Amid a somewhat anticlimactic Closing Ceremony to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, there was one bright spot that had nothing to do with the 2016 Games.
Tokyo, host city of the 2020 Olympics (the 32nd, or XXXII), stole the show with its introduction reel that played before receiving the Olympic flag, a video that leaned heavily on Japan’s tradition of creating some of the most classic video games in of all time.
This is also the first use of anime in an Olympic host city introduction video, as far as we can tell. But the best part, obviously, is Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe emerging from a warp pipe in the real world, live from Rio’s Maracanã Stadium, dressed (however briefly) as Mario from “Super Mario Bros.”