For years, the life-sized Mobile Suit Gundam statue was able to walk under its own power, giving anime fans, tourists to Japan, and anyone lucky enough to see the real life mech quite the show. While the “Walking Gundam” of Gundam Factory Yokohama shuttered earlier this year, leaving many anime fans in mourning, the statue has returned in a wild new way. If you’re lucky enough to be in Japan and want to not only see what remains of the statue, but also compete in a game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors” against the larger-than-life statue, you will now have the chance.
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Mobile Suit: Gundam first started in the 1970s thanks to creator Yoshiyuki Tomino, but the anime franchise has continued both by revisiting its original universe and exploring brand new realities that feature the space-faring mech suits. This month, Bandai Namco is teaming up with Netflix to revisit the world of Amuro and Char thanks to Mobile Suit Gundam: Requiem For Vengeance, a fully CG series that explores a new story from the side of Zeon. The series will hit the streaming service on October 17th and is bringing a brand new take to the long-running franchise. As CG continues to take the anime world by storm, it will be interesting how it applies to the Gundam franchise and its mech suits.
Rock, Paper, Gundam
While Gundam fans won’t be playing Rock, Paper, Scissors with the full Gundam statue, they will have to opportunity to do so with the mech’s hands. Promoted for the “National Museum of Emerging Science, the exhibit has already opened and will be available to visit until Tuesday, October 22nd. Here’s how the official social media account describes the event,
“The “GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE SCIENCE Exhibition – For a prosperous future life -” will be held at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation from Thursday, October 3rd to Tuesday, October 22nd! A special exhibition that combines the spectacular worldview of the TV anime “Mobile Suit Gundam” series with cutting-edge technology. A giant Gundam hand was also activated at the venue!”
Gundam’s Live-Action Future
While the Walking Gundam closed its doors earlier in 2024, there remain several Gundam statues that still stand tall in Japan. On the live-action adaptation front, Netflix had previously announced that the streaming service is teaming up with Legendary Pictures to create an original film based on the franchise. Set to be directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, most known for movies like Kong: Skull Island, and written by comic book legend Brian K. Vaughn, the project has been quiet for quite some time. Luckily, with the recent success of the live-action One Piece and Avatar: The Last Airbender, live-action adaptations like the upcoming Gundam movie are a strong point for Netflix.
As has previously been reported, the upcoming movie will take place in the original universe that kicked off the Gundam series. While there have been quite a few fan-favorite anime stories over Gundam’s career, including but not limited to Gundam Wing, Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, and G Gundam. The war featuring Amuro and Char is one that has withstood the test of time, still appearing to this day in Gundam’s anime properties so it makes sense that the franchise’s first North American live-action film would tackle this conflict. Now if only Western anime fans could get their own Gundam statue in North America, the anime franchise would be able to hit some real heights.
Want to stay tuned on the future of the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on the Gundam series and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.
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