If there’s one franchise that knows how to make its protagonists and fans suffer, it’s Puella Magi Madoka Magica. But what was supposed to be a peaceful afternoon of otaku tourism and merch shopping in Japan turned into a real-life suspense movie. On Sunday, a serious technical failure in the elevators of the imposing Tokyo Skytree caused panic during the promotional campaign for the magical girls saga.

Six Hours Trapped at 30 Meters High

The nightmare began in the afternoon when one of the main elevators made a sudden emergency stop about 30 meters from the ground. Inside the cabin, 20 people were trapped and had to endure nearly six hours of confinement. The domino effect was brutal: when the system stopped, another 1,200 visitors were stranded on the observation decks, hundreds of meters high, with no way down for nearly three hours.

Rescue services worked against the clock and managed to evacuate all those affected safely around 2:00 AM Monday. After the huge scare that ruined the night of hundreds of tourists, the Tokyo Skytree administration took drastic measures: the tower will be closed completely until Wednesday for a deep technical inspection of all its elevators, and promised refunds to those with reservations.

The Curse of Walpurgisnacht

The most ironic part of the matter is the terrible timing of the accident. The chaos occurred during the peak of the special collaboration with Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Walpurgisnacht: Rising. This event, which has the tower illuminated and filled with themed merchandise until April 6, was originally supposed to coincide with the theatrical release of the film this month. However, the film suffered an indefinite delay due to production issues.

So the current situation is almost comical: Japanese fans are celebrating the release of a movie that no one knows when it will come out, in a tower whose elevators decided to fail at the worst possible moment. Definitely, being a Madoka fan hurts even in real life.

If you were on the 450th floor of the Tokyo Skytree, what would you do during three hours trapped at the top while waiting for the elevator to be repaired?