NEWSLINE PAPER,- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has shown its love of the well-known Japanese anime series Dragon Ball by recently disclosing its plans to construct an amusement park based on the series. Fans have a range of responses to this announcement, both favorable and unfavorable.
According to a statement from the business currently building the park, it will include more than 30 roller coasters in addition to a 70-meter (230-foot) long Dragon at its core. Dedicated as a temple to the fanciful extended series, this masterpiece will be the first of its type worldwide.
However, there was significant backlash to this announcement as many fans voiced worries about Saudi Arabia's overall human rights culture.
According to "Qiddiya Investment Company" (QIC), a holding of the government's own investment fund, the zone will be around half a million square meters. In fact, QIC and Toei Animation have a strategic long-term cooperation agenda that includes this effort. This is the well-known Dragon Ball Z series' Japanese developer.
As to the official announcement on the Dragon Ball website, the park will have a rollercoaster inside a dragon that is a replica of Shenron, the dragon from the franchise that grants wishes.
The park is reportedly to be located in Qiddiya, a leisure and tourism area now under development in Saudi Arabia's capital city, Neraby Riyadh. This initiative is part of the national plan to diversify the economy from depending just on fossil fuel supplies.
While some Dragon Ball fans have enthusiastically embraced the concept of the attractions, others have expressed skepticism about Saudi Arabia being the host nation of such attractions. The nation long criticized for its dismal human rights record and for not recognizing the rights of the LGBTQ community.
Appointment to relocate Dragon Ball theme park has been made after the death of its creator, A. Toriyama. Fans all over the world will always remember Toriyama [who fought a lost battle with sickness for some time before quietly passing away on March 5th] for inventing characters that they came to love and considered as a part of their life.