Unfiltered video is like a scene from a Makoto Shinkai anime or a terrifying horror movie, depending on your perspective.
When the question “Where’s the most beautiful place in Japan?” comes up, there are a couple of locations that are always going to be part of the conversation. Several of Kyoto’s temples will be brought up, as will Hiroshima Prefecture’s Miyajima Island and, of course, Mt. Fuji.
Osaka, on the other hand, isn’t likely to get a mention. Sure, the largest city in central Japan is exciting and fun (it’s the home of the Gyoza Dog, after all), and the neon cityscape lining the Dotonbori canal looks cool, but it’s not necessarily “beautiful.”
But on the evening of July 25, it’s hard to imagine anywhere in Japan, or on Earth, really, looked more breathtakingly amazing than Osaka.
Twitter user and entrepreneur Tugi Guenes (@guenest) was making his way up to the surface from the depths of Osaka Station when he noticed the sky was an unusually vivid shade of purple. So he whipped out his phone (an iPhone 7, with no image filter engaged, he says) to shoot some video as he rode up the escalator, but when he got to the top, the sky’s hue had shifted from purple to red, and also jumped up several levels of intensity.
Guenes described the scenery as looking like “the gates of hell,” and with the fortress-like skyscrapers on either side of the walkway standing tall and dark against an inferno-colored backdrop, some online commenters agreed. However, many others were of the alternate opinion that the video is stunningly beautiful. The range of color is beyond what seems like it should be possible in real life, making the whole thing seem like the elevator leads directly into a world created by Your Name anime director Makoto Shinkai. Seriously, cue up that Radwimps song to play while you’re watching Guenes’ video and tell us they don’t go together perfectly.
Other shutterbugs in Osaka also had their eyes and cameras pointed skyward on the 25th…
…and just in case anyone missed the show, Osaka’s atmospheric conditions gave an encore performance on the 26th.
With the crazy-intense heat Japan’s been experiencing this summer, nighttime is always something to look forward to, but these views are a compelling reason to venture out of the air-conditioned indoors before the sun slips entirely below the horizon.
Source: Twitter/@guenest