Japan’s new life-size Gundam statue, the biggest yet, is now standing tall, has head【Pics, vids】

Head-raising ceremony held for new/Nu Gundam, the first life-size mobile suit in west Japan.

You can never have too many Gundams. In the 42 years since the debut of the original Mobile Suit Gundam TV series, the anime franchise has gone on to have dozens of sequels and side stories with their own variations on the titular hero mech.

So while Tokyo has a life-size statue of the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam, and Yokohama has one of the RX-78-2 Gundam, there are still plenty of other Gundams waiting their turn, and now the wait is almost over for the life-size RX-93 ν (“Nu”) Gundam that’s under construction in Fukuoka.

ららぽーと福岡のνガンダム。頭部装着完了。カッコいい。byけい pic.twitter.com/HOpF6UcXQJ

— あおきけい＆みかまる (@kei_mika) December 22, 2021

Wednesday was a big day for the big robot, as the construction crew held a jotoushiki, or “head-raising ceremony,” for the Nu Gundam. A similar event took place during the building of Yokohama’s Gundam, in which Shinto priests offered blessings on the head and prayed for the workers’ safety during the rest of the project, before the head was lifted up by a crane and placed on the mecha’s body.

2021/12/22
νガンダム頭部が吊るされ、胴体に繋がる瞬間までがこちらです！#上頭式、#νガンダム、#ららぽーと福岡、#ららぽーと pic.twitter.com/opiwd4AJGn

— 大津山 佳代『まんがでわかるコンピテンシー面接』発売中！ (@kayo_ad) December 22, 2021

▼ A high-speed time-lapse video of the entire lifting/installation

＼2022年春開業予定の「ららぽーと福岡」に実物大ガンダム登場！／
設置安全を祈願し、上棟式ならぬ上頭式が執り行われ、1日限定で公開
これから最終調整が行われ、オープンに合わせて再び公開予定

▽「ららぽーと福岡」の全貌に迫るフクリパ記事もどうぞhttps://t.co/q0gGuboUtS pic.twitter.com/zBv1FaIrOr

— フクリパ@福岡 (@Fukuoka_leapup) December 22, 2021

ららぽーと福岡のνガンダム、無事頭部が装着されました pic.twitter.com/ii4Zaoclxq

— enchi (@Enchi151) December 22, 2021

While all of the life-size Gundam statues are huge, the Nu Gundam is the biggest yet. As part of the ceremony, the designers revealed its official specs, and the highest part of the head is 20.5 meters (67.3 feet) off the ground, 0.8 meters taller than the Tokyo’s Unicorn Gundam, and the height gap is even larger when compared to Yokohama’s RX-78 or Shanghai’s ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam. Even more impressive is that the tip of the long-range fin funnels, as the weaponry stacked behind the Nu Gundam is called, reach a height of 24.8 meters (81.4 feet). Oh, and the statue weighs 80 metric tons (176,370 pounds).

やっとガンダム頭部装着！！
夕暮れも良きかな#ららぽーと福岡 pic.twitter.com/lro5sqi7nH

— さゆ@12月25.26日マリンメッセ (@0302Heart) December 22, 2021

You might also notice that the Nu Gundam is in slightly different poses depending on the photo. That’s because its right shoulder/arm isn’t stationary, but motorized, as are parts of the head.

▼ The Nu Gundam’s arm in motion, prior to the head’s installation

右腕…結構動きまっせ…
下方向は左腕と同じぐらい
下がってました。#ららぽーと福岡 #ガンダム pic.twitter.com/wOA627Dl7d

— tabby (@sugar_cy) December 14, 2021

There also appears to be some sort of access point right where the Nu Gundam’s cockpit hatch would be, and seeing technicians go in and out only added to the anime-to-real-life aura of awesomeness.

今日一のお気に入り。コクピット(コックピット?)で作業してるところに遭遇したのは初めてかも。そこも夕方には蓋されてたからもう見れないのかなぁ…。#ららぽーと福岡 #ガンダム #実物大νガンダム pic.twitter.com/2cV4BeRdlB

— tabby (@sugar_cy) December 21, 2021

We’ve still got a couple months to go before the April grand opening of the Mitsui Shopping Park Lalaport Fukuoka in Fukuoka City’s Hakata Ward, where the Nu Gundam will be standing guard, and between now and then the finishing touches will be put on the statue, with an artist’s rendition of its complete form below.

But with all of its major body parts now in place, it’s safe to say that Japan’s third life-size Gundam has arrived.

Source, top image, insert image: Press release
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