Japan Builds Giant Robot for Gundam Anniversary

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Life-sized Gundam at Daiba

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sourced by Jordan Yerman

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Mobile Suit Gundam anime, a giant Gundam robot statue was built in Tokyo. The 59-foot-tall Gundam statue has been unveiled at Odaiba seaside park.

Gundam debuted in 1979, and was actually cancelled during its first season. However, when its iconic giant robots were made into toys, Gundam's popularity soard, and it's been a pop culture mainstay ever since.

The statue, which lights up at night, will be a monument to pop-culture and to giant robots everywhere.

The statue is a massive 1:1 life-size Gundam replica that is 18m high and weighs an enormous 25 tons.

If you thought that Japan would be happy with only one giant robot, you'd be mistaken... Kobe will have its own guardian, with Gigantor currently under construction.

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Vancouver's Giant Robot (Artist's Rendition)

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uploaded by Jordan Yerman

Meanwhile, Canada has a total of zero (0) giant robots, which embarrasses me to no small degree. The new convention center here in Vancouver has a huge plaza which is just the right size for one of these.  Mayor Robertson is of course free to contact me via private message should he want me to consult on the project, which I'm happy to do for a very reasonable robo-consultation fee.