Does art mirror life or is it the other way around?  The good people of Tokyo may not be blamed if they confuse the two, because towering over their city at the moment, it looks as if anime has become animated – in the real world.  So, if you want to be protected against all sorts of evil doers then you might want to consider a move to Tokyo.

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Gundam!  The very word strikes a thrill in to the hearts of fanboys and girls the world over.  The producers of the anime metaseries, which this year celebrates its thirtieth birthday decided that to mark this occasion, something seriously big had to happen.  The franchise, which has become a 50 billion yen global trademark needed something gigantic and Sunrise Studios came up with this.  Move over, Liberty, this statue is for the twenty first century!

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The RX-78-2 (from the first 1979 anime series) replica was built in the Odaiba Park in Tokyo.  The original Mobile Suit Gundam series went on to become a global franchise, spawning movies, video games, comics and novels, plus of course the myriad of toys (for children large and small) associated with this kind of success.  The term Gundam itself is now a collective noun – it covers seven time lines, each of which has its own story arc.  There are a few things that are common to all of the time lines and one of those are the startling war machines which go by the name of Gundam.

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As well as being constructed in celebration for the thirtieth anniversary of the franchise it is also hoped that the giant spectacle will help the Japanese in their bid to host the Summer Olympics in 2016.  It may not be as large as the Statue of Liberty but it certainly holds the zeitgeist.  As for its scale – 1/1 – actual size. 

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The statue is not intended for permanent display – in a matter of months it will be removed.  So, if you want to see it you had better head for Tokyo pretty soon.  However, they said the same thing about the Eiffel Tower and the London Eye – and look what happened to them.  The suspicion of this author is that Gundam will guard over Tokyo for a lot longer than many imagine.  At fifty nine feet tall (that’s eighteen meters for those of you who are metric), he is certainly impressive.

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Unlike many Hollywood films, which portray giant robots as city despoiling rampaging metal beasties, the Japanese have always invested more humanity in to their mecha inventions.  The original idea behind Gundam was the ability of a young man to enter the cockpit (usually located in the torso area) of a mecha and help to protect the earth.  The idea was very much about robots being a positive force for humanity rather than one of which to be suspicious.

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Let’s be frank – if you were a Cylon, Dalek or Martian bent on world domination, wouldn’t this sight make you reconsider your evil plans?  Just a little?

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The word for an obsessive geek in Japanese is ‘Otaku’ and, sure enough the Gundam attract many of them. However, the franchise has a popular appeal that attracts a large and mixed demographic like, for example, the recent renaissance and phenomenon of Doctor Who in the UK.  Among the Otaku, though, the creator of the Gundam, Yoshiyuki Tomini has what can only be described as divine status.

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The mecha’s head can move and with his piercing eyes he can survey the Tokyo landscape, on the look out for enemies of humanity.  One wonders what would happen if aliens were to land, however.  His frame may be made out of steel but the rest of him is reinforced plastic.  We may have to suspend our disbelief a little further if we are to imagine him successfully dealing with real life enemies!

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The head of the mighty Gundam moves, as we have already said, but this is not the only trick this massive monster has up its sleeve.  It emits light from fifty different places located over his body.  He is also capable of jetting out streams of mist (dry ice or steam, not quite sure!) from over a dozen orifices.  This gives him an ethereal, somewhat spooky look when everything is done in unison.

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The location on the artificial park island of Odaiba is not just a pick a location out of a hat choice either.  It is just a few stops away from Tokyo Big Sight.  There will be a huge comic convention and Gundam Expo helf there in August.  This will guarantee a steady stream of Otaku to the park.  Of course, the exhibit is free – how are you going to charge people to see something so visible?  However, where people go their yen go with them.  What will happen to the giant after its two month stay is still being decided, but I for one would vote for it to remain in the park and become a permanent feature of the landscape.

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The umbrella name for these thirtieth anniversary celebrations is Always Beginning and it is split in to three distinct parts.  The huge Gundam represents the Real-G part of the celebrations.  The Gundam Expo in August 2009 represents the Feel-G section.  Finally there will be a music festival which has been dubbed Soul-G.  There is no doing things by halves in Japan.

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It can only be hoped that the owners of Gundam decide that he should remain in the park, steadfastly guarding the citizens of Tokyo from extra-terrestrial dangers, other giant (but evil) robots or any one of a dozen civilization threatening (albeit fictitious) dangers. Go Gundam!

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