Universal Studios has four theme parks around the world, and each one is a little bit different. Universal Japan, for example, will be teaming up with Japanese publisher Shueisha, to bring anime to the park for a big summer event. The event titled Universal Jump Summer, will feature some of the most popular franchises from Weekly Shonen Jump, and bring anime and manga franchises to life. The park will be adding two new franchises to join the others that were part of last year’s summer event.
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Universal will be adding Hideaki Sorachi’s Gintama, and Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizzare Adventure to the line up for this year’s event. They will join the previous franchises that were part of Universal Jump Summer, Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball Z, and Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece. With the addition of two new franchises this summer, the Universal Jump Summer event will last longer this year compared to past events. The event will run from June 20th to October 1st.
Created by Sorachi, the Gintama manga made its debut in December 2003. The long-running series is set in an alternate Edo-period where aliens have taken over the world. A young hero named Gintoki leads the story as the freelance samurai does odd jobs for rent money. But, when the hero becomes entangled with one of the planet’s alien invaders, he finds himself thrown into one hilarious episodic adventure.
If you are not familiar with JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, then it is time you got yourself acquainted with the series. The manga and anime are some of the most popular in Japan, and it has fans spanning across the globe. The series debuted in 1987 under Hirohiko Araki at Weekly Shonen Jump. It is the publication’s second-largest manga to date, and David Production turned it into an on-going anime back in October 2012.
The park is also celebrating an anime anniversary this year. Universal Studios Japan is home of the One Piece Premier Show, which is a live action attraction from the One Piece anime and manga. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the shows debut, and it has run to over 1 million guests.
For more information about Universal Studios Japan, check out the English language home page here.
