We head to a powered-up Marunouchi to soak in the Nintendo-themed Christmas cheer.
When you stop and think about how many kids’ Christmas wish lists, stretching back decades, have included games in the Super Mario franchise, it feels like Nintendo’s mascot is second only to Santa in the amount of yuletide cheer one guy has provided. This Christmas, though, Mario and his pals are giving people another reason to smile, with the Marunouchi Bright Holiday 2024 ～Let’s Play in Marunouchi with Super Mario～ event.
Or, since that’s an even more unwieldy name than New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, how about we just call it the Super Mario Marunouchi Christmas event, for short?
Marunouchi, the downtown Tokyo neighborhood between just west of Tokyo Station and east of the Imperial Palace, has always been a popular place at Christmastime, thanks to its elegant Christmas light displays on its tree-lined streets. This year there are also several Nintendo-themed art displays both inside and outside a number of buildings and shopping centers, with the biggest of them all being located inside the Maru Building on the first floor in the Maru Cube atrium area, which has…
…a gigantic 13-meter (42.7-foot) Super Mario Power-up Illumination!
Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, and Yoshi can be found near the bottom, with the leading man himself jumping up to punch a Question Mark Block that a Super Star seems to have just popped out of. Lift your eyes to take in the rest of the view, and you’ll see other power-up items, like Super Mushrooms and Fire Flowers, along with flying foes such as winged Koopa Troopas, Goombas, and Lakitu riding on his cloud.
▼ There’s rousing Super Mario music too, as you can hear in this video posted by Nintendo.
As you can see from these photos we took on the night day we stopped by, the place can get packed with fans, with a contributing factor being the Nintendo pop-up shop that’s also located inside the atrium selling a selection of Super Mario-themed merch, some of it otherwise exclusive to the Nintendo Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto specialty stores. Thankfully, the sheer size of the Super Mario Power-up Illumination means that your view can’t really be blocked by other people standing around it, and taking a ride on the escalator up to a higher floor of the shopping/restaurant complex lets you appreciate the display from different angles too.
Among his many other admirable qualities, Mario is a pretty generous guy, letting other members of the cast have their own spinoff games in which they get to be the center of attention. So if you walk a couple blocks down the road to the Marunouchi Terrace Building, in the outdoor plaza at its northeast corner…
…Luigi is waiting for you, holding his ghost-slurping vacuum from Luigi’s Mansion , accompanied by undead canine companion Polterpup.
Alternatively, head to the Marunouchi Oazo building…
…walk past some trees decorated with snow-Mario ornaments…
…and you’ll discover a big happy family of Yoshis on the first floor!
Not only are there 10 different Yoshis, each one has its own color-corresponding egg too.
Next to the display is a Super Mario warp pipe that you can step into to snap photos…
…and on the opposite side of the atrium is a branch of the Maruzen book store with a stock of Yoshio plushies, blankets, and other merch.
▼ Add the ones in the book store to the count, and there are dozens, if not hundreds, of Yoshis inside the building
▼ The Yoshi eggs and warp pipes unfold…
▼ …to become these blankets.
In addition to the three sites we’ve shown here, there’s a warp pipe photo spot at the Kunigiwa Kokusai Building, a Princess Peach Showtime display at the Shin Maru Building, and a Toad Holiday Garden one in the Ichibankan Hiroba plaza, with all six sites being within walking distance of each other.
Of course, no matter how big a Nintendo fan you are, you might have plans with friends, family, and other loved ones that don’t include time to check out these out before December 25. Not to worry, though, because Marunouchi Bright Holiday 2024 ～Let’s Play in Marunouchi with Super Mario～ runs until January 13, so you can still see all this cool stuff even after you’re done with your other Christmas celebrating.
Related: Marunouchi Bright Holiday 2024 ～Let’s Play in Marunouchi with Super Mario～ official website
Photos ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!