Witness the 18m-long Gundam Print from a Spiral Staircase! A Photo Report of the Tokyo Venue of GIANT ROBOTS The Core of Japanese Mecha Anime!

The GIANT ROBOTS The Core of Japanese Mecha Anime exhibition is currently being held at Sunshine City Exhibition Hall B in Ikebukuro, Tokyo until Monday, January 13, 2025.

This exhibition unravels the history of giant robot anime designs and visual expression methods that are being used to this day in Japan while taking on the question, "What is a giant robot?" Tokyo is the fifth venue following Fukuoka, Kanagawa, Kagawa, and Kyoto.

From the Gundam series, a print of the RX-78 Gundam that is 18m long (the height of the Gudam based on the anime’s settings) has been applied to the floor. You can see the Gundam from above and enjoy taking photos when you climb the spiral staircase beside the print.
There is also an exhibition featuring the cel animation production process for the first episode of Mobile Suit Gundam, a behind-the-scenes explanation of what the design process for the Gundam was like, and retro toys such as the Gundam DX Combination Set.

Visitors of the Tokyo venue can get a bonus novelty Key Visual Design Sticker, so be sure to stop by.

This exhibition is also scheduled to be held at the Kanayama Minami Building Museum Wing in Aichi from Saturday, February 15, 2025, and at the Iwaki City Art Museum in Fukushima this summer. Please look forward to further updates.

[Event Period]
Saturday, December 21, 2024 - Monday, January 13, 2025

[Business Hours]
10:00-18:00

[Venue]
Sunshine City Exhibition Hall B (Cultural Hall Building 4F)
(3-1 Higashiikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo)

[Ticket Prices (tax included)]
・Adults/university students: 2,200 JPY (tax included)
・Junior high and high school students: 1,600 JPY (tax included)
・Elementary school students: 800 JPY (tax included)

<Ticket Services>
・Asoview!
・Animate stores (Ikebukuro main store, Akihabara Building 1, Shinjuku)
・Ticket Pia (P code 995-184)
・ticketbook
・Family Mart (TOKYO MX Ticket)
・Family Mart multi-copy machine

[Visitor Novelty Gifts (Tokyo venue only)]
Key visual design stickers (4 types)
*Each visitor will receive one gift.
*The novelty gifts are available while supplies last.
*They will be randomly handed out. You cannot choose what type you will get.

[Audio Guides]
Fee: 700 yen (tax included)
Narration:
・Banjo Ginga
・Nana Mizuki

Banjo Ginga (Voice Actor/Narrator)
He is active in various fields including narration for TV programs and dubbing roles for foreign films. He has also played the voices of robot anime characters in Mobile Suit Gundam (Gihren Zabi), Combat Mecha Xabungle (Timp), and Armored Trooper Votoms (Jean-Paul Rochina).

Nana Mizuki (Voice Actress/Singer)
She has voiced characters in countless titles such as the NARUTO series (Hinata Hyuga) and ONE PIECE (Komurasaki). She is also a singer who actively makes appearances at live performances, while also working in other fields as a radio personality, narrator, and more.

[Merchandise Information (Partial List)]
GIANT ROBOTS The Core of Japanese Mecha Anime Catalogue
Price: 3,630 JPY (tax included)
Number of pages: 208 pages
Format: B5 size

⇒Click here for more details about other items

① Explore the mechanisms of giant robots!
Boarding, combination, and transformation constitute the template of giant robot animations.
The designs, which were created with a view to being used for toys, reflect unique ideas, and are based on rational mechanisms. This exhibition showcases fascinating features of these mechanisms through objects created based on the design drawings and scenes in animations.

② Feel the enormous size of robots from the viewpoint of a pilot!
How have animations conveyed the size of giant robots? In the 1980s, giant robots were
downsized to machines for practical use, and their depictions became increasingly realistic.
What would such realistic robots look like, in part or in whole, when enlarged to life size based on the specifications in animations? Feel the enormous size from the viewpoint of an animation character.

③ Focus on the internal mechanisms!
Internal structural views have been drawn as if fictional robots really existed. Do the mechanisms, which lie behind the armor and can be seen through the openings, represent the desire to materialize fictional mechanisms or the fantasies of the creators? Take a close look at the inside of the robots, which is often reproduced as a standard feature in contemporary plastic models and toys.

④Exhibition of huge paintings by KAZUTAKA Miyatake, a mechanical designer!
Mr. KAZUTAKA Miyatake (STUDIO NUE CO., LTD.) produced two original large paintings for this exhibition based on the theme of giant robots. Enjoy the world of robots drawn by Mr. Miyatake on canvases so large that they can only be displayed at a museum.