When I last visited Japan in 2019, there’s only one life-sized Gundam statue. In the span of four years since, they built three more. And so, it made the most sense for my recent trip to Japan to check out the two newer statues following the life-sized Unicorn Gundam in Odaiba. First up is the life-sized RX-93ff Nu Gundam in Lalaport Fukuoka where Gundam Park Fukuoka and GUNDAM SIDE-F are located.
Model Number / RX-93ff
Model Name / Nu Gundam [Long-Range Fin Funnel]
Scale & Class / 1/1 Scale Life-Sized Statue
Site Location / Lalaport Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan
Opening Date / 2022
To those unfamiliar, it’s based on the vanilla Nu Gundam seen in Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack except that the Fin Funnels are replaced with a single Long-Range Fin Funnel. This is basically addressing the same problem that the Freedom Gundam in Shanghai had with its massive wing binders. Because the whole thing will obviously topple if they attempt to build life-sized Fin Funnels, so they came up with this.
That said, the geniuses over at Bandai Namco were able to craft an in-universe explanation for this design choice, as well as the whole GUNDAM SIDE-F attraction.
The RX-93 Nu Gundam was rolled out based on the plans of Capt. Amuro Ray and it is a mobile suit Anaheim Electronics began developing after being commissioned by Bright Noa, commander of the Londo Bell unit. The Neo Zeon’s Global Cooling Plan was carried out ahead of time and Capt. Amuro of the Londo Bell unit had a mobile suit met with development challenges, such as the implementation of Psycho-Frame technology which had not been included in the original specifications of the Nu Gundam, as well as the last-minute adoption of six Fin Funnels which required adjustments. Fortunately, the Axis Shock incident saved the Earth from crisis. Similar to the Full Armor (FA) and Heavy Weapon System (HWS) specifications, the Long-Range Fin Funnel equipment is one of the Nu Gundam’s weapon plans that couldn’t make it in time since the mobile suit was rolled out earlier than scheduled.
The Long-Range Fin Funnel combines the technology of the Fin Funnels and the firepower of Mega Beam Launchers, resulting in an all-range weapon that would grant the mobile suit ability to engage in anti-ship combat, especially as a single mobile suit operated by a Newtype. That said, the adoption of the special Long Range Fin Funnel required remodeling the mobile suit, resulting in the RX-93ff specifications. The RX-93ff Nu Gundam was restored at SIDE-F and is based on actual combat data left on the Ra Calium, as well as armaments for an incomplete equipment plan proposed by the crew at that time. Capt. Amuro’s color scheme and personal marks have also been changed. SIDE-F is a commercial colony constructed in L3 where further developments have yet to come.
Much like the other life-sized Gundam statues, the Nu Gundam also has hourly illumination attractions though when we visited, the showing for the first time slot didn’t push though. Apparently, there was a Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM event happening later that evening and preparations were being made. You can even see the Gundam SEED FREEDOM banner on some of the photos in this gallery. Regardless, seeing what’s arguably the tallest life-sized mobile suit statue this close is still awe-inspiring.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take many photos of the Long-Range Fin Funnel unit since it was propped at a point that’s harder to access from the front, especially with the statue barricaded because of the Gundam SEED FREEDOM event later that day. So, here’s the blurb taken from the Real Grade kit to explain its concept.
The “Fin Funnels,” originally designed by Capt. Amuro Ray had ground-breaking Beam Barrier defensive capabilities, but it lacked firepower. Anaheim Electronics proposed the “Long-Range Fin Funnel” which combined Fin Funnels with the Hyper Mega Bazooka Launcher originally proposed for the RX-93-ν2 Hi-Nu Gundam. The RX-93 itself was modified to RX-93ff specifications, and the Fin Funnels were remodeled to a single Long-Range Fin Funnel which housed two small generators. This modification allowed connections to the generators similar to the MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam, giving the Nu Gundam a powerful all-range attack weapon.
The amount of detail you see in these life-sized Gundam statues makes you really want to buy the Real Grade kit. To which I did, but more of those on the mandatory loot post. For movements, again we weren’t able to see it, but I believe the head can turn and its right arm can point forward. There are also numerous lights on multiple points of its body.
If you’re a Gundam fan, or you just want to see awesome stuff in general, then I really recommend heading to Lalaport Fukuoka if you’re within the vicinity and check out the life-sized Nu Gundam statue there. When I visited, I came along several non-Gundam fans and despite their unfamiliarity, they too were amazed with the sheer magnitude of seeing a 1/1 scale mobile suit. Not to mention all the copious amounts of mechanical detail you can only check out when you’re this close to an actual mobile suit, or mobile suit statue for that matter.
