, guess where her seat of government is?
- To be fair, the Codename: Sailor V prequel took place all over the world at the same time. Maybe later villains saw that it didn't help the Dark Kingdom and wanted to keep their plans simple.
- Actually, in the manga, it is somewhat justified: the Dark Kingdom villains claim they've searched for the Silver Crystal everywhere else (with only Japan left), and all other bad guys can sense the presense of the Senshi and track them down to get rid of them (this is always one of the main parts of their evil plans, because they are aware that the Senshi can stop them). In the anime, it does look like they're only stuck in Tokyo for no apparent reason.
- The battle for the fate of the entire planet in X/1999 occurs in Tokyo.
- Not only that, but of the 14 people (seven on each side) destined to determine the fate of the world, 12 are Japanese, one is half-Japanese, and one is an artificial construct made from the brain of a Japanese girl. Oh, Japan.
- CLAMP apparently loves this. Just see how Tokyo Tower is treated... as the ultimate showdown arena in Cardcaptor Sakura.
- Subversion: In Hyper Police, Tokyo is wasted, almost uninhabitable thanks to organized crime and monsters. There, the center of the world is Osaka.
- Tokyo Mew Mew, of course.
- Justified in Twentieth Century Boys, as the Bloody New Year's Eve begins in Tokyo deliberately for this very reason.
- Genshiken is an example of a series set in Tokyo for no other reason than that there's no reason for it not to be. (That, and Tokyo's Akihabara Electric Town is otaku heaven.)
- In Tokko, Tokyo is more or less the literal epicenter for the destruction of the world.
Film
- Despite a popular misconception, not all of the Godzilla films were set in Tokyo, although it was by far the most important city, to the series. A good example is Godzilla vs. Mothra, in which Nagoya is destroyed early on, with Tokyo as the site of the final showdown between Godzilla, Mothra, and Battra. This troper cannot look at a picture of the Japanese National Assembly building without mentally adding an enormous coccoon.
- In the MST 3 K-featured Invasion of the Neptune Men, saving Tokyo is apparently equivalent to saving the world. Interestingly, when a big shield is built around the city, the aliens hurl themselves through it in a mad attempt to get through, rather than fly to another city.
Live Action TV
- The various Super Sentai series; the ones that take place on Earth, anyway.
- Carried over to Power Rangers, just replace "Tokyo" with "California."
- 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.
Literature
- Demon City Shinjuku - an evil genius summons demons to destroy the world. Guess where they start.
Video Games
- A special mention must go to Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, which literally turned Tokyo into the Center Of The Universe.
- Averted in The King Of Fighters, which despite having several Japanese main characters and Tokyo does not feature Tokyo as a particularly important location. Instead, Southtown is used, seeing as how it's the home to several heroes and more than a few villains. It even gets blasted by a Kill Sat in KOF 2000!
- In Pokemon Red and Blue, though Tokyo technically isn't in the game, Celadon City and Saffron City are said to be modeled after two areas of Tokyo. The majority of the Team Rocket plot in the games (plus two official gyms and one unofficial gym) take place in those cities. Mix that with the fact that 90% of the population of Kanto lives in those two cities (with all the other cities being puny), and you can tell that there is a certain love for Tokyo shown.
- In Robot Alchemic Drive, most of the action takes place in a rather generic Japanese city. The first time you go to Tokyo sees you taking down a Godzilla knock off that has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the plot.
Western Animation
- Teen Titans: Trouble In Tokyo represents the first time the cartoon-verse Titans have to deal with a villain from Japan, so a superhero showdown in Tokyo is the natural end result.
Web Original
- Parodied in Mega Tokyo; there is an Cataclysm Division in Tokyo specifically dedicated to handling this kind of stuff. Their duties includes scheduling catastrophes in advance, issuing permits for zombies and Martians to conduct their invasions, preventing non-registered attacks on Tokyo, then cleaning up the mess later.
- To the point where, when the zombie invasion comes a week early, the police issue them a ticket and tell them that the invasion is next week; come back later.
- Then there was the part where two guys blow up city hall for the lulz. This pisses off the zombies, as the police explains "there's a ten year waiting list for the permit to blow it up".
- Heavily lampshaded in the Mecha Easter Bunny arc of Sluggy Freelance. The titular killer cyborg is programmed to kill Bun-bun (to appease Santa's desire for vengeance), deliver Easter Eggs (because Bun-bun killed the real Easter Bunny), and destroy Tokyo (because otherwise it can't be called "Mecha"). The destruction of Tokyo happens off-panel and is never referenced again.
