Gundam! It's a Gundam!

Some countries build statues to freedom and liberty. Japan builds statues of giant robots.

So funny story, back in 2009 Bandai decided to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Gundam franchise in the most Japanese way possible - by building a 60 foot tall Gundam! Granted, it's just a statue...or so they say. Clearly, Japan was sending a message to the rest of the world: We can build giant mecha, so don't fuck with us.

Batteries not included.

Unfortunately, Japan no longer has its stalwart protector. Well, it does, but its parts are scattered all over an artificial island and Bandai's charging six and a half bucks to visit the site. According to Engadget, the mighty mecha from one of the greatest anime franchises to ever come out of Japan was disassembled and returned to the island where it originally stood, but I guess Bandai has no plans to reassemble it.

They should reassemble it though, Gundam is iconic and deserves the recognition that statue brings. In fact, I think there should be statues for other mecha anime, like Tetsujin 28-Go (Gigantor in the U.S.), Mazinger Z, Macross/Robotech, and others. Maybe even an Ultraman statue. The reason behind this opinion is simply because Japan has a massive influence on popular culture, worldwide in general and the United States in particular and they should embrace that influence and give recognize it. Plus, think of the revenue generated from the increase tourism; because if you build giant mecha, the otaku will come¹.

This is what passes as a normal day in Japan.

Images via TechCrunch, Pink Tenticle, and Punyari. Hat tip to Geekspective.

¹. And cum too, probably.