Life-Size Gundam Robot Takes First Steps, Is Both Awesome and Terrifying

The Gundam robot replica is perhaps Japan’s worst kept secret this year. It’s been long known that complex operator Evolving G Corp was planning to build one that would bear a striking similarity to the RX-78-2 Gundam from the popular animated series Gundam. An icon in Japan, the latter is often considered the inspiration for other classics like Transformers and Power Rangers.

As of September this year, it’s also been known that Gundam would also be able to perform certain moves and gestures, which, given its massive size, would have been impressive on its own. As it turns out, seeing this giant robot doing his thang in its own time is a sight that’s both awesome and low-key terrifying.

Check out the video below for that. That’s what the media was shown on Monday, at the official unveiling of the 18-meter (59-foot) giant robot, Japan Times reports. The build-up is slow but, once you hear “Release the bridge,” you know Gundam will move. And that it does, albeit slowly.

Made with more than 20 giant moving parts, Gundam is able to roll, walk, and move its arms. It also opens its eyes and turns the head, and that’s just a teaser of what visitors at the park will be treated to. The robot will display a new pose every half hour, and we already know from a previous video that it can kneel and flex its fingers.

Visitors at the park, which opens on December 19, will be offered close-up views of the robot by climbing the observation decks situated between 15 and 18 meters (49.2 to 59 feet) high on the Gundam-Dock Tower. A Gundam-Lab exhibition facility is available on site, including a virtual reality dome “to simulate sitting inside the cockpit of the 25-ton mobile suit.”

Gundam Factory Yokohama will be open through to March 2022. The grand opening was supposed to take place in October this year but was pushed back due to the health crisis.