Gundam Front

Anyone who's ever had an ounce of interest in Japanese animation (and a whole tonne of people who don't) has heard of Gundam. Before Dragonball and Sailor Moon took the world of animation by storm, Gundam was already going strong, with its powerful stories of human drama and giant god damn robots. Though I've never been a fan of the franchise, there is without a doubt some respect to be given to a 45 year old series that still manages to bring more fans around its table.

The "life-sized" Gundam at Odaiba Diver City.

However, my good friend Basil is a longtime fan of the franchise, and so we delved into the heart of the beast. Here, in Odaiba, lies the Mecca of Gundam fans - Gundam Front, where not only goods are sold and displayed as if in a museum, but a towering "life-sized" Gundam is put on display for all to see at the very doorstep of Diver City, the mall in which the Front is located.

I do like this!

The Gundam Front is to the Gundam series what the Ghibli Museum is to Ghibli movies, though much smaller. Not only are there informative displays with large size figures of the flagship robots, but original artwork of the series' creator are put up for all to admire.
 The interior of the Gundam Front itself looks like that of a space vessel from out of the series, so it's enjoyable to walk around within the small complex's halls, dimly lit with neon lights so representative of the sci-fi setting of the anime.

You'll surely get the ladies now.

There are also a couple of interactive displays allowing for fans to pose inside the cockpit of a Gundam robot, or next to the forerunner characters of the series, though I think few would disagree that the main highlight of the Front is the large dome room purposefully built as a theater for the projection of a Gundam battle, in the same way planetariums do their projections. Sadly, photos are not permitted in the dome (and the subtle ones I took are just a terrible mess.) Personally, I found the whole thing hard to follow, but what do I know of Gundam anyway.

Is this the feeling called lust?

And of course, at the very entrance of the Gundam Front is a store where figurines of the series' robots are sold, amongst a whole other bunch of related paraphernalia. Posters, pillows, postcards, coffee mugs and even Gundam-shaped cookies and cakes. You name and they have it. Every overseas' fan knows that these cost a fortune outside of Japan. Well, they cost a fortune inside of Japan too, but at least they're all concentrated in this one spot, which is sure to please many.


The Gundam Front isn't free to enter (costing 1200¥ for adults) but I guess that ain't much of a detractor for full-blown fans. For the rest of us, it's at least fun to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.