Image Credit: Mantan Web
Though the RX-78-2 Gundam is timeless, the statue apparently isn’t.
Earlier today, the official Mobile Suit Gundam website announced that Bandai will take down the famed life-sized Gundam statue. The statue, which has stood outside Odaiba’s DiverCity Tokyo mall since 2012, will be dismantled on March 5, 2017. The “Gundam Front Tokyo” companion attraction, which is located on DiverCity Tokyo’s seventh floor, will also be taken down on April 5.
With these removals, the “Tokyo Gundam Project,” which sought to revitalize Tokyo’s waterfront area through a partnership with the city’s government, will also come to a close.
The Gundam statue, which depicts the iconic RX-78-2 Gundam from the original TV series, was first erected in Odaiba’s Shiokaze Park in 2009. It kept a silent watch over the park for 52 days, attracting over 4.15 million people.
The statue was moved to Shizuoka City a year later, bringing with it a new beam saber. It stood in its new home from July 2010 through March 2011. In 2012, the statue was taken down once more, to be rebuilt in its current location.
Anime News Network reports that, in 2014, Bandai unveiled the “Global Gundam Challenge,” which was an effort to make the statue move by 2019. Currently, it can move its head and “open” its cockpit to reveal a screen inside.
Source: Mantan Web
