Life-sized replications of classic mecha robots tend to be all the rage. Even if one doesn’t like Gundam or robot anime, most tourists don’t pass up the chance to see the Life-Sized Gundam in Odaiba if they get the chance. For years a one to one scale RX 78-2, the very first Gundam, stood tall but a couple of years ago was replaced by a ‘transforming’ Unicorn Gundam that proudly stands there till this day. Now the world’s getting it’s third actual scaled to real-life Gundam but it’s an unexpected Mobile Suit and City Combo: A to-scale replica Freedom Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam Seed is coming to Shanghai China.
Pictured above is a mock-up of the Life-Sized Gundam planned to be displayed in Shanghai. The model Freedom Gundam will stand at just above 18 Meters tall, or 59 feet, and while no exact date’s been given yet, it’s supposed to debut sometime next year. Part of the ‘Gundam China Project’, we assume Sunrise and their collaborators and attempting to drum up interest in Mobile Suit Gundam and specifically all the Gunpla they could sell if they do. If going by the diversity in countries represented at last year’s Gunpla World Cup, publicity like this seems justified.
What’s extra surprising about the third Life-Sized Gundam is which Gundam it is; Freedom Gundam comes from Mobile Suit Gundam Seed, an Alternate Universe spin-off that’s always been popular in Japan but has never been loved by western audiences at least. Maybe China shares Japan’s passion for the nearly 20-year-old Seed series, or maybe Sunrise wanted to reignite international interest in it. Now that the non-UC seal has been broken on life-sized Gundams, who knows, maybe we’ll get Wing Gundam standing next to The Statue of Liberty someday.
The new Life-Size Gundam will come to Shanghai next year.