Truly a magnificent sight to behold, Odaiba’s life sized Gundam unit towers over all in its virgil at the Wangan Coast in Tokyo, close to Fuji Television and the Rainbow Bridge. Erected as part of the celebratory events for Gundam’s 30th anniversary, the famous anime robot measures a whopping 18 meters, or about the height of a 6 story building. The sheer size of the Gundam unit and hence its awe factor can only be fully appreciated from a distance, though there’s also plenty to admire when you get up close.
I have to admit I am no Gundam fan ( Despite working in Sunrise before and getting exposed to quite a fair bit of Gundam fare ) and know almost nothing about the robots – for example, I’ve always wanted to know if the Gundam unit can transform, like the Macross Veritech Fighter ?
(above) Details aplenty on the legs. These pictures were taken at the end of June – does anyone know if the barricades have been since been removed ?
A good time to visit would be in the late afternoon, where there’s still enough light for some decent photography, and then stay around till evening where the unit lights up – it was drizzling the day me and my friends visited so the light-up was cancelled. :[ (below) Light-up clip from Youtube.
(above) Some enthusiastic ensigns all ready to kick some Zaku butt – but perhaps they should get their dress code in order first ?
One would think that so awesome a display should never be dismantled, but sadly it will only be around till the end of August. If you are in town, a visit is a must, Gundam fan or not.
Have any readers here seen the Odaiba Gundam in person/planning a trip ? :]
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July 12th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Ouawww man, Robots can really exist. So nice to see that.
July 12th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Its a shining Beacon saying We have robots you dumb aliens Wahahaha!!
July 13th, 2009 at 12:26 am
super cool pics. gary looks really serious.
July 13th, 2009 at 5:52 am
I believe the barricades were removed a couple of days ago, so now you really can see it up close and personal. :3
July 13th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Yes there is a Gundam that transforms. It is the MSZ-006 Z Gundam or “Waverider.” It is the Gundam from the second series appropriately enough called “Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.” It is by far my favorite design and I highly recommend the series. Also probably the best though contemporary “Gundam Fans” might argue otherwise. I personally have not found any of the new Gundams very compelling. There are pictures of the Waverider here:
http://page13.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r56077391
Don’t know if you are familiar with the Gundam Fix line of scale models that Bandai puts out, but they make this model as well as the beefed up version called the Z Plus (bigger guns!). Ask your co-workers about it, they should know.
July 13th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
only till end aug? 🙁 I’m heading there on the 26th Oct 2009 … guess i’ll missed it T__T , any idea if it will move to else where ?
July 13th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
I love the last shoot. Very nice.
Some of the fences have been removed allowing you to go really close and touch it. I have several photos of it on my website if you want to see it. :3
July 14th, 2009 at 4:15 am
Your pictures are great!
I was amazed the first time i heard of it and whe i watched it moved was like “no way it can move” jejeje.
i believe things like this only happened in japan, it´s shame it will be available to see it till august, i wonder how many time it take to developed such a great replica, and “how” they did it.
BTW, i heard the next proyect related is the Mitsuteru Yokoyama´s “Kobe Tetsujin Project”, in Central America known as “Iron Man 28”,it will be around 18 meters tall and will be located in the Kobe’s Wakamatsu Park. Here´s the link:
http://www.kobe-tetsujin.com/index.html
Unfortunately my japanese is limited to kanas, so it´s difficult for me to understand the page, but there are great pictures of the developing, think it will be ready this year. 🙂
ps. No way the light-up was cancelled when you and your friends visited odaiba. No way! X.X
July 14th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Im not much of a gundam fan either, but this looks utterly stunning. The more i see of it, the more i want it to be there permanently! Why is it only a tempoary thing? It just doesnt make sense…
If it was there til october, i could see it myself!
July 15th, 2009 at 4:52 am
No?! It’s getting dismantled by the end of August? I was honestly saving up to go see this… They should make this a permanent national landmark!
July 18th, 2009 at 12:32 am
Fabrice – Oh yes, only in Japan will this happen !
Gunstray – Perhaps it visible from Google Earth ? Pity they’re going to tear it down !
Mr Hill – Oh yeah, Gary is garang king.
TheBigN – Darn.
Tokyoite – You certainly know your Gundam. :] Thanks for the information !
pp – Hmm, unfortunately there’s no news so far as to whether it’d be moved, I think they’re just going to take it apart.
dans – Great pictures at your site ! :]
rulascalaca – Why must the Tetsujin be in Kobe ? Too far ! Haha yeah we waited and waited for the light up but it just didn’t happen… :[
AndyH – Yep, its definitely a waste in my opinion that they’re taking it down only after such a short period. I was hoping it’d be around for at least a year/few years for more people to get to see it.
weigy – Yes definitely, perhaps there’s a petition going on somewhere…
July 18th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Thank you for the great pics !
Details are incredible ! Ouch !
August 13th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Hello I went here for a visit to your beautiful blog live in the city of Sao Jose dos Campos Sao Paulo Brazil and I am looking for sincere friendship of my son gostão very ambitious and willing to die to go there they’re black belt in Shotokan Karate and Abraços much peace
November 27th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
I was really surprised and did not believe the news back then…but now, I’m speechless. This is one superb 1/1 model kit ever! However, the latest news update is the statue was disassembled. Hm…maybe they build it…now the real one!
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:31 am
This RX-78-2 model 1/1 was built based on the 1/72 ver that recently made. I prefer ver Ka model to be build…Man, RX-78 is very popular…I’m disappointed not buying the PG model kit.
December 9th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Aw, too bad that it’s only lasting until 31 August. Hm…I wonder where they took it…maybe a secret base so that they can further build a REAL ONE? hehehehe…no one knows.
April 11th, 2011 at 9:58 pm
I went to see this when I visited Odaiba a while back, it was very imposing and looked great lit up at night. It was visible from a long way away too, and looked as if it was ready to stomp across the landscape.
April 21st, 2011 at 12:20 am
WHOa!Wish I could’ve seen that!I watched the gundam series here before and collected several models. It would’ve been breathtaking to get up close with one.Huge crowds must have flocked that giant.It was a good idea to let the public get a feel of the presence of it. Perfect presentation to commemorate its anniversary.