Japan Sinks 2020 reminded me of Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 and watching that anime broke my heart. I’m pretty sure there will be lots of emotions as well in watching Japan Sinks 2020.
This anime is about the Mutō family’s experience when a 7 magnitude earthquake hit Tokyo.
The mother, Mari Mutō — a mother of two, was in an airplane when the earthquake hit. The plane had already made an emergency landing on a river when they saw a tsunami coming. I think it was like a mini tsunami because it didn’t really affect them. Now going back to Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, that strong earthquake did not cause any tsunami when I think it should have. Based on the actual magnitude 9.0 – 9.1 that happened in Japan back in March 11, 2011, there was a massive tsunami that destroyed a lot of buildings, homes and livelihood. It also caused nuclear accidents in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex. The earthquake was so massive it was felt all the way to Norway. It was called the Great East Japan Earthquake or The Great Earthquake of 2011, as few of its names in history. I mentioned this because both Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 and Japan Sinks 2020 did not focus much on the tsunami that usually happens when a big earthquake hits.
A lot of mixed reactions on this anime because they didn’t like how the story ended but I think this story has it’s own uniqueness compared to Tokyo Magnitude 8.0. On the first episode, they showed the sad reality of earthquake effects such as death, where there are dead people everywhere and people fighting others for a can of food. It didn’t show though why the helicopter dropped so many people before it crashed. I think the people were fighting to get on the helicopter to get to safety. Where is safety, anyway? The scientist predicted that once Mt. Fuji erupts, the entire Japan will sink.
