Gundam! Mecha Monument Towers Over Tokyo
Tokyo – vast sprawling metropolis of the East. In this day and age of global terror, a protector is needed. The Japanese, ever inventive, came up with this: Konnichiwa, Gundam.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Liked it
16 Comments
Juancav, posted this comment on Jul 30th, 2009
Huge celebration,astounding pictures.
Tokyo Five, posted this comment on Jul 31st, 2009
I saw this and took some photos for my blog.
This Gundam is scheduled to be taken down at the end of August.
(Did you know Tokyo’s “Statue Of Liberty” is in the same area?)
http://tokyo5.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/gundam/
And another 18 meter tall statue is being built on the other side of Japan…
http://tokyo5.wordpress.com/2009/07/05/tetsujin28gou/
And how about the smallest Gundam ever…
http://tokyo5.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/smallest-gundam/
raman13, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Very Good Pictures
Littlekid137, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
I love your articles just so I can look at the picture. Again very nicely written.
OhSugar, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Great presentation.that is very entertaining with exciting pictures to view. I enjoyed reading.
lindalulu, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Wow…crazy stuff but of so cool!
DA Cournean, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Holy Toledo!!
Lauren Axelrod, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Their always one step ahead of us, are they not? lol
Jamie Myles, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Very cool article. Oop’s does that mean I’m a geek? Probably so. .
Well done with great Pictures.
Bill M. Tracer, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
As Pee Wee would say, “Mecha Mecha High, Mecha Hynee Hoe.” LOL
cebuanaeyez, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
That is unbelievable! I would have loved to be there. Great pictures as always.
Janet Meyer, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
This is an incredible group of images. Good job on this.
Janet
Anne Lyken Garner, posted this comment on Apr 11th, 2010
How unusual. I wouldn’t think that something like this is what I wanted to see every day on my way to work, but different folks…
Melody Arcamo Lagrimas, posted this comment on Apr 11th, 2010
Very interesting stuff. Nice photos.
ecapz09, posted this comment on Apr 11th, 2010
I just dropped my jaw! I wanna go there now!
Joe Dorish, posted this comment on Jul 30th, 2009
That’s pretty cool!