As the recent birthday trip was built entirely around my wanting to visit Universal Studios, so it will be the first post of the trip!

I visited USJ in 2013 [see previous trip here] but I wanted to visit USJ again for two reasons:

Attack on Titan attraction! [this post]
Wizarding World of Harry Potter! [post here]

March is a horrendous time to visit because it is both school holidays and peak sakura season! And the Cool Japan pass and Express pass tickets that could guarantee me entry into both attractions were all sold out :( But I’m happy that despite that, I managed to do both! ^o^

PRO TIP: Buy your own USJ tickets online and skip the queues with this guide!

On our last visit, I didn’t buy tickets beforehand and wasted precious time queueing while everyone else rushed ahead and queued for rides ahead of us. This year, we waltzed past the snaking lines with our pre-purchased tickets :D

Even so, the queue for the Attack on Titan attraction was insanely long!

I am standing at the bend of the first U-shape in the queue. I drew a diagram to aid your understanding of the queue that day:

Digram is not to scale, obviously.

To be honest, I didn’t keep track of how long we queued. I was determined to get in no matter how long I had to queue. I would say we probably queued… about a couple of hours?

But queueing for the tickets is one thing. After we got the tickets, which has a time stated on it for us to enter the attraction, we had to queue again!

Which basically means: we queued for a ticket to tell us what time we can queue to enter -_-

The second round of queueing was approximately an hour. I wasn’t really keeping track.

When we finally entered, we were rewarded with a bit of eye candy for all the queueing! I think I shrieked and dashed towards the display. I might have drooled a little too.

Basically, we are new recruits drafted into the recon squad. Our senpais (seniors) appeared and gave us an introductory talk, and then brought us to another area, stopping at a walkway with huge screens.

Parts of the anime were screened, giving an introduction into the story.

We then moved to another area, also with screens, and the story continues.

In total, there were about 4 such screenings, in which the entire 25 episodes of anime was distilled down and summarized. It’s like a crash course for newbies into the world of Shingeki (Japanese name for Attack on Titan).

Even watching these short segments made me tear up again (as if I didn’t cry enough here) but some old people (in their 50s) actually laughed at the heartbreaking part where Eren’s mom died! LAUGHED!!! Homg, I fervently hope the titans eat them first!!! *shakes fist*

The final screening area we moved to surprised me quite a bit. I didn’t expect they recreate such explicit scenes, and in such detail.

(brace yourself for the photos)

Original anime scenes:

In USJ:

リヴァイ班！！！　:'(((

I bawled my eyes out when I saw these scenes in the anime. To see it again in 3D was quite a shock to say the least :'(

Fortunately, my mood was lifted a fair bit as we moved to the final room.

WHERE THE CLONOIDS WERE!!!

Ok, fine, here’s one of Mikasa and Armin:

… aaaaand, back to LEVI!!!

because taking from a lower angle makes one look taller (*≧∀≦*)

We only had 3 minutes (Levi timed us!) so it was quite a feat taking these photos as neatly as I could without other people’s hands or heads getting into the picture. Pro photographer in the house, yo.

Wondering where Eren is?

He’s outside…

These are full-sized 15m and 14m titans and quite a sight to behold!

The details were quite amazing as well:

The jagged toenails, the veins, the wrinkles in the foot! And the cracked tiles from all the pressure!

MINI STORY

“I will fight and protect you. I will return alive.” *looks back and smiles gently*

*activates three dimensional maneuver gear and propels through the air*

“Know what? I think it’s more dangerous getting embroiled in a titan fight. We’ll entrust it to you, Eren! FOR FREEDOM!!!”

/end of random mini story

There was an event where we could get devoured by a titan, so naturally we went for it!

If you get the story our poses tell, PLEASE CONTACT ME. WE SHOULD BE FRIENDS.

We also bought a photo because the folder it came in was so nicely done, and the photo turned out quite well lol. 1,600 yen damage.

There was also a stall where they sold cadet rations:

Didn’t buy it though, because it seemed silly to pay 900 yen for a few bites of what really are rations.

At the merchandise stall:

Teehee, this scene always cracks me up! I think there’s a meme of him opening the windows Disney princess-style, but I can’t find it now.

Lol, looking at his expression, you’d think a titan was sitting on him

So happy that I got to visit this attraction before it ends this May! :D

p.s.: I brought my own cape, jacket, and boots to USJ. I bought mine online a long time ago so I can’t remember exactly where orhow much. But a quick search on google will yield a plethora of options to buy from. Some links to get you started: The cape, the jacket, the boots.

Omake (extra)