Why This Topic Landed in Japan

In a joint statement on the 24th, France and Saudi Arabia announced a large integrated complex near Paris worth about €6 billion (roughly ¥1.11 trillion), led by a Saudi investment firm and combining theme parks, leisure facilities and hotels, with an eventual 22,000 jobs projected. Some French outlets reported that the plan may include a theme park based on Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball, and President Macron welcomed it on X as the biggest project "since Disneyland Paris." What struck a nerve in Japan was the shape of the deal — a flagship Japanese IP being turned into a giant park led by European and Middle Eastern money rather than built at home, against a backdrop of a weak yen and slow domestic investment in tourism infrastructure.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Ride wishlists and a festive welcome — Most reactions were upbeat and playful, from "I want to take time off to go" to jokes about whether a 100-G gravity room would be included.
  • Why overseas rather than Japan — Many calmly accepted the logic of building abroad, noting Dragon Ball's larger fan base in Europe and doubts that a domestic park would draw crowds.
  • Rights and the post-Toriyama question — Some voiced unease about a late creator's work expanding overseas, wondering aloud whether the publisher had actually cleared the rights.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

The Dragon Ball theme-park agreement

Reactions to reports that a Dragon Ball park may be part of the large complex planned near Paris.

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仏サウジ首脳が「ドラゴンボール」テーマパーク建設で合意 mainichi.jp/articles/20260… フランスのマクロン大統領とサウジアラビアで実権を握るムハンマド皇太子は、パリ郊外に「ドラゴンボール」のテーマパークを建設することで合意しました。ロイター通信がフランス大統領府の話として報じました。

mainichi.jp仏サウジ首脳が「ドラゴンボール」テーマパーク建設で合意　フランスのマクロン大統領とサウジアラビアで実権を握るムハンマド皇太子は24日、パリ郊外に日本の世界的人気アニメ「ドラゴンボール」のテーマパークを建設することで合意した。ロイター通信がフランス大統領府の話として報じた。建設には数年かかり、総投資額は約60億ユーロ（約1兆1130億円）に上るとみられて
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Sources: livedoor News, 2ch

Comments:

  • "I wanna take paid leaveeee."
  • "Are they gonna build a 100-G room?" [Translator's note: the 100× gravity training room from the series.]
  • "Dragon Ball Land is coming to Paris!"
  • "Make an Oda-kun Land too." [Translator's note: Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece.]
  • "But Akira Toriyama isn't around anymore."
  • "Shueisha's gonna rake it in."
  • "Building it in Japan probably wouldn't draw many people, so it's honestly true that building it overseas, where Dragon Ball is popular, makes more sense."
  • "Can't be helped. But for people coming from Japan, run a direct flight from Kansai Airport, and if you're just going in to play and heading back, make it passport-free with travel costs around 10,000 yen."
  • "There really are more passionate Dragon Ball fans in the EU than in Japan."
  • "Is it such a big deal that a president is getting involved?"