Bolt lights up the sky, blacks out the neighborhood.

The Tokyo area doesn’t get a lot of powerful typhoons. Generally, typhoons come up from the southwest, hitting the shores of the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku and losing steam long before they got to Tokyo, which is at the eastern end of the country’s main island of Shikoku.

This recent Typhoon Faxai was am exception, though, rumbling through the Tokyo area while knocking out power and snarling transportation networks. Even after Faxai left, follow-up storms dropped rain and lightning on the capital, including Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward, where Japanese Twitter user @takuyahasonmin recorded an incredible video on the night of September 11.

For the first 40 seconds or so, it’s just video of a corner drug store and city streets being drenched by the downpour. But then, shortly after the streetlight turns green, there’s a blinding flash of light as a bolt of lightning falls not far from where the video is being recorded. Next comes a deafening thunderclap, and as the light from the lightning fades, it takes all of the illumination from the neighborhood with it, having caused an instantaneous blackout.

@takuyahasonmin’s impeccably timed video is so awe-inspiring that it immediately brought to mind works of dynamic fiction, with commenters comparing it to scenes from anime director Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering with You movie or the arrival of the T-800 in The Terminator. Some saw similarities to Yu-Gi-Oh!’s Raigeki/Thunderbolt spell card, and at least one person has accused @takuyahasonmin of being an electromancer thunder mage himself (because how could he have captured video of such an amazing lightning bolt without conjuring ithimself?).

…while others were reminded of a giant-heralding lightning strike from Attack on Titan.

https://twitter.com/0_YUNO_O/status/1171891574042578944

▼ One commenter even synched up part of the Attack on Titan soundtrack with @takuyahasonmin’s video.

https://twitter.com/east1999502/status/1172016161816338432

Following the positive response, @takuyahasonmin also posted a version of his video slowed down to 25 and 10-percent of the original speed.

The weather has been dry in Tokyo on the days since @takuyahasonmin’s video was taken, but the forecast is predicting another storm on its way in just a few days. While @takuyahasonmin’s amazing camerawork makes us wonder what sort of other breathtaking visuals he could capture, we won’t blame him at all if he decides to stay indoors this time.

Source: Twitter/@takuyahasonmin via IT Media
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